Calm Down Already!: A Practical Guide to Using Meditation and Reiki During Early Childhood Education

By Angela M Newman and Danico CM

This is an interactive book that intro

• Language: English
• Publisher: Positive U, LLC
• Release date: Aug 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781946326911

Angela M Newman

Angela Newman is an author, artist, minister, public speaker and teacher. This is her first nonfiction book on Reiki Meditation. She has practiced both modalities and other various calming techniques and now she is sharing what she has learned and practice for over ten years. Ms. Newman is a certified Reiki and Meditation teacher since 2009. She is available for speaking event and courses.

Book preview

Calm Down

Already!

A Practical Guide to Using Reiki and Meditation During Early Childhood Education

Angela Newman

First Edition

Published ©2020

ISBN: 978-1-946326-91-1

Calm Down Already! A Practical Guide to using Meditation and Reiki During Early Childhood Education

This book is licensed for both educational and personal purposes. It may not be resold in any form. All rights are reserved. The use of forms and charts may be used for educational purposes, brief quotations, reviews or non-commercial uses only. All other parts of this book are forbidden to be reproduce, transmitted in any form or by any means, photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, including information storage and retrieval systems without the written permission of the author or publisher.

Disclaimer

This book is licensed for both educational and personal purposes. It may not be resold in any form. All rights are reserved. The use of forms and charts may be used for educational purposes, brief quotations, reviews or non-commercial uses only. All other parts of this book are forbidden to be reproduce, transmitted in any form or by any means, photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, including information storage and retrieval systems without the written permission of the author or publisher.

THANK YOU TO:

Karen Shepard

Cynthia Fareed

Alicia Clifford

Maria Flaherty

Leslie Weissman-Gray

Michelle Martin

Marcia Bennett

And to my staunch supporter

and husband − John Newman

I want to send my gratitude and thanks out to the beautiful people who helped make this book possible. This book has been a long time coming. I taught as a substitute teacher for six years. All the time I spent teaching in the classroom, I learned something. I have taken over for teachers who left after only 2 months on the job because they could not handle the students. This book is dedicated to you and all the teachers, parents, childcare and home care providers who sacrifice daily in order to help our students learn.

I would also like to send my gratitude and thanks to my husband for supporting me and making this book happen through the grace of God.

I want to acknowledge Reverend Karen Shepard who supported me through expos, editing, and making this book move forward with her insight as a former educator in public schools and her continued practice in Reiki and meditation.

In addition, I am sending a warm thank you to Maryrose Molnar and the Willard Head Start for reading this book and supplying advice.

Thanks also need to be given to Ms. C. Callieham and the Developing Character Enrichment Center for allowing me to observe and read to their students and for the interview.

A special thanks to Marcia Bennett and the teens at the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court for their participation.

I would like to acknowledge and thank Mrs. Smith for her interview and time while the little one sat and played for the twenty minutes needed.

I would also like to acknowledge my sister Andrea. She has always supported me with love and encouragement.

I am grateful for the help received from Leslie Weissman-Gray and Maria Flaherty for their insight and influence. I would like to give a special thanks to Ms. Flaherty for introducing me to Reiki.

Thank you, Michelle Martin, co-owner of Insight Learning and Wellness Center, for helping with many of my last-minute thoughts.

Finally, I want to give my gratitude to my spiritual Big Brother. For without His support and guidance, I would have lacked the inspiration to complete this book. I am grateful for all the angels in my life.

Thank you all,

Angela

Contents

Forward

Introduction

1: Relaxation Mindfulness from Chatter to Calmness

Relaxation and Mindfulness

Deep Abdominal Breathing

Meditation

Sitting Positions used in Meditation

Meditation Hand Positions (Mudras)

Other Meditation Techniques

Sleeping or Meditating?

2: Reiki

Introduction to Reiki

Ohio’s Approval of Reiki

Reiki Roots?

Attunement

What is Energy?

What is Self-Reiki?

Reiki Experience

Reiki Story

Benefits of Reiki

Reiki Studies and Usage

Reiki Supports the Aura and Chakras

3: Relaxing and Calming Strategies in the Classroom

Why Relaxation Strategies in the Classroom?

Meditation Studies

Mindfulness Practices Do Not Involve Indoctrination and Should Not Be Used As a Religious Practice

Who can learn to Relax?

What to Avoid?

4: Purposes of Relaxation Strategies

The purpose of Relaxation Strategies is to

Health Benefits

Focusing on Relaxation

From Fear to Calmness

5: Qualities Needed by Relaxation Teachers

How to Get Started?

Individual’s Roles

6: Relaxation Strategies

Relaxation Exercises

Designing a Calming Center

Items or Manipulatives Used in the Calming Centers

7: Affirmations

Affirmations for Students and Teachers

8: Stories

The Affirmation Game

Waterfall

Peter and Paul

9: Action Plan Guide

Setting Guidelines

Action Plan

Action Plan

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Materials to Use

Materials to Used

Emotion Box

Appendix 3

Bibliography

Internet Sources

Anonymous Sources

Interviews

Other Sources

Index

Ms. Angela,

I really enjoyed your book! It gave me insight regarding how to breathe when we should ask children to breathe, how it is done, and why we do it. I found the background information very interesting and informative. I believe that this a good starter book for teachers to learn about meditation and Reiki, as well as what would be the best for themselves, what they could bring to their lives and the lives of the students. I think that this book can be a great tool for teachers, administrators, and higher-ups! Our children today have so much baggage that they come with as well as being attached at the hip with iPads and cellphones, which once taken away, many have meltdowns. I witnessed a three-year-old boy have a meltdown over losing his equipment, which happens daily.

