E15: ENERGY TOOLS FOR KIDS: From Classroom to Home ft. Veronica Fuata

Today we explore how energy shows up in our kids — at school and at home — and how adults can lead with a sense calm, awareness, and intention. We talk about what “high energy” or “off” really looks and feels like, why emotional regulation is a skill (not a personality trait), and how our own energy as parents and teachers sets the tone for children. You’ll hear simple, practical tools to help kids calm, focus, and transition — from breath and grounding practices to movement, games, and brain breaks — as well as what it truly means to hold space for a child in busy classrooms and everyday family life. This conversation is for any adult who wants to support kids in feeling safe, centered, and empowered to understand their own energy.

Meet our special guest:

Veronica is a Northeast Florida native whose path weaves teaching, cultural performance, and a lifelong sensitivity to energy and spirit. Born and raised in Jacksonville, she graduated from Jacksonville University in 1997 and launched her teaching career right away, guiding young learners with steady presence for decades.

In 2006, she moved to historic St. Augustine with her family, drawn to its grounding, timeless vibes.

For nearly five decades, Veronica and her family performed traditional Polynesian dances, channeling Pacific rhythms, movement, and ancestral spirit to build connection, joy, and energetic flow in communities.

As a guest on In a Spiritual Sense KIDS she shares how these experiences open doors to aligning energy, calming chaos, and fostering good vibes—especially with children—in classrooms, homes, and everyday life.

*For privacy and protection, all children mentioned in this episode are referred to using fictional names or general references. I deeply honor the confidentiality of every child and family I work with.

Check out In a Spiritual Sense on YouTube to watch full length videos of each episode!
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For those looking to connect further please see my accounts below:

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website: inaspiritualsense.com
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Hello and welcome to Init Spiritual Sits Kids, a podcast for parents, teachers, and caregivers seeking to support their children's emotional and energetic development. On the show, we'll blend insights from neuroscience, child psychology, and emotional awareness as we explore natural ways to help kids understand their own energy, stay grounded, and enhance creativity and imagination. Don't forget to check out our sister channel in the spiritual sense, where we dive a little deeper into the metaphysical, working to build your intuition, connect with spirit guides, the paranormal, energetic healing, and more. Join me, Stacy Piagno, where we work to bridge the gap between science and spirit. Hello and welcome back to Init Spiritual Students Kids. I'm your host, Stacy Piagno. Today we are talking about ways to help our kids and ourselves calm their bodies, wake up their brains, and stay focused. And I'm here with someone who helps kids do this every single day. One of my good teacher friends, Miss Veronica Fuwada. Welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Hello, thank you so much for having me, Stacey. I'm happy to be here.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Now, guys, me and Veronica, we've taught for years together. And I'm sad I just recently switched schools, so I don't get to see you that much anymore. But I'm really excited that you were able to come on today because I know that you and me have a very similar teaching style. We're definitely into the energetic side of things. And so I'm glad to have you on. I know we're going to have a great conversation today. Thank you. I would love, Veronica, for you to start with telling us about your teaching world. Tell us about your background with teaching and how you got started and everything.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Okay. Well, I've actually known that I've wanted to be a teacher since I was basically third grade. Um, and I just like made a beeline straight down that path as soon as I had the chance. Graduated from Jacksonville University in '97, and I've been teaching ever since. I started for nine years in Duval County, and then I transferred over here to St. John's County. And I am now on my 29th year of teaching.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Yes, fabulous. I love it. All right, I've got a couple quick questions for you to start off the episode. Are you ready? All right. The first question is what do you think is the best thing about teaching and then the most challenging thing about teaching?

SPEAKER_01 2:42

So my favorite thing about teaching is just basically being around their innocence and being around their youthful energy. I love seeing their curiosity. Um, I love seeing when the like aha moment comes on. It's just, it really is so rewarding. People say it's rewarding, but it it truly is. And I'm grateful every morning that I get a chance to do it.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

And what do you think is the challenging?

