Wellbeing & Performance - the Tai Chi way
I’m having fun, as usual, running our Pozitive Kidz are happy kidz six week program. The focus is on building self esteem from a Tai Chi perspective.
The kids love the speedy Tai Chi drill. This is where I stand out in front of about 30-40 students and yell out various posture names and then they have to quickly jump into position.
For example I’ll yell out names such as;
The other day I taught my oldest student ever. She was 95-years-old and was part of our Chair Chi exercise session which was held at a local aged care center. She was seated just behind the main circle and doing some of the exercise I was teaching the other residents.
I only found out her age after the session when she was introduced to me and when I was told she was 95-years-old I said, ‘ah, you’re only a spring chicken’ which got a bit of laugh from her and her carer.
Well, I’m ready to launch my new Pozitive Kidz are Succesful Kidz program for primary schools here in Melbourne, Australia.
The flyer is completed and the next step is to contact schools for an expression of interest, which I’ll do next week.
This 6 week program is designed for grade 5 and grade 6 students to help them become the best they can be in both their academic studies and their relationships with others. I use both Appreciative Intelligence and Kinaesthetic Intelligence concepts and activities.
I was in contact with a student wellbeing teacher at a secondary school recently regarding our conneXions (Y9), Top Tens (Y10), and Success and Resilience (VCE) workshops. We discussed the possibility of running workshops with all her Year 10 students.
She wanted to know if I could run a workshop with a large number of students, as it would be cost effective because of their limited budget.
It was tempting, but I explained to her that I no longer run workshops for large groups of students at secondary schools because I don’t think they are effective when compared with working with a small group. Particularly when it involves a very interactive physical art such as Tai Chi.
Well, it’s that time of the year where I’m contacting secondary schools here in Melbourne about our Top Tens (Year 10) and VCE Success and Resilience workshops.
It’s high energy stuff mixed in with Tai Chi meditation so it certainly makes me work. I sometimes feel like a duck paddling across a lake. On the surface everything looks calm but below the surface the duck is furiously paddling its little feet along to propel itself forward.
I’m sure most teachers can relate to the ‘duck’ analogy.