High excitement and curiosity as the Dragons landed at Santa Monica School in Santa Monica School, Pelotas, Brasil for a workshop with almost 80 young people (7-9 years old).
Os Dragões voaram até Santa Monica. Clique aqui para a versão em Português. Click here for the story in Portuguese.
Tamara Russell and Raquel Lhullier used the Dragon language to share their live material of the mini Reds of being in a new country and cultural differences, how its sometimes effortful to communicate clearly across different languages, and how prioritizing self-care is something we ALL need.
International Dragons
The young people were fascinated by the dragons and a visitor (Tamara) who spent 11 hours on a plane to come to their wonderful school and share the Dragons in the incredible library space at Santa Monica School.
We debated if air travel was green (fun and exciting) or red (scary, boring or difficult) or blue (a task to get done on the way to somewhere). What is it for you? What is it for the planet?
How do we think about challenging situations and manage when our Red Dragon emerges? Where do we find these energies moving in the body? Using movements, the Dragons, dialogue and everyday examples, the Red, Blue and Green language was shared with the young people and staff.
What Feeds your Green Dragon?
The young people reflected on their greens through a drawing activity. Immediately the richness of the creative method emerged, with conversations about different shades of green, different ways to soothe, rest and restore, individual preferences and commonalities. We didn’t avoid the reds and Green Dragon was activated several times.
Our own unique Greens…
Different ways to express our needs, as well as different levels of expression, emerged. Words, colours, phrases, images. All engaged in their own unique exploration of “What feeds your green dragon and makes you feel safe, contented and calm?”. Most recognized pausing, breathing, asking for help, movement and nature as helpful food. Some did say “meat”.
Too Blue?
This image below captures an exploration of the Blue Dragon energy. Blue dragon arises when we are focused, task oriented, or aiming for a goal. Our modern system is very Blue oriented. So much so, our Blue dragon sometimes just collapses with exhaustion. Blue becomes Burnout = Red.
Knowing we might have a choice about the speed or effort of Blue engaged can be helpful. A wise donkey once told me “You choose the pace of your life”. This was illuminated by the selection of different shades of blue in this drawing. How are we selecting effort?
What might this mean for you and your learning or working style? When do you work at your best and when is a good time to schedule some less brain-intensive activities? What are your children learning about how to manage their Blue Dragons by watching you as a parent?
There is so much Blue in our modern world. It’s not realistic to think we can be in full Blue all the time. We are just not designed to work like that. Energy management is key (for all of us!).
There are many layers to explore in the Blue Dragon realm that speak directly to new ways of learning, working and living together that support more diverse cognitive and emotional styles. A prerequisite to this is each one taking responsibility for understanding how to resource themselves and be kind to each other.
First Green, then Blue.
This gallery of dragons was the creation of the young people at Santa Monica School. This activity really opened up conversations about how we can care for each other and support our unique learning journeys. Later, the teachers added their greens.
The Dragons will be at The Mindful Living Show in London in 2020.
Contact Raquel Lhullier to find out how to join her on-line for a Get into the Green for Families – next event January 18th 6pm UK Time (2pm Brazil).
Contact Raquel Lhullier for more information about What Colour is your Dragon events in Brazil.
You can buy the Portuguese book here.
Look out for the Dragons at Concriart Rio 2020.
Contact Casa Do Horto for more information about Dr. Tamara Russell’s Teacher Training Program in Brazil.
Find out more about mindfulness in Brazil via Iniciativa Mindfulness.
Sign up to the MCoE mailing list to make sure you hear about our activities in the new year.
