Move your body to change your feelings.
This is a story about a kid just like you who is learning new things all the time.
Find a cozy spot where you can listen as I tell you all about a girl named Sakura who lives in Japan.
Are you comfortable?
Wonderful.
Now close your eyes and let's take three deep breaths together.
Ready in and out.
In and out.
In and out.
Now let's begin our story.
Sakura is eight years old and is from Kochi,
Japan.
Sakura loves to practice karate and eat mochi ice cream with her family on hot summer nights.
They listen to the cicadas.
Min Min Zumi,
Min Min Zumi are the sounds they make.
Sakura lives with her family in a minka or house with her two little sisters,
Yuma and Kaito.
Sometimes Sakura's little sisters get into her toys and break her things and it makes Sakura feel so angry.
What do you think she does when she is angry?
Sometimes she yells at her sisters and sometimes she wants to hit them because she becomes so frustrated.
When we feel anger,
It is because our mind is teaching us that we don't like what happened and our body is telling us to do something to make it right.
When Yuma and Kaito get into her stuff,
Sakura's mind tells her that she does not want her sisters in her room and her body says she needs to teach them a lesson.
Luckily Sakura knows that hitting isn't right and she can make a better choice with her body to help calm her anger.
When Sakura chooses to move her body,
She finds she can change from feeling angry to feeling calm.
Then she can find a solution to her problem.
Her favorite way to move her body is doing karate.
Karate is a type of martial arts that was created in Japan where she lives.
Sakura likes the word karate means empty hand in Japanese because they don't use any weapons and it helps her empty the angry feelings from her body.
She helps Sakura as she punches and kicks and pushes her anger into her movements.
Just like Sakura,
You will find yourself getting angry,
Frustrated,
And mad sometimes.
Your body is telling you that something is wrong.
Maybe you feel something is unfair or you don't like how things turned out.
It's okay to feel this way.
What's important is that you notice your feelings and learn from them.
Can you think of a time you felt angry recently?
When you think about this time,
Notice how your body responds.
Maybe your cheeks feel hot or your hands begin to clench into a fist or your face gets tight and angry.
Your body is telling you to make it right.
Your mind might think the quickest way to make it right is to hit or yell.
But that isn't the best choice to make.
A better choice is to do what Sakura did and move your body.
You can run around,
Jump up and down,
Or simply take deep breaths.
These things will remind your body that you know you're angry and it's okay to calm down.
When you're calm,
Your brain can think better and try to fix what made you angry.
How can you move your body the next time you're angry?
Even when we move our body and calm down,
Sometimes we can't fix what went wrong.
We have to learn to accept that we don't always get to choose what happens.
The next time you have this hard feeling of anger and can't change things,
Practice moving your body even more.
This will help you get all of that anger and frustration out so you can get back to feeling the way you want to feel.
Maybe you could even try karate,
Just like Sakura does.
Bye for now!
See you next time!
