Year 6 pupils at St Saviour’s in Bath had a special visitor from Don Macpherson, the author of the book How To Master Your Monkey Mind.
“Within the session, Don explained what we mean when we use the Buddhist term…’Monkey chatter’ and how to control the negative, unhelpful thoughts ‘he’ can give us when we are feeling anxious,” explained Executive Headteacher Joe Beament. “The children were shown how to breath correctly and relax!
“Don showed us how to breath calmly from our tummies, not our chest, and explained how important breathing is for us to control our emotions. Together, the children all spoke about what makes them feel anxious and how it makes our bodies feel. Don and Mrs Brunton (Don’s daughter and one of St Saviour’s Teaching Assistants) reassured the children that their emotions are all normal and are there for a reason and learning how they make us feel and how to control them that matters most.”
Don and Mrs Brunton gave the children the tools to do this in the MP3 recording that has now been shared with the children and families.
The last part of this session was discussing the use of visualisation to help the Year 6 children with the challenges they will face in the future. After the session, the children were sent a personal message from Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England Rugby and British and Irish Lions Player) focusing on some of the session they had received, Anthony Watson is an advocate for Don’s approaches and has worked with him through his career.