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Yeah, most challenging. I would say having to calm them only because of time constraint. Like sometimes they just get so excited and so hyper. And I do want to hear every single one of them and everything that they have to say. But as you know, you know, we only have so many hours in the day that we have to accomplish certain things. And it's not because I disrespect what they have to say or, you know, I just, I just wish that there was more time to be able to hear what they had to say. Yeah, yeah. Extra all the extra paperwork, all the busy work that teachers yeah. No, paperwork does that's the hardest. Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

Yeah, it's usually the stuff that doesn't have to do with the kids. That's like the hardest for teaching. There's a lot that comes with the job. Um, but yeah, similar to you, I I love their innocence. That's one of my favorites. They help me stay in my inner child. That's what I love. Is they're so creative and they're just they're so wise and they're so pure. And what I've realized is through teaching, they help me stay in that zone. Um, my hardest thing about teaching, at least in the beginning, was the management of it all. And we're gonna talk about lots of this stuff today. But, you know, especially as a new teacher or a new parent, uh, maybe depending on how many kids you have, you know, management has been one of the hardest things to tackle down. Absolutely. As you get better at that management, then it's like you're more able to see the innocence and you're more able to vibrate with them in that frequency and find joy in the small things. And so that's what I really love about them. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

And and it takes time, you know, you can't just jump into that role. You know, you're responsible for 18, 19 plus little lives, and it does take time. Like this whole life is like a journey. I'm continuously learning. You know, am I the same teacher that walked into the classroom 29 years ago? No. Did I have this time management thing down? No. Do I have it down now? No, I'm I'm getting there, but I'm learning the tricks and the tools, you know. It it and it's all about learning. That's what this whole life is.

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Yeah, I love that. And I love instilling that in the kids too. Be curious, be lifelong learners. And I know you and I have talked about that before, you know, that's so important. Um, switching into parenthood. All right, same question. What is the best and most challenging thing about being a parent?

SPEAKER_01 5:29

So I have three beautiful children. I am so, and I say children, they're actually young adults now. Um, my oldest is 25, my middle is 23, getting ready to be 24 next month, and my youngest is 21. And uh, my biggest challenge, again, like I was mentioning, life is like a journey and you learn things along the way, is I wasn't present in the moment as they were going through it. I was, uh I wish I could go back and just I was when my oldest one went through it, it's like he was sitting up and I was like, oh, I can't wait till he crawls. And he crawls, oh, I can't wait till he runs. Oh, I can't, you know, and it's so my biggest challenge was stopping and taking a moment just to enjoy where they were and just also trusting that the universe will take care of them. As they're adults now, you know, they're not under my roof anymore. And it's just like just having trust that everything is working out for them the way that it should be, the way that I want it to work out. That's the biggest challenge. The best thing about being a parent is seeing now how my adult children are navigating through life and and they're being kind people and positive people in their society. And it just makes me so proud.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

Yeah. And I think the presence piece, yeah, I've talked about that a lot this season. That's something that we all forget. And and I honestly think when you think about the whole purpose of everything, the whole purpose of life, it comes down to presence. It comes down to what we're living in the moment. How are we experiencing things in the moment? And I think that's what drew me to spirituality in the first place. It's like the reason why we do all these things, while we do the breathing, why we do all the XYZ, it's because we want to have more joyous moments. And so reminding ourselves to, you know, come back to the present, enjoy what's right in front of us. I think that's really special. So I love that you brought that up. Um, okay, so let's get into it. Um today, like I said, we're gonna discuss ways we can help our kids stay calm. We're gonna help them stay engaged, and we're gonna help them with focus. And you know that means we're going to be leaning into the energetic side of things. And we know that the energy affects the physical, and the physical affects the energy. So let's work on that energetic piece. Um now, Veronica, you and I, we both know how crazy it can be to have 18, 19, 20 little humans running around in the class. Uh, and I'm sure parents at home uh who have dealt with excess energy uh have also dealt with this. So I want to start by breaking down do you notice a difference between chaotic energy versus just excitement? What is what does that look like?

