(marker whooshing) (birds chirping) (child giggling) - Welcome to InPact at Home, where we practice interrupting prolonged sitting with activity.

I'm Heather Lewis and I'm here for the next eight minutes to bring mindfulness to your day.

Mindfulness means paying attention to one thing right now and it helps our brains and bodies become stronger, healthier, and happier.

Let's get started.

Today's exercise will actually be stillness.

There are times for movement and there are times for stillness.

We're going to practice checking in with ourselves to see what, if anything, our body might need.

As always, we start with mindfulness to bring our attention to the now.

So listen for the chime for as long as it lasts.

Put your hand on your heart when you can't hear it anymore.

(bell chiming) Okay.

Now we're here.

So I want you to find a comfy spot and I want it to be away from your desk or your work area.

Just some comfy spot away from the things that you have to do.

I want you to settle in and get comfy, like me.

And I want you to think about how we are always focusing out into the world.

We're focusing on our computers, our tablets, our phones, our TVs, our family, the people.

We're always looking out into the world, but we don't always focus on what's inside of ourselves.

How am I doing?

To check in on how I'm doing, what I'm thinking, how I'm feeling, what my body is feeling like today.

That's what we're gonna practice.

I want you to be able to check in with yourself.

Now, I like to close my eyes for my check-in.

That feels comfy for me, but it doesn't feel comfy for everybody.

So if it does not feel comfortable for you, you can just stare down at a spot in front of you and let your eyes go soft.

I'm gonna close my eyes.

Okay, now pay attention to what is happening inside your body right now.

How does your body feel?

Is it relaxed, loose?

Is it uncomfortable?

Is it tight?

Are you hungry?

Do you have pain anywhere?

Do you feel bored or frustrated or maybe happy and comfortable?

Lots of times when we're sitting for a long time on online school, we get kind of tight in our shoulders and our necks.

So let's try to be aware of that and bring our shoulders down away from our ears.

Get them loosened up.

You could roll your neck maybe a little bit, loosen up your neck.

All right.

Now see how your body feels.

Is it feeling better in the stillness?

Maybe.

Now let's check in with our feelings.

How are you feeling today?

Are you tired?

Do you feel a little sick or just a little weird or off?

Or do you feel happy and comfortable?

Or maybe excited for something that's happening later in your day?

How are you feeling today?

Just notice.

And breathe.

I want you to know that all feelings are okay.

Every single feeling you will ever have is okay because they're totally normal and everybody has them.

Here's the best part.

They will always pass.

None of your feelings will last forever.

None of them.

You won't be happy forever.

You won't be angry forever.

You won't be frustrated forever.

You've felt all of those feelings and they come and they go, so you don't have to worry.

It's okay.

They will pass.

Now, I want you to think about your check-in.

We checked in with our bodies, how our body's feeling, and we checked in with her feelings.

How our feelings are today.

If your energy is low, tired, bored, you can go back and do my energizing mindful movement video.

And if your energy is high or frustrated or anxious or stressed, you could do my all about the breath video.

So what we're gonna do now is we're gonna pretend that we're- (sighing).

Low and low energy and bored.

Remember what we can do?

We can stand up.

Actually, let's just get up on our knees.

And we can shake our arms.

We can twist, shake.

And remember that breath that's energizing?

We can breathe in with our rainbow breath.

(breathing in) Touch and breathe out.

(sighing) One more time, breathe in.

(breathing in) And out.

(sighing) A little more shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake.

And that should perk you up for your energy.

If your check-in let you think, oh, I'm really low today.

Now, if you were feeling stressed or anxious or worried or frustrated, then we can use some of our breathing techniques.

I'm gonna teach you a new one.

It's called finger breathing.

You will trace your fingers as you breathe in.

Follow me.

Up, breathe in.

(breathing in) Pause, breathe out.

(sighing) Breathe in.

Pause.

Breathe out.

Keep going, in.

Pause, out.

In, pause, out.

In, pause, and out.

By the time you get through all of your fingers, I bet you feel a little bit better, a little bit calmer.

So remember, boys and girls, always check in with yourself.

How are you feeling today?

And find out what your body needs.

Great job today.

I hope you enjoyed today's mindfulness activity.

InPact at Home is it chance to apply the skills you may have learned in your PE class to improve your health.

To learn more about the health benefits associated with daily movement, visit inpactathome.umich.edu.

Now, don't forget to fill out your daily log.

We will see you again during our next workout.

(marker whooshing) (birds chirping) (child giggling) - [Narrator] Support for this program is provided by the Michigan Public Health Institute and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

(gentle piano music)