How could self-soothing strategies help the children you serve?

I have never been a ‘yoga’ person so was a bit hesitant to try. You made me feel super comfortable and I learned so much in a short time.”

“I love Julie’s videos! I think they are a really unique balance of movement, focus, and grace.“

One of the big topics that some students struggle with is recognizing how their body responds when feeling strong emotions. We work to teach them to recognize patterns in breathing, heart rate, brain chemistry, and other signs that our emotions might be getting out of control… The videos Julie provides combine breathing techniques, physical movement, and visual guided relaxation all with the goal of focusing students’ attention on their minds and bodies and calming down when feeling deregulated. They are easy to use and require zero teacher prep… We’ve seen these videos as beneficial to all students, and students themselves are also recognizing the positive impact the videos have had.”

From the beginning, the efforts to introduce the video library had the goal of being integrative—not simply a “plug and play” resource to fill time, nor an intrusive or obligatory curriculum change that might create additional burden for teachers. Therefore, prior to initiating the Wellness curriculum, Julie Campilio worked closely with the Principal and teachers to establish a clear picture of what teachers felt they needed within the broader scope of the schools’ SEL programming—taking into account availability of time, classroom structure, their own pedagogical goals, and how best to make use of the curriculum within their classroom.”

First thing in the morning, they come in pretty wound up and talkative so I bring them inside, and the video is the first thing we do. It calms them down and sets the tone and mood for the day…The videos helped establish better relationships with my students. Having my students see me do the videos with them — They trusted that we weren’t doing anything too weird…The videos have been really helpful. After taking a mindfulness training I didn’t feel comfortable leading all of it, so it was really nice having someone else teach it so I could participate too.”

The results are great… One of the families wrote to me a few months ago to let me know that their son — a very busy and active kid, who in the past has had a hard time sitting still and focusing — had talked to them about how mindfulness really helps him calm down and focus. He told them he really feels better the days we do mindfulness, and he notices if there is one day when we don’t he feels more restless. Most my students do look forward to it! In terms of using it, it is so fantastically easy. The videos are very well thought out and the images, music, and instructions she gives are so clear and routine-oriented, but engaging as well. In any case, it works for me and for my classroom, it is a tool, and I personally believe in this type of training from a young age.”

Ocean Avenue Elementary School has been working on trauma-informed educational practices. One of these practices has been mindfulness. We had brought in speakers and have had other professional development that was well received. However, this did not translate into changes in the classrooms. When we began talking to Miss Julie and learning about her videos, it was a perfect fit… The teachers that started early were astounded by the difference in their students. Once other teams heard of the impact, they also wanted it for their classroom. This is how we met and exceeded our goal for implementation of this practice. We observe students using the mindfulness techniques spontaneously across settings at school.”