I was given an amazing opportunity to present to a school on the subject of ‘Reflection’. This school was trying to address some behavioural issues and decided that delivering a fortnightly skit on ‘good’ behaviour at assembly would be part of the solution.
I saw this as an excellent opportunity to present to the whole school and to share the responsibility that we each have with the way we are, how we affect others and what we reflect to others from our choices and our way of being.
I decided that I didn’t want to speak to or at the students, but I wanted to show them with simple, practical examples in order to generate responses from them.
After I got the whole school’s attention by raising my hand and waiting patiently for everyone to stop, to look and to listen, I spoke in a low, calm voice and they tuned into my every word. There was no need for a microphone or for me to raise my voice. This was all setting the tone and feel for the presentation, as it was about reflection, so I was taking responsibility for everything I was actually reflecting to them by bringing gentleness to the way I spoke, the way I walked, the way I looked and engaged with my eyes.
I asked the whole school to just watch, explaining that I was going to do the one action three times and they had to observe very carefully.
I asked the students to pay attention to:
- what they see
- what they hear
- most importantly, what they feel.
At the back of the hall I had 3 chairs and at the front of the hall I had 3 papers, 3 pens and a whiteboard.
Firstly I stormed to the back of the hall, my heels making lots of noise and magnifying the anger I was walking in: I grabbed a chair, stormed back with it, banged it down at the front of the hall, wrote something on the board aggressively and slammed down the paper and pen on the chair.
Secondly, after taking a moment to bring myself back to being gentle, I gently walked to the back of the room, bringing presence to every step and gracefully making my way to the chair. I walked with my head up and my posture correct. I caringly picked the chair up in a way that supported my body and with presence, walked it back to the front of the room, paying attention to the way and care of how I placed it down. I wrote on the whiteboard with gentleness, allowing myself to feel my fingertips as I wrote. I then placed the pen and paper on the chair with care, making sure it was where it needed to be.
Thirdly, I walked back down to the end of the hall with my head down and shoulders slumped with each step having a dragging, given-up feel to it. I then took hold of the chair and dragged it to the front of the hall in a disregarding way; I sloppily wrote on the board and just dumped the pen and paper on the chair.
From here I asked the children one question:
“Which one out of the three chairs would you like to sit on?”
They all pointed to the middle one and from the principal sharing with me afterwards, the kindy, pre-primary and year 1’s not only pointed but were up on their knees pointing to the middle one.
From here the discussion and communication was amazing. I opened it up and asked: What did you see? What did you hear? What did you feel? What did you observe and what happened to your body during each skit?
‘When you walked angrily I felt scared and didn’t want to be near you.’
‘When you walked gently I felt cared for.’
‘When you stormed down I could feel the floor move.’
‘When you dragged the chair it felt like you didn’t care’ and so on . . .
We were then able to discuss true reflection and how we affect others with the way we speak, the way we walk and the way we look. This presentation gave me an enormous appreciation for the power of reflection: the effect of what I presented to the students was astounding.
They really got it and participated fully, feeling the power of what I shared. Another awesome confirmation happened the next day in my year 6 class – the first girl who walked in said ‘I am going to do what Ms did yesterday with my chair’ and six others followed her doing the same. The ripple effect!
Inspired by the true reflection, work and presentations of Serge Benhayon, the practitioners of Universal Medicine and the student body.
By Johanna Smith, Waikiki, Perth WA
Bachelor of Education (Major Special Needs, Minor Psychology), Graduate Certificate of Early Childhood, Practitioner of Esoteric Therapies, Wife, Mother, Teacher, Practitioner, Writer
Further Reading:
Serge Benhayon – A Real Example of Walking the Talk
Inspired by Serge Benhayon & Universal Medicine: Feeling the True Me
700 Comments
Brilliant Johanna, children love the practicalities in life so this simple exercise with the chair brings about presence and engagement with the children no matter what their age. When we make it about connection and real life situations it makes it so much easier to relate and understand how our every move has an impact on another in one way or another.
I so love this, if we don’t have an education system that incorporates the all then we are left with a system that is cold and lifeless.
Johanna, I loved reading about your simple yet practical demonstration on the responsibility we all have to ensure that our actions are not disharmonious to others and to the space we move within.
I love how you asked the children not just to observe what you were doing but also how it made them feel. The power of reflection demonstrated so palpably and no doubt an ongoing lesson for all who were present.
So simple, but oh so powerful in what it reflected to the children, this experience will be remembered by them allowing them to understand how every thing we do affects all others, they got to feel the effects of all your movements in their own bodies.
The honesty and awareness of children is so amazing and so incredibly refreshing but how often as adults do we not appreciate what we have just been presented with? And just imagine if simple exercises (lessons) like these were shared with the children on a regular basis. As these children showed these lessons are life lessons and so easy to understand and then begin to live for themselves.
Very powerful Johanna to give them three examples of the quality we can choose to do something in and the effect is has on others, when we make it practical and tangible everyone gets to feel the responsibility we have, that we cannot but reflect to others although we think we can get by unnoticed.
This is one of my favourite blogs. It brings us back to the responsibility of what we are reflecting to each other and our children.
How practical examples can lead to evolution of mankind when truth is spoken and thereafter acted on! It is inspiring.
The importance of busting out of the ‘good’ mould to deal with what is true and to bring responsibility for how we are into the equation.
