EQ Rising Activities for
Adults and Children
Activities to strengthen attention, openness, and self-awareness, and to cultivate emotional understanding as a doorway into our inner realms.
------------------------------------------------------------
Preschool & Kindergarten:
- Create a Wheel of Emotions - then have kids learn different emotions via a "Name It & Claim It" game.
- Have kids bring their favorite stuffed animal to class. Have them lay down on a yoga mat or blanket. They place the stuffed animal on their tummy. They are giving them a ride to the count of 3 in-breaths and 3 out-breaths. Teach them to focus on their breathing.
Ages 5 - 14:
- Kids Karaoke in the Classroom
- Create a Wheel of Emotions - then have kids learn different emotions via a "Name It & Claim It game.
Teen years - Adults:
- Get out in nature on a consistent basis. Try not to walk the same path every day. That creates routine (left-brain). If you do walk the same path, be as present as possible to the colors, textures, the play of the wind in the grasses and trees because that will be slightly different each day. Notice something you haven't noticed before. Consciously, move your eyes from side to side, sweeping the trail before you.
- Better yet, find new paths to hike! Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy treatment that was originally designed to alleviate stress. It occurs naturally while walking unfamiliar pathways as your eyes sweep from side to side.
- Drawing or painting symbols of integration: mandalas, yin/yang, heiros gamos, lemniscate, oroborous, etc.
All Ages:
- Learn to listen to your intuition
- Take more time out to imgine
- Drumming Circles - drums, especially hand drums like African djembes, encourage left and right brain integration via the rhythms played using both hands.
- Focus on doing things with your opposite hand. If you brush your hair with your right, use your left. Open doors with your opposite hand...start small and build. Some people try writing or signing their name with the opposite hand.
- Instead of writing words to form your mission statement or to begin an essay, try using pictures, maps, and imagery. This draws in the creative side of your brain.
- Incorporate what you have a passion for into your daily activities. If you love music, see how to insert it into what you do, ie: listening to music while working, writing, cooking, etc. Using what you enjoy or are good at invigorates normal activities. Research shows that people perform better when touched by things that inspire them.
- Singing with others: Kirtan - chanting, Sweet Adelines, barbershop, community choirs
- Sound Healing: 432hrtz binaural beats, hemisync music, melody & harmony, Tibetan sound bowls or crystal bowls, etc.
A guided meditation
for emotional empowerment: