First Day of School
The dream: You feel the warmth of the sun’s golden rays touch your face and spread throughout your body as you stand on the mountaintop, looking out at the green forest hundreds of feet below you. All you hear is your own breath, as you slowly breathe in, pause, and breathe out.
The reality: The alarm is blasting, your dog is breathing in your face, and you awake to the reality of the first day of school. Yes, summer bliss is over. (Was it really blissful? That’s anotherstory!)
Does this sound familiar? You slept through your first alarm. So much for waking up early to finish everything you were too tired to do last night. Then you hear your daughter yelling for her favorite pink shirt, so you dig it out of the dirty laundry and make sure it looks and smells somewhat clean. You start coffee as you hurriedly make peanut free lunches, sign a permission slip, and pour sugary cereal because there’s no time to make the homemade organic breakfast you promised yourself you’d make. As you buckle the kids into the car, you realize you forgot your cell phone, so you rush back into the house, get your phone, put on some lipstick and race back to the car. You drive off, feeling guilty that you left the dog staring out of the window without his walk. Oh, and you forgot to take a first day of school picture.
This is the moment you can turn your day around, and choose a path of calm instead of hectic stress.
You can turn this morning into a great one without even leaving the car. You do not need the mountaintop; you just need sixty seconds and your breath.
60 Seconds to Calm
As you drive to school, ask your kids to focus on breathing, taking deep belly breaths, filling your stomach with air so it rises like an inflated balloon.
1. Breathe in for a count of 3.
2. Pause for a count of 4.
3. Breathe out of your mouth like you’re slowly blowing out candles, breathing out to the count of 5.
4. Repeat 3 times. Breathe in to the count of 3, pause to count of 4, breathe out to the count of 5.
After 3 times, continue to breathe in and out and think of something you’re grateful for, even
your sugary cereal.
Give yourself a break, visualize giving yourself a hug, and send love to yourself, your husband who is away on a business trip, and your kids. Have your kids send love to someone of their choosing like a friend, their dad, or their new teacher.
Ask your kids to picture their hearts smiling and their bodies calm as they jump out of the car, ready to start the first day of school. Then as you drive off you remember to do the same!