I love this Johanna what an amazing lesson, we could all do with this type of education no matter our age.
Very cool presentation Johanna. I love the simple, yet profound message it conveys and it makes me see just how much we can be effected by the quality of someone else’s movements, even if they are not in direct contact with you. I have always been super sensitive to when others move with harshness and anger and kids can feel this even more, so we need to appreciate this.
What a great lesson that could be taken into every school and then students would be able to explore so much about what they feel, which would bring evolution to the schooling system.
So much is offered through this sharing Johanna and it also highlights just how tuned in children are to the quality of how we are with them, great impact they feel without question, which they can open and clearly express when asked. This is true education, fostering of their innate awareness and wisdom that is what supports them to be guided by their inner-knowing of what feels true through life.
There is no point in telling young people what to do and then not doing it yourself as all that teaches them is to not trust adults! So, what you shared was for every teacher in the room as well as every reader of this blog!! Our reflection matters and either confirms, triggers or potentially heals past experiences.
Reflection, the science of reflection and an action begets more of the same – gentleness begets gentleness and turmoil begets more turmoil. Reflection is what will eventually change the world as one by one, humanity discovers, each for themselves, that devastation does not work and that we are part of a much greater All that we are all, each one of us, responsible for.
What a great experiment this would be to do in schools, and not only for the sake of the children but the teachers also.
Yes what a great learning for all those involved. Maybe we could all have a lesson in energetic responsibility and start a kindergarten system that we all must attend, so we can all at-least learn how to be gentle again.
What I like about this is that it goes beyond what is ‘good’ behaviour and looks more at the quality of how we are and how this impacts on others. Children are very perceptive to energy and how things feel and through this they can pick up on when something is ‘polite’ but there may still be underlying tensions present.
When truth lived is reflected love will be felt.
That is a great visual representation of what we all feel but often never talk about, a great practical example to open up the dialogue.
A deeply inspiring blog to read once more and appreciate the power of reflection. Thank you for reminding us that our movements are so key in all this and that so much can be felt by how we carry ourselves.
Wow absolutely genius!!! These are the kind of lessons we need at school, real life practical examples of how we are constantly, non-stop effecting other people.
What a wonderful opportunity to share the power of reflection and confirm to the kids that what they feel is very real, and how we behave around each other has a huge impact on everyone else. It was awesome to hear of a school going beyond good behaviour and taking it to where real behaviour change can occur.
What a simple and practical yet totally profound lesson on reflection to bless the students of your school with Johanna – one that I am sure would have definitely set new foundations for each of them regarding their awareness of quality and how we move.
It’s clear that children feel everything and pick up on each others moods, and also that of the teacher. Great example Johanna of how we affect each other.
A powerful and practical lesson in how energy effects us all, all of the time.
” When you stormed down I could feel the floor move.’ ” when I was at school this is what I felt and still feel when people walk with anger . Some of my teachers were average weight but when they walked with anger they were like an angry elephant I could feel the ground shake . Its so wonderfull you have presented this to the children as it honours what they know to be true and now they can give voice to it because you have shown them permission thank you Johanna.
I agree John, giving young children permission to confirm what they feel is vital and rarely done, yet is just a sentence away.
Not only a testimony to the power of reflection but another indicator that as children, we do feel everything and are very clear about what energy to choose. This does not go away when we grow up but we learn to override it and decide to fit in, possibly even excel at acting out and acting up.
Yes to overriding what is innately in us all and choosing to numb as so often this is not valued in our current climate.
Johanna, this is such a simple and yet profound exercise to do with children, this would be amazing for all schools to present this and to show how our actions affect not only ourselves but all of those around us too, this could change how pupils and staff move and interact at school.
What an amazing opportunity …. To present to a whole school an essence of wisdom that is ageless.
What I love about this is that it demonstrates just how much children do read and learn from our movements, without words, and that they do know the difference between what is loving and what is not. Beautiful to bring to our attention that not only can we feel the quality in which another moves but also the awareness of the impact we have with the way we move. Definitely a lesson of a lifetime that would serve us all to learn.
This just shows all we do is felt- what a beautiful opportunity we can bring each other in how we are everyday.
Re reading your words Johanna I can see how amazing this example is for all of us but especially young children who will be changed by this for the rest of their lives !
Johanna, I can feel from reading what you are sharing how powerful your presentation with the chair was for the children and I’m sure the adults too, this is such a simple exercise but very profound and will have lasting effects on those watching and feeling.
An awesome example of how actions speak louder than words and the impact that we have on others through our movements. Demonstrating this to children is such a valuable lesson for them to carry through their lives and support them to feel the responsibility they have for all their actions. Thank you for sharing the power of reflection and the ripples that flow from this.
Even as I read your account of the assembly I could feel the difference in the three skits. We reflect with every expression be it our movements, words, writing-everything is reflecting to everyone. How much are we paying attention to this fact?
We have enormous power in the way we go about our everyday life whether harming or healing in what we give to our own bodies and what we reflect out to others.
Very simple and powerful. I feel to go about my day like you in your second skit. No words necessary.
What a beautiful sharing, the simplicity in what you shared. How easily it is to get the attention of children and reflect to them a way of movement. When we show the movements ourselves they can connect and feel that energy. Our every movement counts and what energy we choose.
This is an amazing marker for the children, something that will stay in their bodies forever and giving them a true choice to come back to and an understanding of how energy affects our bodies and those around us, powerful!