Tina Siler

Everything we do is connected with the breath.  I use breath awareness with all of the clients I work with because it is a tool that clients can easily grasp and they can practice anywhere.  For clients who are hyperactive and have a difficult time focusing in school, I use the balloon exercises to help them build focus and patience.

This is a good exercise for teachers and parents to use with all children.  For teachers, I would suggest making a daily game out of it.  See how long these students can focus on blowing up their belly balloons.

Balloon in my belly

1. Have child/children imagine a balloon deep down in their belly.  Have them pick the balloon color and size. (Most people pick a big balloon.)
2. Tell them that they have to focus on blowing up that balloon for 30 seconds.  Let them know that the balloon will only get bigger if their full attention is on it and that they control their breath deep down into their belly.
3. For the first round, have them shut their eyes.
4. After 30 seconds let them relax and give them a time frame of when they will start again.
5. Each time you start, have the time go longer and longer.
6. Do a couple of rounds and then have the child/children practice this with their eyes open.
7. At the end, have a discussion of the differences when our eyes are closed and when they are open.
8. Have the child/children write down three things that helped them focus their attention on the balloon during the exercise.

If you are doing this with many children, make it a game and see who could focus the longest.  If you are doing it with one child, have him choose how long he thinks he can focus.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 24th, 2008 at 5:32 pm and is filed under Balloon Exercises. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.