Let's start with a brief chat about mindfulness. 

Then I will walk through the matrix and what it represents.

We will then do a mindful matrix warm-up and get ready to take the matrix out for a spin. 

Dr. Kevin Polk is the creator of the ACT Matrix and shared this warmup with me years ago. He and I are working together to bring the Matrix and psychological flexibility to the world. You can join us each week on Crowdcast where we host weekly webinars. Here is the link: Matrix Talk.

More About the Matrix:

The Matrix is a diagram of how humans with language learning. It is really two discrimination tasks. The first task is represented by the vertical line. We know the world and ourselves by using our five senses (top) and by using our minds (minds). We need both to figure things out and navigate through the world.

Students need to be able to notice the difference between what is going on inside of them and what is happening outside of them. They need access to both and when they are less connected to either way of experiencing, learning suffers.

Right now, you can notice what is happening to you with your five senses. You can also notice what is going on inside of you. You can notice the difference between these two ways of experiencing. You are warming up for learning.

The second discrimination task is toward vs away experiencing.

You can also recall moving toward an important person in your life and how that feels. Now recall a time when fear showed up inside of you and doing something to move away from the fear. Notice the difference between how it feels to move toward important people vs how it feels to move away from the uncomfortable feeling of fear. More warming up for learning.

You will learn how being mindful of these two ways of discriminating opens up many possibilities for connection, social-emotional learning, and valued living fro you and your students.