SPEAKER_01 8:13

So to me, chaotic energy is just the the children just being loud. Um, I've noticed lately in the past few years that they really just like to make noise. I don't even know if they like to or if it's just something inside of them. And I don't know if you've noticed it too, just constant humming and tapping and and just so the children being loud and also just being, you know, unfortunately, there's times when they're disrespectful to each to each other. That's chaotic energy, running around with no real purpose, um just other than other than being heard, you know. And so the contrast would be the excitement energy. The difference would be that children are loud because they're they want to share their excitement with the the other boys and girls around them, but they're still being kind and they're being careful when they're moving around the you know each other's faces.

SPEAKER_00 9:05

That's no, I love that the purpose piece is so big, having a purpose to the excitement, or if you don't, it's chaos. I think that's you hit the nail on the head. Something I also think about is control. Are we able to transition from the chaos or not? Because that's something I notice in class. If we can control our chaos, meaning we're moving purposely, um, or can we stop it when asked? Are we able to hear when when someone is speaking or not? For me, that's that's one of the lines that I try to pay attention to with that. Um, okay, so energy is chaotic, the kids are crazy, and we need to calm them down. I would love to just go back and forth here. Let's just share some things that we do in class. What's what are some things that you do to help calm and let's teach the parents?

SPEAKER_01 9:51

So some of the things that I do, you know, you can you can you always have that call back response. And so I've turned it into like a oh leaders, and when they hear that, they say oh yes, and they kind of stop whatever they're doing and they they put their eyes on me. Um, also when they're sharing with each other, I make it a point to make sure that I say eyes on the speaker. Um, I tell the little, the little ones speaking, don't speak until everybody is ready to listen, because there's no point in them talking over each other. We often have turn in talks when they're sharing as a group with each other, like their their um elbow, elbow, knee, knee partner. Um, and so the turn and talk will start and I'll play. I have the one of those sound bowls. I don't know if you're yes, yes, yeah. One of those as kind of like a bring them back together and sit inside. So they're they're carrying on their conversations with each other. And then I ring the bell and it just kind of like reminds them, okay, it's time, it's uh, it's time to stop and and focus on Mrs. Powata. Um, and it gets it back focus back on me.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

Yeah. What about breathing? I know you have some good breathing stuff. What are some breathing techniques that you do?

SPEAKER_01 11:03

So I do the five-finger breathing method often, and and they do it with each other, and it's just kind of like to help them with the timing of the breathing. So, you know, it's the inhale as you bring your finger up, exhale as you bring it back down. And we do it very slowly, very methodically. Um, and also we I I tell them to smell the smell the flower, smell the bouquet, yeah, and blow out the candles. So it's like uh inhaling through the nose for four seconds and then exhaling out of the mouth for five seconds. So I like to do that often and it just kind of like resets everybody, not just the children, like resets me too.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

Yeah, that's a big one. And and I I might have shared that before. Um, if I have shared that on the episode, guys, it came from Veronica. But no, it didn't come from me. It came from it came from somebody. We all have our own steel. Yeah, exactly. But no, I mean, breathing is I think one of the biggest things. Um, I've been doing a lot of research on just breath work in general and how it calms the nervous system. And it's interesting that, you know, you mentioned four breaths. I read somewhere that four breaths is the that's like the turning point where if you do three, it doesn't always work. But sometimes that fourth breath, it really just finishes helping calm them. So the five-finger breathing is great because you're hitting that fourth breath. And then also you mentioned breathing out a little bit longer than breathing in. I don't know the exact science behind it, but I I have heard and I've practiced when you're feeling anxious or or sad or upset, when you breathe out and you're actually blowing and that breath out is slow, there is a trigger between I uh however the nervous system works, that it really does change the chemical makeup within your body. And so that's always interesting. And breathing is the quickest, easiest thing. Everybody can do it. We do it every day.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

Absolutely, and it just kind of resets everything. And I don't exactly know where the science came from either. I just know that you know it's it's a tried and true and and it's it's enforced a lot.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

Yeah. Do you do a lot of visualizing? Because something I've talked about on the show, I won't get into it too much, but we do a lot of um visualizing the bubbles. And I've noticed with that, you you can use them for different purposes, but it it helps separate whether an adult or child, when you imagine that bubble, it kind of helps contain all that energy. And we've done something, Veronica. Did I share with you last year where we have our energy bubble and as we breathe, we'll shrink it.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

