In a perfect world, we all would have some
'Peace in A Jar'. One we could keep on our desk or on our window sill. All we would have to do is open up the jar and let some
'Peace' out whenever we felt stressed or anxious and boom-all of our stress would be gone, and problems would be solved!
In reality, we know its not that easy. For both adults & children struggling with stressful lives, bullying, learning roadblocks or medical conditions, its even more of a challenge for us to first teach them about these abstract concepts,and secondly to navigate them through their struggles and empower them with ways to manage and overcome them.
'Peace In A Jar' is another visual art tool I use in my children's yoga classes to illustrate the abstract concepts of stress management. (for the adults, we call it
"Serenity Jar" )
I was introduced to this idea through a children's book called
"Moody Cow Meditates" by Kerry Lee McLean. In the book it was referred to as "mind in a jar". Whatever we call it, I have found that it has several very useful functions & and can be a simple visual reminder for adults as well.
"Peace Jars" are simple and inexpensive to make. I know several teachers who have creatively adapted this for their classrooms with success as well. Each child can make one of their own, or there can be one single family/classroom (or office) jar.
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| Assemble your supplies |
First, assemble the following items: a jar with a tight fitting screw top lid-(I prefer to use plastic ones for children-to avoid accidental breakage. Plastic mayonnaise or peanut butter jars washed thoroughly and the label removed work very well.) , lukewarm water, craft sand or fake 'snow' (found in craft stores), large glitter (do not use fine glitter-it does not work as well for this project) a few plastic sequins or confetti pieces, corn syrup or glycerin (found in a pharmacy), labels or paper and tape.
The simple steps are as follows:
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| Mix sand & glitter together |
1-Mix the sand (or artificial snow) with a small amount of glitter & and add in some sequins until you have a colorful mixture. Set aside.
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| Add water & glycerin to jar |
2-Pour water into the jar about 2/3 of the way to the top. Add some corn syrup or glycerin, until liquid is about 1/2 inch from the top of the jar. Mix well.
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| Label your "Peace Jar" |
3-Take a label (or paper) and write
"Peace Jar" (or
"Serenity Jar") or on it and attach to the outside of your jar.
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| Add a scoop of sand for each time you felt angry |
4- Now, instruct your child or students to think of a time today, or this week, when they felt angry. Take a little scoop of sand, and dump it in the jar. That is their anger. Think of a time you (or they) were upset or sad. Take another small scoop of sand and dump that into the jar. That is your sadness. Do this a few times, putting small scoops of sand into the jar, for every time you got upset.
5-Now, put the lid on the jar tightly, and shake it up. All the particles & debris will swirl around in the liquid like a tornado, making it look cloudy and dull. This is what happens inside of us when we are upset or angry. All our thoughts & feelings get stirred up and we can't see the situation clearly much less think clearly about what our choices are.
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| As the sand settles so does our anger |
6-Then, set the jar down on a stable surface and watch it. Don't touch it, just watch. As the jar sits still, you will notice all the particles begin to settle to the bottom. We may have to sit and observe for a bit, but eventually, every particle of sand or glitter settles. This is what happens inside of us when we can settle down, observe & remain still and quiet. All the thoughts & feelings swirling around eventually fall to the bottom, and we can see, think & understand more clearly and know better what choices to make.
For children, I expand the imagery to think of all the shiny sequins & glitter particles mixed in with the cloudy sand are like those feelings, friends, memories and circumstances that are happy & uplifting to us-the spots of 'light' (Serenity & Peace) in our sometimes murky & challenging lives. If we don't take time and sit still and look for those "shiny sparkly things" as those heavier particles settle, we will never see them or even know that they are there. This exercise teaches us to look for them as well.
From a sensory aspect, this is not only an exercise in focused attention, and strengthening concentration skills, but also a tool for visual processing-looking for the "sparkles" in the swirling sand. (One little girl called them "stars" and made wishes on them. She called her project a
"Star Jar" )
When having a rough day, the child can shake their jar, and set it down & be instructed to just sit still as they can, breathe & watch their jar until all the sand settles. By the end of the few minutes it takes for the particles to drop they will feel calmer. Its another way to teach the vital life skills of patience, observation, self-control and self-calming.
It also illustrates that those things that upset us are always there, mixed in with the 'glitter', but if we can learn to calm and focus ourselves when things get 'shaken up', we can get control of our feelings, instead of our feelings getting control of us. Its up to us to decide which to focus on: the
'sand' or the
'sparkles'.
At this writing, my jar is almost full of sand & glitter. However it has become progressively easier for me to focus on those little tiny specks of light as I watch the sand settle.
When your jar gets full & starts getting too cloudy, you can just empty the water & discard the sand/glitter-letting go of all those irritations they represent and start over again.
As time passes, you will find that you put less and less sand in the jar-and find more and more
'Peace' within yourself .
To learn more about stress management for kids visit:
www.bodylogique.com
To order the "Moody Cow" book,
click here
