Lesson video

Hello, my name's Ms. Willow, and I'm going to be your teacher for today's lesson.

Today's lesson is called Working with my feelings, and it fits into the unit Mental health: How can I support my mental health? During this lesson, we are going to be talking a little bit about the different emotions and mental health, and this involves some sensitive content.

For this reason, we recommend that you have an adult with you for this lesson.

If at any point you do feel worried or uncomfortable, it's really important that you stop the video and that you speak to a trusted adult.

Okay, and let's make a start.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain different ways of managing a range of feelings.

Before we get started, we need to discuss some ground rules.

These are really important for making sure that everyone feels safe and comfortable throughout today's lesson.

So first of all, Laura says that we need to listen to others.

It's okay to disagree with each other, but we should listen properly before we make any assumptions or before we decide how to respond.

When disagreeing with someone else, it's important to challenge the statement and not the person themselves.

Next, Andeep says that we need to respect each other's privacy.

We can discuss examples, but we shouldn't use any names or descriptions that could identify anyone, including ourselves.

So, if we want to share a story or an experience, we can refer to someone as my friend.

This means that we're not going to give away any identifying information.

Izzy says that we can choose our level of participation.

Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or to join in with discussion, and we should never put anyone on the spot as this can make some people feel uncomfortable.

And finally, Jacob reminds us that we need to not have any judgment.

It's okay to explore any beliefs and misunderstandings about a topic that we may have without fear of being judged.

We're now going to go through the keywords for today's lesson.

First of all, we have the word respond.

This means what we do after something has happened.

Sensation.

This is a feeling in our bodies or on our skin.

And finally, trigger.

This is something that leads to a strong emotional response.

As we go through today's lesson, keep an eye out for these keywords, and when you spot them, try and remember what they mean.

Today's lesson is split into two learning cycles.

Our first learning cycle is called How can I make sense of my feelings? And our second learning cycle is called How can I work with my feelings? Let's make a start on our first learning cycle.

How can I make sense of my feelings? Everyone experiences feelings.

Feelings are really important.

They're the ways in which our body responds to situations, people, and the world around us.

Ms. Walsh says that it's normal for our feelings to change quickly and many times over the course of a day.

So for example, having a day where we feel happy, sad, angry, excited, and lots more emotions, too.

Our feelings are usually determined by the things that are going on around us.

So, Jacob says, "I feel annoyed at my friend for canceling our plans." And Sam says, "I feel confused because my friend's upset with me, and I don't know why." As you can see here, our feelings are influenced by the things that are happening around us and the people, too.

Izzy says, "I feel content because I've had a chance to eat and relax after a really busy day." And Alex says, "I feel excited because I'm going on holiday to visit my granddad very soon." Ms. Walsh says that everyone feels worried or down sometimes, and that's completely normal.

It doesn't always mean that we have a mental health problem or that it's something to worry about.

By seeing these emotions as something that is normal and that everyone experiences, it helps us to manage them easier.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing.

Can you fill in the missing word below? So, feelings are the ways in which our body blank to situations, people, and the world around us.

Which word is missing? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that the word responds is the missing word.

Our sentence now says, feelings are the ways in which our body responds to situations, people, and the world around us.

Well done if you got this right.

Sometimes it can be hard to make sense of what we're feeling.

Ms. Walsh says that at times, our feelings might seem confusing or even upsetting.

Becoming more aware of our sensations and what triggers them, this can help us to make sense of our feelings and to respond to them more effectively.

And this helps us to manage these emotions, too.

Usually we will notice certain sensations when we're experiencing a particular feeling.

So, Laura says, "I know that when my heart rate goes up, my throat goes dry and my stomach feels like it's in knots.

I'm feeling anxious about something.

I usually get these sensations right before I sit a test or an exam.

In this example, sitting a test or an exam is the trigger for these sensations for Laura.

Jun says, "I get the sensation of being able to hear my blood pounding in my ears.

I start to clench my fists and I want to scream when I'm feeling angry.

I sometimes feel like this if my team loses an important football match." In this example, Jun's team losing an important football match is the trigger for having these sensations, which can feel difficult to manage.

Ms. Walsh says that people can experience different sensations and it's about learning what yours are.

Now that Laura knows that tests or exams can trigger her to feel anxious, she could try some deep breathing exercises before she sits one to help her manage these emotions.