So we shrink our energy. I'll say it again real quick if if you haven't heard the other episodes, but you imagine a bubble and it could be white light. I let the kids pick colors, whatever's intuitive to them. We take, you know, four breaths with the bubble and we make it get really bright and shiny. And then we take four more breaths. And on the second four breaths, we sh we imagine, because when you visualize, it really helps you embody. We uh visualize ourselves shrinking the bubble and it gets smaller and smaller, and we imagine it getting to a little baseball size in the belly button. And what that's doing is it, I teach the kids, it's it really is shrinking your energy and it's bringing it into yourself. Because a lot of times with kids, I mean, you know, we're they don't even know how to feel their energy, let alone a lot of us adults. And so when we bring it in, they are now not affecting each other so much, but it brings it more into their control. So that's something that I do a lot with the breathing, is sometimes we'll add that visualization piece and it kind of helps contain it and then bring it in. And then at the very end, we send that bubble down our legs, down our butt to the ground, and then they imagine tree roots coming out. And I'll tell them say your legs and your your, you know, they might feel heavy and you really get them to sit down and they're still breathing. So they do four breaths for a bubble, four breaths that bring it in, and then four breaths, and they their tree roots get really long and they open their eyes. They might be a little tired. It's okay, but we might take a couple more with our eyes open. Um and it really shifts their energy. And it was so cute. I had um, I had this boy last year, and even this year. I'll catch the kids doing it by themselves, which I love. You know, that's like I think that's one of the most rewarding things is when you see the kids practicing something by themselves. I have this girl this year, she'll I'll catch her at her desk and her eyes are closed and she's moving her hands in and out, like she's making her bubble. And I'm like, oh my gosh, she's just the bubble. And um, and a kid last year, I had two of them. We we would do this uh as we would transition. We would do the energy bubble and then we would start the lesson. And uh this little boy last year, he goes, Miss Piagno, I did this before my soccer game. And then another little girl goes, I did this before my dance recital. And I was like, ah, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

That's the best when you see them applying the skills that you taught them. And um it's I also use it during transition times. Um, and you were mentioning like the bubble and the visualization. There's actually, and I don't know if you've seen it before, um, it's like a I don't even know how to describe it, but it's actually a ball. And as you pull it, you know what I'm talking about? And as you pull it out, and then so I mean, that's a great way to introduce that visualization if you can actually show them something first so that they can concretely see it and then turn it into the visualization. But we do that. Um we sit and we breathe every day that we come back in from recess. So we have lunch, we have recess, and then we sit and they're all sitting on their pockets. I call I tell them to sit on their pockets. Okay. So, like, you know, nobody slouched over. And what I also have them do is I have them, I I call it hooking up, hook yourselves up. And what it basically is is I tell them, okay, put your arms, your hands out, your thumbs up, thumbs down, cross it over and around. So it's kind of like tackling both sides of their hemisphere, the hemispheres of their brain. And they are also supposed to press their tongue behind their teeth. I I'm not exactly sure the science behind that either, but it just kind of all connects. So they sit like that and they do their breathing. And then after a couple of seconds, then they release their hands and they touch the tip of their fingertips together, and they also uncross their legs. So it's like first they start crop, you know, crossing both hemispheres, and then they like touch their fingertips together, and they also continue breathing. And the deeper their breath, the you know, the the larger and further their hands go. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00 17:40

Yeah, no, I love that. And if you guys, if that was hard to understand, we've got the videos filmed on YouTube. Veronica just went through visually what that looks like. I love that you brought that up. I remember you teaching me last year, and I still have yet to do it, and I'm going to do it now. No, it's really important for young kids to be able to cross their hemispheres. It's something that we don't think about a lot, but it helps connect their neurons. And I think what you're when you were talking about pushing the tongue to the roof of the mouth behind the teeth. Um you're right. I don't know. I I have, and I don't know the right terminology, but there's like um, what's the word I'm thinking of? Like a pressure point, if you will, or there's a spot there that's connected to, for example, like when we breathe and it and it and it releases what needs to be released. So yeah, I think that there's a pressure point there. They're crossing the hemispheres, and then you undo it in a line. Right.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

