This is your very own relaxing place that you can visit any time you want. Just find a comfy spot, close your eyes and use the power of your amazing mind…

Growing a Flower Garden with ShiShi

Guided imagery engages the senses to focus on a positive image or scene in your mind. It’s something you can do anytime and anywhere, so it is a tool that is with you always. Guided imagery has many benefits, especially for children who are just learning about emotions and how their mind works. It helps to reduce stress and anxiety and helps the body and mind relax. Through guided imagery practice, children learn to let thoughts pass through their minds and to focus on an image that they have positive associations with. 

This practice is especially helpful for children who get overstimulated and need strategies for calming down and reducing the stimuli that they take in. Most classrooms have a quiet space for kids to regain self-control. Kids are inundated with sensory input in the form of talking, visual stimulation, being jostled by or in close proximity to other kids, bright overhead lights, and all of the other stimuli occurring in a classroom. The use of guided imagery, even for a few minutes, helps kids become regulated. They will be better able to regain focus on academic expectations. The more kids practice, the better they will become at independently using guided imagery as a strategy. 

Introduce guided imagery to your children:

• Establish a safe and quiet environment for practicing. The goal is to practice and help kids get comfortable with this strategy before they use it in real-time. 
• During the use of guided imagery, it’s best to close one’s eyes to reduce distractions. If that is not comfortable for any kids in your class, try to reduce visual stimulation by having them put their heads down on a desk or table. Or have them in an area that does not have lots to look at. 
• Be proactive in teaching the children about guided imagery. Introduce it first when the children are calm, and not as a reaction to dysregulation. 
• Before listening to Growing a Flower Garden with ShiShi, a guided imagery Moshi Meditation, ask the kids to make connections to places where they feel the happiest and positive.
• After listening to the track, use this conversation guide to emphasize the main learnings and use this fun coloring activity to help bring the imagery to life.

Allison Henry