We continued our unit on tzedek (justice) by unpacking what barriers to self-love might be. In particular, we were looking at the idea of loving ourselves from “Love your neighbor as you love yourself”, (Leviticus 19:18). During snacktime learning, we watched a short film titled “Just Breathe ”https://youtu.be/RVA2N6tX2cg. In this film, children explain different strategies for feeling better when they are feeling disappointed or angry. Afterwards we discussed our own strategies for making ourselves feel better when we are disappointed or angry.
Some thoughts our students shared:
“I get angry at myself when I am angry at other people for no reason, and then I stop being upset at other people by taking a deep breath.”
“I get upset when I do poorly on a test in school, but then it empowers me to work harder for the next one.”
“I distract myself to get out of a bad loop.”
“I make myself feel better by drawing in my mental coloring book.”
We continued on to explore ways that we love ourselves.
Some thoughts our students shared:
“I love myself by doing a good job in something.”
“Loving other people and giving them a treat is loving myself.”
“If you love someone else for who they are, then you love yourself because you feel good.”
“Loving someone else when they are hard to love is loving ourselves because we are never giving up.”
During shulcanot avodah, we continued on with the themes of loving ourselves and loving others. We made our own lists of top ten ways that we love others. We also created warm and fuzzies for our friends at Makom Community by writing kind and loving messages on cards. To practice being kind to ourselves we listened to a guided meditation from Sitting Still Like a Frog called “Dealing with Unpleasant Emotions”.
This week and next week we are celebrating the month of Adar and Purim with fun, food and games. Stay tuned!