Well, I mean, and there are so many different reasons that doing all of those across the hemisphere, the midline crossing, I mean, like it's been proven to help with better cognitive flexibility and problem solving. It improves their attention and focus and learning. Uh, it also has been proven to enhance their emotional regulation and social skills, and it helps with stronger memory and processing speed uh for greater resilience to challenges. And so every Wednesday before we start our day, because as you know, early release Wednesday, things are different. We don't have our related arts that we go to. So we start our morning every morning with a song called Catch a Brain Wave. And it's a lot of movement with, well, because I come from a Polynesian background, yes, tell us dancing and everything, um, I I incorporate a lot of movement in my classroom. And so that's one of the songs, Catch a Brain Wave, where we're like taking our elbow and crossing it to our, you know, our right elbow, crossing it to our left knee and taking, you know, and just rotating back and forth and a lot of movement with the waves. And the kids just, you know, if you can turn everything into like dance or play or song, like they're gonna learn it so much faster. And they are learning how to regulate themselves without even really realizing it because it's fun for them.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Exactly. That's the piece. We gotta make it fun. You mentioned so it was a song, it's called Catch a Brain Wave. Is that a song?

SPEAKER_01 19:52

And I don't even know how to do it. It's out there, like can I find it out there? Um, I've gosh, I think I heard it probably 20 years ago. Oh, okay. Um, I'll try to send you a copy if I can get it. Um, but it's Ron L, I think, is one of the guys um who's on it. And uh they do all kinds of midline crossing in the comments that tells you tells them what to do. It's great. Nice. They love it.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

What about energy? Or I'm sorry, not energy. What about lighting and music? How does that help calm?

SPEAKER_01 20:24

It's so funny because every so different teachers come in to observe different things, and sometimes we leave little notes to each other just as encouragement. And uh most of the time the the little notes that I would get in my classroom would always be like, I love your classroom and the calmness of it. So my classroom is filled with a lot of teals and light blues, and I used to have like a film over my huge window that was blue, like kind of light blocking. I try not to use the fluorescent lights as much as possible. I have a lot of lamps, it's just uh the warm light, you know. I feel like it makes a huge difference. I also incorporate light aromatherapy. I know you kind of have to be careful with that because of different allergies and things. Um, but I feel like just the whole surrounding. I play light music, uh instrumental music while they're working. To me, that that helps me stay calm. And I feel like the children match my energy. I also have flexible seating in my classroom. So I don't have rows of desks only. I have a couch, I have a high table, I have beanbags. Just so they have the choice of where they want to go, how they want to work, wherever whatever's most comfortable for them.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

Yeah, yeah, I think that's really important. The lighting, the music. Do you know anything about Hertz? You and I were talking a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

Yes, that's right. As a matter of fact, so um, I do know that we obviously we're all vibrational creatures. And the 420, well, what was it? Um 432? 432 and 528 hertz. Yeah. Um, so I do specifically look for those song, like songs that have those in it, the healing, the healing frequency and the love frequency, and the earth free, it's like earth's heartbeat, and it promotes calmness. I actually wrote a song that uh where I tried to tailor the four 432 hertz in it. It's a positive affirmation song. And we had spoken about this earlier, and that's something we incorporate every morning in my classroom. It it originally started with just me wanting to live a more positive life. And so I know how powerful the phrase I am is, and whatever you speak out there, you know, that that's what you are. And so I'm like, what kinds of things? How do how do I want my life to look healthy, happy? I want to be, I am happy. So I would say that to myself. I am happy, I am healthy, I am love, I am light, I am positive, I am powerful, I am prosperous, and I am grateful. And I would just every morning when I would drive to school, I would have the light music, you know, 428 or 432 hertz playing in the background. And I would just repeat those positive affirmations to myself on the way to school. I am happy, I am healthy, I am love. And then I was like, you know what? I let me turn this into a song. Um, and how would somebody go about turning it into a particular frequency? I did a little bit of research on that. So I grabbed my ukulele and um started like messing with a couple of tunes and chords, and and I eventually turned it into a song. And so I started singing it to myself every morning on the way to school. And then I was like, wait a minute, hold on. There's an opportunity. And why wouldn't I want to share this with my students? And so for the past three or four years, that's how we start our morning, every single morning after we do our morning meeting, where the students go around and talk about the things that they're grateful for. Um, we we close our morning meeting with our positive affirmation song. And we send love and light at the end.