These techniques are very useful, and I think that all teachers will benefit from its contents. Your resources and plan at the end will help first-time teachers. At Head Start, we have a cozy area to help children get themselves together or just to go and relax when they want to be by themselves. I believe this idea that Angela Newman provided and put into practice is very informative. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book. It was a very easy read and was quite engaging.

Maryrose Molnar

Willard Head Start

Forward

I have known Reverend Angela Newman for six years. We met when I was completing my ministerial internship at the Unity Center of the Heights in Cleveland Heights, OH.

Angela is a minister, a Reiki Master (practitioner and teacher), a teacher, a wife, and a beloved auntie.

Angela is well-qualified to write this book for teachers, due to her having been a classroom teacher herself. She draws upon her deep knowledge of the principles in the disciplines she describes in the book.

All teachers are familiar with the challenges of keeping order in a classroom on a moment-by-moment basis. Challenges with discipline often send teachers running from the classroom into other professions; it is one of the causes of the high levels of stress among teachers.

This book offers methods for dealing with these challenges in the classroom. Many of the methods involve alternative, out of the box methods that are not taught in traditional teacher preparation programs in universities.

She provides in-depth descriptions of the methods including history, application and adaptation for a classroom setting.

One of the most helpful chapters is the one in which Angela provides thorough directions as to how to set up and maintain the suggested calming centers. Her examples of positive affirmations are also incredibly helpful.

Angela’s instructions can be followed without the teacher having to re-invent the wheel.

Calm Down Already is a valuable addition to any teacher’s toolbox because it provides creative, imaginative ways to deal with some of the most daunting challenges and circumstances that face modern educators.

Reverend Karen Shepard

Educator, Minister, and Reiki Master

Introduction

People ask, What’s wrong with children today? Adults wonder why they seem so angry and upset. Many believe they have found the answers, yet it seems children ’s behavior is getting more violent and disturbing. Teachers are more stressed, but their caring nature always comes back to ask what they can do to help children, as well as themselves, to calm down and relax . More often than not, children face challenges created by the environment and the home. There is a variety of issues occurring with only a few actually helping to solve the issues bombarding many communities. It seems that helping one initiates ten more waiting who need help and love .

Very young students face dilemmas regularly. So, when teachers come in contact with them, they are dealing with students who bring a plethora of issues to the classroom that can cause frustrations, high blood pressure, and stress. Yet teachers are trained professionals, who are taught how to deal with students who on a daily basis often lack concentration, misbehave, are unruly, and disrespectful. Regardless, these educators take on the task because they love their jobs and the students, even though the task may lead to a mound of anxiety. Misconduct amongst students continuously plagues many schools in the United States. Even the keenest and adroit minds, who continuously adapt programs to try and solve the problems, have not been able to totally find solutions.

Of course, there are teachers who have found ways to maintain order in the classroom. Have you ever walked into a classroom and observed a teacher who has their classroom under control and the students sat quietly and did their classwork without fuss or circumstance? Then you walk into another classroom and you observe the opposite, and you ask yourself, what is the other teacher’s secret? A teacher once told me that in order to maintain discipline, as the school year began, she never smiled until the end of the school year. That was how she maintained discipline. She never smiled. Smiling and laughing relieves stress. I, for one, had a hard time practicing this technique. It would be difficult for an upbeat person to go without smiling.

One thing I noticed is that when teachers are not creating their own methods, they use older techniques of behavior modification. Or, they may use what I term the old grandma’s disciplinary method. The children knew not to test Grandma. That stern look was all it took! My third-grade teacher had that look. She was a no-nonsense teacher. She never smiled, her classroom was well behaved, but she was my favorite teacher. I realized how kind she was when my mother could not afford to buy me paper and pencils for school. She bought me notebooks, notebook paper, pencils, and crayons. I was so grateful for the gifts. I can never say her class was fun, but I learned a lot, and I was relaxed in her classroom, I felt safe. Most children want a place where they can experience routine, consistency, and boundaries. Many don’t live in a safe environment and want to have the exposure of a secured space once they enter the classroom.

Like myself, a child who was placed in a foster home at the age of one year old, and who witnessed violence very young, I too entered into the classroom with environmental factors affecting my behavior and how I learned. I will always remember my first and third-grade teachers because they were no-nonsense professionals who cared for their students but maintained discipline in the classroom, without making us feel inferior in the process. But this was in the seventies and much has changed since then. We’ve gone through the crack epidemic and now our children are experiencing the opioid wave sweeping our nation. Yet, educators continue to supply the needs of their students. Still, I can understand a teacher not smiling because as a substitute teacher, I noticed if I smiled or if I seemed nice, students believed they could walk all over me.

There are new suggestions and solutions presented to teachers, parents, and caregivers constantly. What differs from the seventies is that younger teachers are more open to new ideas than professionals were in the past. Teachers are more open and willing to try new techniques to add to the strategies they learned during their early childhood education courses. Calm Down Already! is an interactive book that introduces and suggests new techniques and strategies that teachers can use when all other techniques seem to lose steam. It hacks into the minds of the teachers of old, even beyond the commencement of the Moors. It goes back to a time when people used calming and relaxation techniques to deal with stresses, fears, and depression.

Relaxation techniques have been practiced outside Western ideology for many centuries. In this century, some Western cultures have adopted methods to help their