Laura says, "This really helped! I was able to focus and concentrate a lot better!" Because she was able to notice the triggers that give her those sensations, so she's able to put strategies in place that help her.

Ms. Walsh says that if Jun knows that losing a football game triggers him to feel angry, he could ask his coach if he could have some time out to get some space as soon as the match is over.

Jun says that this helped.

"When the final whistle is blown, my coach now lets me walk around the outside of the pitch so that I have time to calm down and reflect." We all experience feelings in different ways, and this is okay.

Aisha says, "Jun sometimes feels angry when our football team loses a game, whereas I feel disappointed." In this example, the same thing has happened, but two people are having different sensations and different feelings around it.

Ms. Walsh reminds us that there's no right or wrong way to feel about a situation.

Everyone's feelings are valid.

Although it's okay to experience a range of feelings, we should think carefully about how we respond to them.

Ms. Walsh says that it's not wrong for Jun to feel angry about losing an important football match.

However, it would be wrong for him to take this anger out on someone else.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing.

Which of these can help us to make sense of our feelings and respond to them more effectively? Is it A, ignoring or bottling up our feelings? B, becoming more aware of sensations and triggers? Or C, becoming less aware of sensations and triggers? What do you think? Which of these could help us to make sense of our feelings and respond to them more effectively? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that B is correct.

We can make sense of our feelings and respond to them more effectively by becoming more aware of sensations and triggers.

Well done if you've got this right.

Let's move on to your first practice task, and well done for your brilliant hard work so far.

I'd like you to read the scenario below and answer the questions on the following slide.

Let's take a look at our scenario with Lucas.

Lucas says, "Last week, Jacob got cross at me for canceling our plans.

He messaged me to ask if we could talk about it at school.

Within seconds of seeing his message, my hands were shaking, my stomach was hurting, and my heart rate was a little fast." Now we're going to take a look at some questions.

Question number one is what sensations is Lucas experiencing? Question two is what was the trigger for these sensations? Question three is how might Lucas be feeling and why? And question four, is it wrong for Jacob to feel cross at Lucas? Pause the video and we'll go through what you might have said in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

For question one, what sensations is Lucas experiencing? You might have said that Lucas's hands were shaking, his stomach was hurting, and his heart rate was a little fast.

For question two, what was the trigger for these sensations? You might have said that Jacob getting cross with him and messaging to ask if they could talk about it may have triggered these sensations.

Perhaps Lucas is worried that there might be conflict.

For question three, how might Lucas be feeling and why? You might have said that Lucas might be feeling anxious, nervous, or worried about the situation.

And finally, question four, is it wrong for Jacob to feel cross at Lucas? You might have said that everyone's feelings are valid, so it's not wrong for Jacob to feel cross, but he should try to respond to his feelings in the right way.

Lucas could message Jacob to let him know that he's worried about talking.

Jacob could reassure Lucas that he isn't going to shout, but wants to talk calmly to understand what's happened.

Well done if your answers were anything like this.

We're now moving on to our second learning cycle.

How can I work with my feelings? There are different ways to work with your feelings.

For example, it's important to allow yourself to sit with and experience feelings rather than ignoring them or bottling them up.

Ms. Walsh says that suppressing our feelings can make things harder for us later on.

Taking the time to stop and reflect can help us to work out what triggers may have caused us to feel a certain way.

This then helps us to be better prepared for similar situations.

It can be helpful to name the emotion that we are feeling.

Ms. Walsh says that it isn't always easy to put feelings into words.

Using an emotions chart or pictures can be a helpful way to express our feelings.

For example, if we wanted to use the emotions chart, we could take a look at the center and think about which emotion are we feeling? Fear, happy, surprise, anger, sad or peaceful? We might be feeling one of those emotions, but we might be feeling something a little bit more specific than that.

For example, we could be feeling worried, anxious, shy, nervous.

We could be feeling overwhelmed, speechless, confused.

We could be feeling loving, affectionate, trusting, or relaxed.

We could be feeling disappointed, guilty, lonely, tired, or bored.

And there's lots of even more specific emotions on the emotion chart, too.

We can use the chart to help us verbalize what emotion we're feeling.

This can be really helpful.

Calming techniques can help us to manage strong feelings at the same time.

