Time Filler Activity: Mindful Minutes

If students are feeling stressed or anxious, it can be helpful to share some techniques and exercises to help them calm down, regulate themselves, and re-centre, so they can go about the rest of their day feeling a bit better. The drama classroom is often a safe haven for students. Maybe they’re worried about their upcoming audition, maybe they’re feeling anxious about participating in an improv exercise, or maybe they’re holding stress from a prior class or an event earlier in the day. If you’ve got a few minutes to fill, notice a tense or stressed-out student, or need a quick activity to switch up the energy of the room, try one of these mindfulness activities. They can be condensed or expanded to fit any amount of time required. And teachers — you might even find these activities useful if you’re feeling stressed out yourself!

1. Have students pause, stand, and stretch their bodies. Start at the top of the head and move down through the body — neck, shoulders, arms and hands, torso, hips, legs, feet. Or, lead them in a brief yoga sequence.

2. Have students sit or lie on the floor, and lead them through a visualization story or meditation. (As an extension of this activity, after students have had a few opportunities to participate in this exercise, have them write their own visualization stories, and then have them lead the exercise.)

3. Do an energy pass circle. Have students stand in a circle and hold hands with the students on either side of them. Have one student gently squeeze the hand of the student next to them. That student will then gently squeeze the hand of the person next to them, and so on around the entire circle. Once the squeeze has been sent around the circle, have students do the exercise again, only this time with their hands crossed in front of them, and then re-joining hands. Students will need to stand closer to each other to do the second energy pass.

4. Have students say out loud or write something kind about themselves.

5. Have students say out loud or write something that they’re proud of, or something that they’ve learned or accomplished in drama class.

6. Have students give a classmate a compliment. (For suggestions 4, 5, and 6, you could also have students write these prompts on a Post-it Note and stick them up somewhere in your classroom as a positivity display.)

7. Think about the characters in the play you’re currently studying or in rehearsals for. What mindfulness activities or exercises do you think they might do? For bonus points, do those activities.

8. Try one of the following breathing exercises:

• Box breathing: inhale for four counts, hold the breath for four counts, exhale for four counts, hold the breath for four counts, and repeat as many times as you wish.
• Flower breathing: imagine that you are holding a flower with a long stem. In your head, visualize the flower: what kind of flower is it? What colour is it? What scent does it have? Use your hands to mime picking the flower and holding it gently in front of you. Breathe in through the nose the “scent” of the imaginary flower for four counts, then exhale out the mouth for four counts. Repeat as many times as you wish.
• Laugh breathing: inhale for four counts, then exhale in four short bursts while saying “ha” and then a final slow “ha” at the end, exhaling all the breath remaining. It will feel/sound like this: inhale… ha, ha, ha, ha, haaaaaaaaa. Repeat as many times as you wish, changing the vowels of the exhale each round (hee hee hee, hi hi hi, ho ho ho, etc.) or varying the volume.

9. Do a “stop and sense” check. Identify the following:

• Five things you can SEE
• Four things you can TOUCH
• Three things you can HEAR
• Two things you can SMELL
• One thing you can TASTE (What does the inside of your mouth currently taste like? Coffee? A mint? Your lunch?) Bonus points if the identifications are related to theatre or drama class.

10. Do a massage chain. Have students sit in a circle, facing the back of the person in front of them. (Students with long hair will need to tuck their hair over their shoulder or tie it back.) With students’ consent, students will place their hands on the shoulders and/or upper back of the student in front of them, and give them a gentle massage. Gentle two-finger taps or karate chops with the side of the hand can feel good too. After an agreed-upon amount of time has passed, have students turn and massage the shoulders of the student who was previously massaging them. Again, be sure students get consent from the student ahead of them before placing their hands on them.

Additional Resources:

3 Mindfulness Techniques to Combat Pre-Show Nerves
Round-Up: Health & Fitness for Drama Students
Closure Practices for the Drama Classroom