Hedgy's Guide to Blog

Parents: How to Use Super Power BREATHE with YOUR Family

This video compliments Hedgy's Guide to Calm PDF or EPUB book and Hedgy's Guide to Teaching Hedgy's Guide to Calm PDF (found on www.supercalmhedgy.com). 

Please take the Hedgy's Guide to Calm 21 Day Challenge yourself! 

The 21 days will help you to become familiar with how to use the Super Powers to Becoming a Super-Calm YOU before adding them to your classroom's daily rhythm and routine AND will provide YOU with the tools and skills to help calm YOURSELF down. 

Calm teacher + Calm Students = A calm and productive learning environment 

Before teaching the individual Super Powers, I would highly recommend you introduce Hedgy (your lovable and trustworthy guide) and 'Hedgy's Calm Action Song'. The MP3 with the first five Super Powers is found at www.supercalmhedgy.com along with Hedgy's Calm Action Cards (Hedgy performing each action that goes with the song). 

Sing and move with Hedgy's Calm Action Song all day long and then slowly introduce each Super Power separately. (Use the MP3 with VISUALIZE. once you are ready to introduce Super Power VISUALIZE to your students.) 

Hedgy (and I) will guide you through how to teach and use each of the Super Powers to Becoming a Super-Calm YOU! beginning with Super Power 1) STOP. followed by Super Power 5) BREATHE. STOP. and BREATHE. are two very powerful Super Powers. Now that your students have practiced using their Super Power STOP. LOOK. LISTEN. & WIGGLE. for a period of time, it is time to introduce Super Power 5) BREATHE. 

We all know how to breathe, but it's important to learn how to BREATHE. mindfully in order to calm down. I learned how to breathe "properly" at a very young age because I was a runner. I would get cramps in my stomach and would have to stop. Someone (I don't remember who) explained to me how to breathe "properly" to get rid of the stomach cramp. It worked! I then practiced breathing properly and eventually I was able to prevent stomach cramps all together while running. Breathing "properly" will not only help you to calm down, but will also strengthen you lungs that will help you when playing sports, music, and singing. S

uper Power 5) BREATHE may take some time for your students to figure out how to do it effectively. That's OK. Just keep demonstrating how to do it and practice with your students. 

Here are some suggestions: 

Show Visual: 

In Hedgy's Guide to Calm, there is a picture of Hedgy breathing in through their nose, like he's smelling a flower, and breathing out of their mouth, like he's blowing out candles on a birthday cake. Show this picture to your students and have them practice pretending to SLOWLY smell and flower and SLOWLY (and lightly) blow out candles on a birthday cake. Demonstrate with a Balloon: Use a balloon to show how when air is blown into a ballon the balloon goes out (gets bigger) and when the air is let out of a balloon, the balloon goes in (gets smaller). 

Place Hands Just Below Your Ribs (JBYR): 

Now that they have a visual, have them place their hands Just Below Your Ribs (JBYR) and breathe in slowly through their nose (like they are smelling a flower) and feel and watch their ribs go out. (Remind them to keep their shoulders down.) and then have them breathe slowly out of their mouth (like blowing on candles on a birthday cake, and feel and watch their JBYR go in. Practice BREATHE. 5 Times: Have them doing BREATHE. (above) 5 times - about one minute in order for their nervous system to calm down. 

Lay Down and BREATHE. 

**Quiet time while using Super Power BREATHE** 

Students LOVE to lay down in their own space. If you have room, have them find a spot on the floor and lay down on their back. Have them put their hands JBYR and BREATHE in and out and watch their hands go up (out) and down (in). I recommend putting on some calming music and have them continue to BREATHE., calm down, and take the time to be on their own. 

My Calm Beat: 

I added a video from the APP My Calm Beat (the app no longer exists) to 'How to Teach Super Power 5) BREATHE because I found it beneficial to help me control my breathing. You can show the video to your students and use it as a visual if you find it helps your students. You can show your student my separate 'Teaching BREATHE. Using My Calm Beat Video'. 

TAKE - YOUR - TIME 

The Super Powers to Becoming a Super-Calm YOU are a WHOLE life skills and it is beneficial for them to be learned over an extended period of time for a better understanding and to allow "new behaviors to become automatic and enacted with minimum conscious awareness because the repetitive behavioral patterns are literally etched into our neural pathways.” - Psychology Today 

 ADD Youtube VIDEO - 

Parents: How to use your Super Power Breathe with your family