So, Ms. Walsh says that breathing exercises such as finger breathing are useful ways to calm ourselves when we're experiencing strong feelings.

Finger breathing means that we breathe in and out as you trace the fingers of one hand using the index finger of the other.

So, for example, you would breathe in as you go up your finger, breathe out as you go down, and you'd repeat this for each finger to help you to breathe slowly and calmly.

Grounding techniques can also help to regulate our feelings.

Ms. Walsh says that we can use the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique to engage our senses and help us to reset.

Look around for five things that you can see first, then four things that you can feel, then three things that you can hear, two things that you can smell, and one thing that you can taste.

This helps to make us feel grounded in the present moment.

We can focus on what's happening exactly right now rather than thinking about the past or something in the future.

This can be really helpful.

We're now moving on to another check for understanding.

I'd like you to finish this sentence.

We can work with our feelings by, A, suppressing our feelings? B, naming the emotion we feel? Or C, using calming and grounding techniques? What do you think? How can we work with our feelings? Talk to the people around you or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that B and C are correct.

We can work with our feelings by naming the emotion we feel and using calming and grounding techniques.

It's important to not suppress or ignore our feelings.

This can make things harder later on.

Well done if you've got this right.

Journaling and other creative methods can also help us to process challenging feelings and situations.

A journal gives us a space of our own where we can write down our thoughts and feelings, and this can help us to process what's going on for us and how we're feeling.

Not only does this help us to process the things that are going on, for example, in our family, at school, or just in our own minds, but it can also help us to spot any potential triggers for any sensations that feel difficult for us to experience.

Sometimes distraction can be a good technique to get a break from some tricky feelings.

Lucas says, "I often go for a walk to get some fresh air when I'm feeling anxious as this helps me to take my mind off the things that were worrying me.

Other times, I sit and watch my favorite TV show because it makes me laugh and gives my mind a break from stressful thoughts." However, it's important that when we distract ourselves from how we feel, we still make sure that we sit and experience our feelings at some other time to make sure that we are not ignoring or suppressing our emotions.

Let's do another check for understanding.

This time, I'd like you to circle one word in each of the sentences below to make the statements correct.

Journaling and other creative methods can help us to process or suppress challenging feelings and situations.

Sometimes discomfort or distraction is a good technique to get a break from tricky feelings.

Can you circle one word in each of those sentences to make the statements correct? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you circled the words process and distraction.

The correct statements are, journaling and other creative methods can help us to process challenging feelings and situations.

And sometimes distraction is a good technique to get a break from tricky feelings.

Well done if you've got this right.

We're now moving on to our final practice task, and well done for your hard work so far.

For this task, I'd like you to write one paragraph to explain how we can work with our feelings.

I'd like you to include why it's important to experience our feelings and to give examples of at least two techniques or strategies that we can use.

Pause the video and we'll go through a model answer in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

You could have said that suppressing feelings can make things harder later on, so it's important to experience them.

This way, we can spot the triggers that may have caused us to feel a certain way so we're better prepared for similar situations in the future.

It can be helpful to name the emotion that we're feeling by using an emotions chart or pictures.

We can also do calming and grounding techniques such as finger breathing or the 5-4-3-2-1 technique, as these can help us to calm ourselves and regulate our feelings.

Journaling can also give us the space to process challenging feelings and distraction can also help us to take a break from any stressful thoughts.

Well done if your answer was anything like this.

We're now going to summarize the key learning from today's lesson.

In today's lesson, we've learned that feelings are really important.

They give us information about how we're experiencing situations, the people around us, and the world, too.

Becoming aware of any sensations that we have and any triggers can help us to make sense of our own feelings and respond to them effectively.

It's okay to experience a range of feelings, but we should always think carefully about how we respond to them.

Allowing ourselves to experience feelings can help us to work out what triggers may have caused us to feel a certain way, and this can help us in the future.

Finally, we've learned that naming emotions, for example, with an emotions chart, using calming or grounding techniques, journaling, and distraction are all ways in which we can work with our feelings.

Well done for your hard work in today's lesson.

In today's lesson, we have talked about some tricky topics, so it's really important that if you have any worries or questions that you share these with a trusted adult.

There's also some resources on the screen that are there to help you, too.

Well done on your hard work today.

I hope to see you in another lesson soon.