SPEAKER_00 24:19

Yes. And we have a special video of your song that I will be playing at the end of this episode. So whether you guys are listening on the podcast, you'll be able to hear it. Or if you're on YouTube, we'll have the video with that. And it's so cute. Oh my gosh. I was listening to it this morning and it was stuck in my head, which I love because, okay, with affirmations, right? Which you were mentioning, we speak what we are. And I love that something tangent here I want to bring up. When we are doing affirmations, I think it's always important to just restate we want to speak as if it is the present. So I am happy versus spirit, please help me, you know, become happy. Well, that means that you're not happy. I am happy. Thank you for making for helping me stay happy. I am uh, you know, uh prosperous. I am these things. Right. So that's really important.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

At the end of the song, and I didn't say this when I was saying what the lyrics were, but I say I am grateful three times at the end, just to kind of like drive it home. You know, it's you're grateful for all of these things that you have. And another thing, I have the uh privilege of having a little girl in my class who is deaf, hard of hearing. And we've actually the video that I sent you, it doesn't have the children doing ASL. However, my students have incorporated it this year. So while again, back to the movement, also. So we're not just speaking it, but we're also um sharing it through movement, is every single, every single affirmation has been turned into an ASL.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

Uh, I love that. Yeah, no, I think that's so special and it's so all-encompassing. And that's what kids need. They need to use their body and their thoughts and their sounds and all of the things together. Um, and that really helps embody. And I love how you start your day with that. I think it's so special. And especially songs. I was gonna mention how they get stuck in your head. Yes. What better thing to have stuck in your head than positive affirmations? Because then you're singing it all day and you're feeling those affirmations all day. And so that was this morning. It was stuck in my head. And I'm like, you know, that's so great because these songs that we sing, I do a lot of transition songs and things, they get stuck in the kids' heads. So let's make it purposeful by making those words something important for them. I love that. So cool. Yes. All right. Um, any other calming techniques that you want to touch on before we move? Um, let's see. Calming techniques. Um about your energy, right? Like that was a big one for me is like my energy is gonna help them be calm. Or if I'm stressed, then they're gonna be stressed too. I think we forget about that sometimes. Like, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

They definitely mirror our energy. And I know that you and I had spoken earlier about how we can make sure that we start our day in a positive way. Yes. And so I'm just gonna transition around. Yeah, sure. How do you start your day? Yeah. Um, I I think just making sure that it's not frazzled, having a set routine before you go to bed, um, having everything ready, having the homework in the backpack, having the backpack in the same place it always is, um, having your clothes set out the night before, ironing it if it has to be ironed the night before, so that it's not chaos and it's not frenzied as you're because once you set that tone for the day, it's almost like you're you're trying to play catch up for the rest of the day. So if you have everything set and it's a ritual and a routine that you do, then I think you will thrive and the rest of your day will be calm.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

Yeah, I think that's important for us and our kids. That energetic tone in the morning is what's gonna make or break you. Do you notice a difference between the days that you don't do that?

SPEAKER_01 27:58

Oh, absolutely. I mean, I feel like, you know, if I'm running out of the house late and then I get to school and I'm trying to find all of the things that I need to do to prepare for the day, and then the kids come in, but I still like feel like I'm playing catch-up with what I have to do to prepare. Like everything is off. Yes. Everything is off. Absolutely. And so even in the classroom, when I before I leave for the day or before I leave for the weekend, I always try to make sure that I have everything already set in place because we like structure, we like rituals and routines, we like the predictability of it, you know? And so um it's just as long as you have those things set, you come in calmly, the kids come in calmly, they know what's expected, smooth sailing the rest of the day, hopefully.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

Yeah, and I think that's important for parents to do with their kids before school. Again, whether it's us or for the kids, the kids are gonna be the same. If their stuff's not set, you know, then they're gonna feel chaotic, they're gonna feel rushed, they're they're gonna be playing catch up, as you mentioned, and it's just kind of goes downhill from there. So I think that's really important. I'm glad that you brought that up. When calming our kids down, so let's say that a child's already upset. Do you think that they're what do you think parents or teachers might struggle with or maybe overlook when they're trying to help calm a kid down?

