This week I began an internship at PRISM, a holistic program based in mindfulness, creativity, and community for young people, ages 6-12. Prism is a place where children can unplug from daily stresses and tune into wellbeing mindfulness, creative arts and crafts, yoga, movement, music, drama, and community projects. I talked with Robin, the owner of the business over coffee a few months back and we decided that we could be a great team. It seems like Baltimore has few to no places intended for cultivating mindfulness. Robin's business, PRISM does exactly that, allows children a safe space, to explore their mind, body, and spirit. Their parents also gain peace of mind for 2 hours, knowing that their child is being taught to tune in with their feelings, express themselves, and respect others in a diverse and accepting environment.
After Robin introduced me, we did a light stretch as we sang along:
I place my hands upon my head
Upon my shoulders, on my face,
At my waist, and by my side,
And then behind me they will hide.
Then I will raise them way up high
And let my fingers fly, fly, fly.
Then clap, clap, clap, and one, two, three—
Just see how quiet they can be.
then we sat down in a circle and she passed out pieces of paper with reminders on them. Each child read a reminder. For example, one child said "respect the environment" then Robin asked him, what does that mean, and can you give us an example?" He replied, "to be careful with the things and the people around me, and to give them personal space." These reminders allow the kids to grasp concepts of gratitude, respect, and empathy.
The theme for the day was "what makes me smile" so we all shared what makes us smile. I told them that the sun makes me smile. Then, I played "you are my sunshine" on ukulele and they sang along with me. Afterwards, seeing that the kids had bouncing energy and were easily distracted, I decided to lead them through a guided meditation. I played waterfall sounds from speakers as I said,
Close your eyes and begin to slow down your breath.
Fill our belly up with air like a balloon then slowly deflate it.
Let all of your muscles soften.
Feel as if you are melting into the ground.
Now imagine you are laying in a stream within a forest.
You feel the cold water trickle over your shoulders.
You feel a warm breeze.
In the distance you can hear animals moving and playing.
Suddenly, a fish swims by your foot, you wiggle your toes.
You wiggle your fingertips and feel moss on the rocks below you.
The sun begins to set.
You are at peace knowing that you are part of this world and you are important.
I played one last song as the kids did "slow motion moving." Afterwards, Robin asked the kids how they felt moving in slow motion. We talked about how it felt like we were under water or in jello. One child said it was frustrating because she was trying to jump in slow motion but gravity was against her.
We went outside for a little while and the kids were allowed to be barefoot in the grass.
Our final activity was an ice cream art project. Robin passed out ice cream cone templates and scoop templates. She showed the kids how to trace the templates. Although we used templates, everyone's ice cream looked very different. We added "sprinkles," "whipped cream," or "cherries" to personalize them. Everyone ended up with an ice cream that made them smile.
