Building Your Memory Muscle

In our memory there are many holes, many things that we forget.
But we can train our memory “muscle” by really paying attention.

PREPARATION OF YOUR
MEMORY GAME
Cut out the cards. Write the name of what
each image represents.

HOW THE GAME WORKS

For two players

1 . Mix the cards up and place them face

down on the table.

2. The first player turns over two cards. If

they are identical, the player keeps them and
turns over another two.

3. If they are not identical, the player puts

them back where they were, and it’s the
second player’s turn to turn over two cards.
The player who accumulates the most
pairs wins.

You can also play by yourself. The game is

over when you have found all the pairs.

Do y
o u te nsi on
wh feel the r?
en y be
ou try to remem
Don
’t forget to breathe!

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 one bite at a time

We slowly eat one bite at a time to relax, enjoy, and appreciate

the moment.

LIFE SKILLS       DURATION  5 to 15 minutes

SUPPLIES  Grapes, blueberries, or raisins     AGE  All ages

LE ADING THE GAME

Find a comfortable place to eat. Choose a simple food that can be
eaten one at a time (e.g., grapes, blueberries, or raisins) and place
a few in a cup for each child.
1 . Pick up the food and notice how it looks, feels, and smells. Notice
what you’re thinking and how you feel while you’re holding the
food before you eat it.

2 . Pop the food in your mouth, but don’t chew it yet. Notice what it
feels like on your tongue. Is your mouth watering?

3. Now chew it slowly and then swallow it. Pay careful attention to
how each step feels.

4. Talking points: What was it like to hold the food in your mouth but
not eat it? How did your mouth feel while you were chewing? How
did your throat feel while you were swallowing? Did you notice any
thoughts or emotions?

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 TIPS
1 . One way to describe this activity to younger children is “eating in
slow motion.”

2 . Ask the children if anything surprised them about how they felt.
(Children will often notice saliva forming, a rumbling tummy, or a
feeling of excitement.)

VARIATION
A chocolate Hershey’s Kiss is a great food to use for a special treat.
The children can try keeping it in their mouths until the chocolate
melts completely, paying attention to all five senses: seeing the
Kiss, hearing the foil as it is removed, and tasting, smelling, and
feeling the chocolate in their mouths.

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 special star

We imagine a special star in the night sky that helps us relax our
bodies and quiet our minds.

LIFE SKILLS         DURATION  3 minutes or more

SUPPLIES  Optional: stuffed animal or pillow AGE  All ages

and/or yoga mat or blanket to lie on    

LE ADING THE GAME

1 . Sit or lie down comfortably with your eyes closed. Breathe natu-
rally, noticing how it feels to breathe in and out.

2 . Guided visualization
Imagine that there is a star in the sky just for you. It can look like
anything at all—it can be any color, made out of any material,
and it may change from moment to moment and day to day, just
as everything changes. Sometimes large and sometimes small,
sometimes bright and sometimes dim, your star is always there.
Let’s feel the warmth of the star on different parts of our bodies!
As the starlight shines on your forehead, feel your forehead
relax, and all of the stress and strain of the day fade away. Then
imagine that the starlight shines on your shoulders . . . your arms
. . . your hands . . . your chest . . . your belly . . . your lower back . . .
your legs . . . your ankles . . . and your feet. And finally, imagine
your whole body resting in the warmth of the starlight.

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 3. When you’re ready, sit up slowly and reach your hands to the sky.
Take a deep breath in and lower your arms as you breathe out.

4. Talking points: What was it like to imagine your special star

shining light on you?

TIPS
1 . Special Star can be practiced sitting, standing, or lying down.

2 . The length of the visualization can vary depending on how much

time you have and how comfortable the children are being still.

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 what did I hear?

We listen carefully to different sounds, and guess what’s making

them, to become more aware of our experience in the moment.

LIFE SKILLS     DURATION  3 to 10 minutes

SUPPLIES  Instruments and/or AGE  All ages

objects that make interesting sounds    

LE ADING THE GAME

1 . Sit with your back straight and your body relaxed, resting your
hands gently on your knees, and close your eyes. Notice what it
feels like to breathe in and out right now.

2 . I’m going to make some sounds with different instruments for

you to listen to. You don’t have to make any extra effort to hear
them; just relax and listen.
Make different sounds using instruments or interesting objects—a
shaker, a string instrument, tapping rocks together, shaking coins,
for example.

3. Listen closely and see if you can guess what’s making the
sounds. Just relax and wait for the sounds to appear like little
surprises. Try to remember what you heard so you can tell me
your guesses at the end.
Continue making sounds for about a minute.

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 4. Talking points: Were you able to guess what was making any of
the sounds? Were you surprised by what you heard? What was it
like to hear different sounds with your eyes closed?

TIPS
1. Try transitioning straight from What Did I Hear? to Fading Tone
if the children are familiar with it.

2 . If the children are uncomfortable closing their eyes, have them

focus their gaze on an object, and play the instruments out
of sight.

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 feeling my feet

We pay attention to the feeling of the bottoms of our feet to relax,

concentrate, and become aware of what’s happening in this moment.

LIFE SKILLS       DURATION  1 to 5 minutes

AGE  All ages

LE ADING THE GAME

1 . Sit or stand with your back straight and your body relaxed.
Breathe naturally and notice what’s happening in your body and
mind right now.