SPEAKER_01 29:18

Have you ever like like for me for escalating the situation as early as possible is helpful. And also making sure that you're speaking from a place of calm because I mean, as we know, children they can push our buttons as well. And if we're speaking out of anger or, you know, if we're yelling at them, they're in the flight or fall fight or flight mode, if they're not really listening to us. So I think it's important to kind of uh bring your tone down, kind of get eye to eye to them and have them mirror you with a calm breathing. If they are escalating, if they're in escalation, they're not gonna listen to you. And if you're the same way, it's just like nothing is gonna happen. And you don't want to overpower them just because you're bigger and stronger, because what are you teaching them? You're not teaching them to regulate their emotions, you're you're not teaching them how you can regulate your emotions. And I know it's a lot easier said than done. Trust me, been there, done that. You know, learning. Life is about learning. And so I think just kind of like speaking to them calmly, slowing your breath down, having them mirror you, in my opinion, is probably one of the best things you can do.

SPEAKER_00 30:32

Yeah, I think it's I think sometimes it's it's you know, as parents or teachers, we just want the resolution, we just want to move on, but we forget that the child might not be ready to move on. They've got their own emotional process. Maybe they need to go through it first. You know, they need some time and space to do that. And I know that you and I are both good of about creating a space for some of these kids. You know, they might need a corner, they might need a calm down zone. And then going and talking to them after, we have to be calm and not rushing them through the process. Early on when I was teaching, that was something that sometimes I would struggle with is okay, but we got to move on, we got to go, or or at home, you we got to get out the door, you know.

SPEAKER_01 31:10

That was one of the challenges as a teacher is not having enough time because we got to scoot through everything. But you're right.

SPEAKER_00 31:18

But sometimes those kids just need extra time. And you know what? If they don't get to it, that's okay because they have to deal with their emotional side first. Because if you rush it, they're not like you said, they're not gonna listen or learn, anyways. So let's get them centered first as long as it takes. We have to be okay with that, and then move on after. That was a struggle I said.

SPEAKER_01 31:36

And I think that, you know, the students that are in our class, they're lucky that they know that they have a calm down corner to go to. Um, and they understand that it's not a place where they can just uh not have to do work, you know what I mean? Because yeah, there could be, but it's it's when they feel and they know themselves that they're overwhelmed, and you can see them and they can see you, and you kind of just have that unspoken, I know you need your time right now. And so they'll just kind of get up and excuse themselves. I mean, I teach second grade, so they're little, but they can still, they know when they're feeling it's too much, it's it's overwhelming. They know that there's a space that they can just like take a couple, take a couple breathers, you know, and then just come back. It's not a timeout, it's just a reset. Take a couple breathers, reset, and come back out when you're done, you know?

SPEAKER_00 32:30

Yeah, so yeah, and I think it's important that we teach them that. That's that's great. Um, okay, so we we mentioned a little bit about what you do to ground or align your energy before the day. Is there anything else that you wanted to add to that? Because we know that, like we said, if we're not centered and it gets chaos, it it spirals from there. Is there anything else that you do? You mentioned music to me when we were talking the other day.

SPEAKER_01 32:52

I I listen to different songs um that just remind me of my why I'm here, my purpose, just so that I can start the day with that positive outlook on life. I'm here. We're this is me speaking, we're all here to learn and to show love. School, you know, this this big plane is is a classroom, you know. We're all connected to each other in in my opinions and what I've learned and read. And we're all here to learn love and share love. And so that's why on my way to school, I just try to remind myself. And through whether it's through music or positive affirmations, like, okay, this is what I'm here. It's so easy to fall into the trap of complaining, and I have this to do and I have that to do. But you know, what you focus on becomes your reality. And I I try to remember that this, what I'm going to, yes, it can be daunting and overwhelming, but this is a job that I prayed for. You know what I mean? At one point in my life. This is what I wanted and I got it. And so I have to be grateful and and figure out how I want to navigate the rest of my day or the rest of the month or year. That's why I start my morning.

