At times we have trouble concentrating. It feels like everything in our mind is tunneling and mixing up all that is happening around us. As a result we cannot accommodate forthcoming information and thus cannot keep calm. Blowing the Balloons is the activity that can help us to slow down our thinking by changing our focus of attention so that we feel and start fresh.
During our outreach sessions this activity was practiced with children at various schools. The activity started with a request where the students were asked to rate their emotions on a feeling thermometer and then to blow the balloon. During the activity they were requested to fill in all their anxieties, worries, bad day trips, confusions, sadness, distress and all other labels students had shared during emotional rating phase in their balloons. After filling them up, they were told to hold the balloons in the air and to throw them. A lot of giggling and laughter was seen coming from them when they realized that “their irrational beliefs and negative emotion had been thrown out by themselves ”. Here, the rating step was repeated again and the young minds were surprised to find out how relaxed and happy they felt after this activity.
