Lesson 1 Self-Soothing
8
Provide Research Supporting Focused Breathing
The research on Focused Breathing is amazing.
1. The flight-fight part of the brain (amygdala) decreases.
2. The thinking, compassionate part of the brain (prefrontal cortex) increases.
3. When the prefrontal cortex grows, our ability to think about difficult situations increases, which reduces our
reactivity (Bing-Carar, 2016).
4. A part of your brain called the Insula activates as you tune in to your body. This leads to a cascade of physical
changes: new receptors get built at busy synapses (this is where brain cells meet and connect to one another),
sensitizing them. These new brain connections grow in a matter of minutes.
5. At the same time as you practice, by no longer paying attention to your usual thoughts, the brain cells
responsible for troubling thoughts, emotions, and memories begin to wither away.
6. Your DNA can then begin its creative work, causing growth and strengthened connections within your brain.
7. There is also a lot of research on the decrease in levels of stress hormones.
Just like repeatedly lifting weights to build a muscle, repeated patterns of mental activity, like Focused
Breathing, build new brain structure. In fact, the mind itself is the greatest sculptor and creator of the brain.
1.4 Peripheral Vision |5 minutes
Preparation Check
_____PowerPoint Lesson 1
_____Toolkit Exercise: 2.a Peripheral Vision
_____Participant Journal: Peripheral Vision (pg. 3)
Rationale
The Peripheral Vision skill focuses on calming the Vagus Nerve. This is the part of the nervous system that
reacts with the fight-flight-freeze response. When we try to calm ourselves down with words, the nervous
system gets more aggravated and our reactivity escalates. We need to speak the language of our nervous
system. So many of these procedures, strange as they may seem, work. For people who are highly reactive or
stressed, it is recommended that they do one of these exercises every ten minutes. Some schools have used
this as an effective method to calm participants down after a fight. Then, the participants could talk about
what happened.
Peripheral Vision, or better known as “seeing out of the corners of your eyes,” can be a quick and easy way to
calm and focus. It is a unique self-soothing exercise that can be done anywhere in a very short period of time.
Safety Tip
Some people may find this to be uncomfortable for their eyes. Only do this exercise a few times and
hold for ten seconds. Once again, if someone is having difficulty, accept them where they are.
8
Provide Research Supporting Focused Breathing
The research on Focused Breathing is amazing.
1. The flight-fight part of the brain (amygdala) decreases.
2. The thinking, compassionate part of the brain (prefrontal cortex) increases.
3. When the prefrontal cortex grows, our ability to think about difficult situations increases, which reduces our
reactivity (Bing-Carar, 2016).
4. A part of your brain called the Insula activates as you tune in to your body. This leads to a cascade of physical
changes: new receptors get built at busy synapses (this is where brain cells meet and connect to one another),
sensitizing them. These new brain connections grow in a matter of minutes.
5. At the same time as you practice, by no longer paying attention to your usual thoughts, the brain cells
responsible for troubling thoughts, emotions, and memories begin to wither away.
6. Your DNA can then begin its creative work, causing growth and strengthened connections within your brain.
7. There is also a lot of research on the decrease in levels of stress hormones.
Just like repeatedly lifting weights to build a muscle, repeated patterns of mental activity, like Focused
Breathing, build new brain structure. In fact, the mind itself is the greatest sculptor and creator of the brain.
1.4 Peripheral Vision |5 minutes
Preparation Check
_____PowerPoint Lesson 1
_____Toolkit Exercise: 2.a Peripheral Vision
_____Participant Journal: Peripheral Vision (pg. 3)
Rationale
The Peripheral Vision skill focuses on calming the Vagus Nerve. This is the part of the nervous system that
reacts with the fight-flight-freeze response. When we try to calm ourselves down with words, the nervous
system gets more aggravated and our reactivity escalates. We need to speak the language of our nervous
system. So many of these procedures, strange as they may seem, work. For people who are highly reactive or
stressed, it is recommended that they do one of these exercises every ten minutes. Some schools have used
this as an effective method to calm participants down after a fight. Then, the participants could talk about
what happened.
Peripheral Vision, or better known as “seeing out of the corners of your eyes,” can be a quick and easy way to
calm and focus. It is a unique self-soothing exercise that can be done anywhere in a very short period of time.
Safety Tip
Some people may find this to be uncomfortable for their eyes. Only do this exercise a few times and
hold for ten seconds. Once again, if someone is having difficulty, accept them where they are.
