Tucked away in Leveson is our lovely Well-Being room. It’s a bit like the Tardis – its looks small but seems much larger inside.
It has an array of colourful, crystal singing bowls. One of which was donated to the school by a Teachers’ Union last summer.
The Well-Being room is equipped with a few yoga mats – which were kindly bought by the PTA along with some support pads.
I use essential oils of lavender, rosemary and bergamot along with balms to keep the room fresh and calm.
There is a bright blue strip of wallpaper showing fluffy clouds – kindly given by Mrs Yates – and some Rose quartz crystals.
Everyone mentions the smell as being so relaxing – and everyone seems to enjoy the room.
So many things happen in there.
There is always quiet music playing. Which I choose very carefully; hunting out music and sounds designed to enable students to focus and an ability to ‘change gear’, to slow down, pause, enter a different space for a while.
I have learnt to ‘play’ the bowls so they can produce their own beautiful sounds – and I still go for regular sessions myself to learn as much as I can about them. They calm the mind.
I have an Aborigine inspired ‘rain stick’ which sounds like gentle falling rain and I use it for its relaxing qualities.
People who come to the Well-Being room have to face personal challenges, learn to relax, let go of issues and to accept change.
It’s certainly not an easy thing to commit to.
I facilitate students and staff to find ways of moving forward. Loosening the attachment to outmoded beliefs and ways that no longer serves us is of prime value.
Friends, relationships, beliefs can, when they are good for us, challenge us, stimulate and really serve us well.
When they go wrong – in the sense not go the way we think they ought to go – we panic, we moan, we shout and we sulk.
That’s one way the Well Being room comes in.
I use the power of breath and voice. We slow everything down by becoming aware of our breathing and of the way we speak. We look for intention behind the voice.
The triggers that confront us won’t just go away but we can change how we react to them.
If we relax, look inside, we can explore our issues in a proactive way and realise how much potential we have to change.
We talk some and then naturally move into another state where we can go a little deeper into a silence and that’s where the changes begin to emerge. Some of us are afraid of ‘feeling’ feelings. We don’t want anyone to hurt us, we don’t want guilty feelings or to sit in our fear for a little while so we become reactive.
If you shout – I’ll shout back. But louder. Why?
If you give me a funny or dirty look. I’ll give you a funny, dirty look. Why?
If you leave me out of the invite to a party/sleepover- I’ll make sure you’ll be sorry. Why?
If you take my phone off me to stop me going out, I will sulk and sit in my room and not talk to anyone in this family. Why?
If a teacher shows me up then I won’t be nice to them. Why?
‘It’s not fair’. It certainly isn’t. Life isn’t fair.
But to make life better we need:
to say ‘sorry’,
to communicate truthfully and not manipulate situations,
to stop blaming others,
We need to stop the shouting.
Most of all – we need to stop knee jerk reactions.
We flip our attitude and the world changes. We are no longer caged in by our emotions or triggers.
We learn to realise that dark and trying times can and do lead to positive change – If we let them.
Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise.
Anonymous
Monica Troughton
Well-Being Practitioner, Heart of England