Create an Internal Weather Report

What You Need:

• My Internal Weather Report worksheet
• Crayons/Markers/Colored Pencils 

What You Do:

1. Explain to students that they are going to engage in an activity that invites them to check in with their minds, bodies, and hearts.
2. Share that checking in with themselves is similar to how we check the weather.
3. Discuss how there is external weather, which is the kind of weather we see outdoors, and internal weather, which is how we are doing on the inside.
4. First, have students check in with their bodies through scanning from head to toe for 30 seconds. Ask them to notice if they feel any sensations and what those sensations feel like. For example, "My chest feels tight," "My neck feels stiff," etc.
5. Have students use their Internal Weather Report worksheet to record what they feel.
6. Now have students check in with their minds for 30 seconds and have them see how focused they are or if they have lots of thoughts. Invite students to observe the thoughts come and go like clouds in the sky.
7. Instruct students to record their reflections on the Internal Weather Report worksheet.
8. Now have students look into their hearts for 30 seconds to see what their stress level is, what emotions they are currently experiencing, and how open or closed they find their hearts.
9. Have students record what they observed.
10. Based on what they observe, have students draw/write about their current weather using the worksheet. Then using the worksheet, have students share what they might do if they want to change their weather and how and when they plan to do that.
11. Have students share their weather report with a partner.

Meena Srinivasan, MA, National Board Certified Teacher, is a leader in the fields of Mindful Awareness Practices (MAP) and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). She is the author of Teach, Breathe, Learn: Mindfulness In and Out of the Classroom (Parallax Press, 2014) and SEL Everyday: Integrating Social and Emotional Learning With Instruction in Secondary Classrooms (Norton, 2019).