(children 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.

Sometimes we have hard days.

When this happens, it helps to think about the things that we have in our life that are good.

Today's practice will remind us of good things that we can call on and think about when we have a rough day, and we all have rough days, right?

As always, we start with mindfulness to bring us to the here and now.

Listen for the chime, for as long as it lasts, put your hand to your heart when you can't hear it anymore.

(bell rings) Okay, now you're watching this probably from your home and you may have been working online this morning.

So I want you to get away from your workstation for a little while.

Stand up, walk around the room you're in, a little bit.

And while you do that, I want you to pay attention and be mindful of how it feels to step, how your foot feels when it hits the ground, how your leg feels as it moves forward.

Really pay attention as you're walking around.

How does it feel in your body to walk?

Walk around your space a little bit.

Notice things in your space.

Do you have a window?

If you have a window, let's go to it right now.

My window's over here.

I want you to look outside at the world.

Notice, is the sun shining?

Is it cloudy?

Is it rainy?

Maybe it's snowy now.

Can you see a tree, or clouds?

Just notice.

Take some time to look at the clouds.

Do you see some shapes in the clouds?

It's really helpful to look outside when we're stuck inside all day.

It's great to be able to go for a walk, but sometimes we, we're not able to but we can still look outside and look at nature and feel a little bit better in our bodies.

Now, while you're looking out the window, I want you to think about a quiet alone place that you can go in your home.

Maybe it's a corner in your living room, or even in your bed, under the covers, or in the space next to your couch.

Just, just a quiet alone space to think.

Can you think of one?

Might have to pause the video and go find your space.

Okay, you can do that.

If you're already there, great.

I'm gonna choose right here.

Where did you choose?

Did you find a quiet space?

All right, once you're there, I want you to settle into your space, get comfortable, and we're gonna take a few belly breaths to calm our bodies and our mind.

Let's do balloon breath this time.

Blow up our balloon.

Breathe in and breathe out, and breathe in and breathe out.

Let's do one more.

Breathe in and breathe out.

All right, let's reach up tall, high five, fold over your legs, stretch out the back of our body.

You might've been sitting for a really long time at your desk at your computer.

Stretch out that back and come back up.

One more time, stretch up, high five, breathe out, into your stretch, into your forward fold, and back up.

Okay, I'm gonna get back.

Crisscross applesauce, because that feels good and comfy to me.

I want you to close your eyes, if that's comfy for you.

If it's not, that's okay, you can just stare at a spot on the floor in front of you, and let your eyes go soft.

Now I want you to think about something you have in your life, that makes you feel good or makes you feel safe or happy.

It can be anything.

It can be a special grandma or the smell of cookies baking, your favorites, or a stuffed animal maybe, that you love or a special blanket.

Anything that makes you feel safe, and happy, and good, might make you smile.

Okay, do you have your thing in your mind?

So get a picture of that in your mind, clear, can you see your special thing in your mind's eye?

I want you to pay attention.

How do you feel inside when you think of your special thing?

What's happening in your body?

Do you feel a little warm inside, maybe a little more relaxed or maybe, maybe even smiley.

If you feel like you wanna smile when you think of your special thing.

Remember, you can always think of your special thing when you're having a hard time, and it can help your body get back to feeling okay again.

So remember, you can always call on your special thing, no matter where you are, in your home, out in the world, at school, wherever you could be.

When you're having a rough time, you can bring that special thing to your mind and maybe feel a little bit better.

Let's end our time together with a good, deep breath.

Balloon breath, again.

Breathe in and out.

Great job, boys and girls, thinking of your special thing.

I hope you enjoyed today's mindfulness activity.

InPACT At Home is a 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.

(children giggling) - [Announcer] Support for this program is provided by the Michigan Public Health Institute and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

(upbeat piano music)