2 . Keep your body relaxed. If you’re standing, keep your knees soft.

3. Now move your attention to the bottoms of your feet and notice
how they feel against the ground. Let the thoughts and emotions
that bubble up in your mind come and go.

4. Are you feeling your feet now? If not, don’t worry. It’s natural
for our minds to wander. Just move your attention back to the
bottoms of your feet to begin again.

TIPS
1 . Feeling My Feet helps children steady themselves when they’re
feeling strong emotions.

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 2 . Use Feeling My Feet as an anchor to help children stabilize their
attention before longer practices, such as Mindful Breathing or
Mindful Listening.

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 three gates

We ask ourselves three questions to determine whether some-

thing we are about to say is helpful and kind: Is it true? Is it
necessary? Is it kind?

LIFE SKILLS         DURATION  5 to 10 minutes

AGE  All ages

LE ADING THE GAME

1 . Talking points: Sometimes we can hurt someone’s feelings even
if we don’t mean to. How can we know if something we’re about to
say is respectful? What can we do if we accidentally hurt someone’s
feelings?

2 . One way to avoid hurting someone’s feelings is by asking

these three questions before we say something: Is it true? Is it
necessary? Is it kind? It’s like passing through three gates: if it’s
true, you pass through the first gate. If it’s necessary, you pass
through the second. And if it’s kind, you pass through the third.
Give examples of things you might say and ask the children to
help you figure out whether they are kind and respectful by asking
the three questions together.

3. Talking points: When should we ask these questions? Do you

ever get a feeling that what you’re about to say might not be
respectful?

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 Share your personal experiences and ask the children to share
theirs.

4. Try asking yourself the three questions next time you get that
feeling and tell me what happens.

TIPS
1 . Have older children ask a fourth question: Is it the right time?

2 . Remind the children that they don’t need to ask these questions
every time they speak, only if they catch themselves feeling that
what they’re about to say may not be kind or respectful.

3. Use Three Gates to talk about how words affect other people, and
use Is It Helpful? to talk about actions.

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 The Yupsi Stories and Meditations

EXERCISE

Three-Breath Meditation
1. Observe your breath. . . . When you breathe in slowly, your
belly swells. . . . You can feel your teddy bear move forward.
Hold your breath in your belly for a moment. . . . Now you
breathe out and your belly empties and goes flat. . . . You can
feel the bear moving back inward.

2. Concentrate carefully on your breath and your little bear. Fol-

low the movement of the little bear back and forth with your
breath.

3. Breathe in slowly. You feel your belly swelling and your little
bear moving forward. Hold your breath in your belly for a
second. Now breathe out, and your belly empties and flattens,
and you feel your little bear moving back inward.

4. Breathe in slowly again. You feel your belly swelling and your
little bear moving forward. Hold your breath for a second in
your belly. Now breathe out, and your belly empties and flat-
tens and you feel your little bear moving back inward.

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 Meditations for Older Kids, Starting at Age Five

EXERCISE

Meditation on the Breath: White Light and

Black Smoke
Here you’re going to do the exercise on the breath, the same
one you did when you were younger, but a little more complete,
because you have grown up more and you are
now able to do it in almost the same way as
your mom and dad.
Now take the posture that you know
so well.
Begin by breathing out through both nos-
trils and thinking that everything nasty and
bad goes out through your nose in a puff of
black smoke. Are you really imagining the
black smoke coming out of your nose?

1. Block your left nostril with the index finger of your left hand
and breathe in deeply through your right nostril. Think of all
the good things that can happen to you as entering your nose
in the form of a white light. . . . Let your left hand rest in your
lap and hold the air in your belly for one or two seconds.

2. Then with the index finger of your right

hand, block your right nostril and exhale the
air in the form of black smoke through your
left nostril. . . . All the things that you don’t
like go away. . . . Pause briefly.

3. Keep your right nostril blocked and breathe in again through

your left nostril. Think of all the good things that happen to

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 The Yupsi Stories and Meditations

you as a beautiful white light that enters you through your nose.
Rest your right hand in your lap and hold the air in your belly
for a second.

4. Now block your left nostril with the index finger of your left
hand and breathe everything that bothers you and seems
wrong and bad out through your right nostril. Imagine that all
that leaves you in the form of black smoke. Rest your left hand
in your lap. . . . Pause briefly.

5. Through both nostrils, breathe in deeply all

the good, positive thoughts, visualizing them
as a white light that enters your body. . . .
Hold the air in your belly for a second.

6. Exhale strongly through both nostrils to blow

out all the bad, negative thoughts, visualizing them as black
smoke going out your nose. . . . Pause briefly.

And there you are—you’re all done! (It’s a good idea to do this
exercise three times. When you start a new series of breaths, start
again by blocking your left nostril.)
Observe what you are feeling. Are you feeling better because
the black smoke took away everything that was bothering you?
Did the beautiful white light bring you a good feeling? If you got
mixed up with the fingers and the nostrils, don’t worry. That hap-
pens to all children in the beginning. But you’ll learn fast, and the
exercise will quickly become very natural. You also have to learn
to find your own breathing rhythm. Very slow and relaxed. As you
grow up, you will find this form of meditation very easy and you
can do it anywhere. It will help you a lot to do well in school, on
your exams, and even in your work later on.

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