MTSS Relax

o There are times when pressure from the outside (ex., arguments with friends or getting into trouble with our parents) can make us feel tense inside.

o This tension can cause our bodies to react in many different ways: enlarged pupils, heart speeds up and beats faster, faster breathing, and butterflies in the stomach.

o Too much tension and stress inside our bodies can make us sick. So we have to learn how to relax our minds and bodies to relieve stress and tension inside.

Decide whether you need to relax. Discuss how to recognize bodily cues of tension (e.g., feeling tense, jittery, or queasy).

2. Take three slow, deep breaths.

Teach students to breathe in through their noses and out through their mouths.

3. Tighten one part of your body, count to three, and relax.

Instruct students about which parts of their bodies to tighten and then relax (jaw, shoulders, hands, stomach, legs, feet).

4. Continue this for each part of your body.

Students will need to practice Step 3 before they can do this independently.

5. Ask yourself how you feel.

Discuss how students feel physically before and after tightening muscles.

Success Criteria: We know we are successful when we can decide whether we need to relax, take three slow, deep breaths, tighten one part of our bodies, count to three and relax, continue this for each part of our bodies, and ask ourselves how we feel.