SPEAKER_00 34:10

Yeah. I start with uh gratitude, which I know we're both big on. Uh, and I've noticed it's funny because I always hear people talk about gratitude, gratitude, like that is the magic, the fix. But until you do it, you don't always realize. And, you know, I started going through a phase where I would try to sit and meditate before school. And sometimes I will still do that, but I've I kind of changed it into something that was a little more realistic. Three to five minutes, I sit, I take a couple breaths before I go out the door, and I think of all the things I'm grateful for. And I always start with this breath. The first thing I start with is I wake up, I get ready, I do my thing, and then before I go out the door, I sit in a dark little in my little office, I the lights are off. And I just thank spirit, I say thank you for this breath of life. Right. And I start with that. And then I just say thank you for this opportunity to be here in this moment in time and to have this breath of life. And I sit with that for just a minute. And then I go through, and sometimes I'll get specific and I'll thank for my family, my friends, all of my relationships, uh, you know, I thank my ancestors. I go real deep into it sometimes. And that really shifts my energy. And I notice too, even like on the spot, like if I'm, like you mentioned, um, teaching, this is the reason that we did it. It's because we wanted this, you know, remembering that in the moment when things are chaotic, if you can think of just one thing that you are grateful for, there's some kind of magic with our frequency there. And it shifts you to a frequency where you just feel centered and good. And it's like, it doesn't matter what's happening, everything's okay. Cause I'm so, so thankful. And that's one big thing that I've started adding in my routine, changes my whole day.

SPEAKER_01 36:00

Yeah. And that's funny that you mentioned that because I actually have a daily affirmation um, I call it gratitude journal on my phone. Yeah. And so every night before I go to sleep, I always put one at least one thing that I'm grateful for every single day. And you know, there are days when I'm a little down or gloomy or whatever, not necessarily thinking as positively as I should. And it's just nice to have a little record of like, look at all of these blessings, look at all of these wonderful things that I have going on in my life. And when my children were younger, we would sit around the dinner table and every day we I would have them go around, like, okay, tell me your happies for the day. So each of us would take a turn and just talk about one great thing that happened in their day.

unknown 36:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:50

Just so that they could remember it too. Because life is busy, you know, there's a lot of things going on during the day. So it helps them kind of reflect and be thankful for the things that happened to them. That yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

I love that. That's so special. And that's something we can all add super, super easily into our routines. All right, let's go to engagement. So, class, you know, sometimes we get stuck in in the same old routines and even parents at home, because I want to make this relatable for parents and teachers. You know, the kids they gotta come home, they gotta do the homework, and nobody wants to work and nobody wants to think. And so, what are some things? Let's go back and forth again. What are some ways that you make school fun or engaging for kids?

SPEAKER_01 37:30

Um, well, as we spoke about earlier, always the dancing and the movement and the singing, um, anything that I can make a song about. I make a song about it. I mean, we have a noun song, we have a synonym song. Um, but also when I teach phonics, we use a lot of movement and things like that. So that's how I keep it engaging and also a lot of structure as well. So it's just kind of like a balance between they get their wiggles out, they're still having fun, but when it's time to kind of focus and buckle down, they know that there's gonna be time for that as well. So it's just kind of like a give and take, it's a balance.

SPEAKER_00 38:11

Yeah, and I and I think it's important to teach them that that there are spaces and times when we can act like this, and then there are spaces and times when we need to act like this. And and transitioning between those two, that's something that I really try to, you know, okay, now it's time for this, but after, you know, let them know because kids like that structure. They like to know what's coming. We're about to do this, and then we're about to calm down, and we're about to have fun and get crazy, and then we're gonna calm down. And so that that relationship between those two things is really important for kids.

SPEAKER_01 38:43

And I also think that them having a timer, knowing when it's gonna be time, like knowing that the end is coming soon of fun time or whatever. And I did this when my children were growing up as well, when we would go to friends' houses, you know, I wouldn't just be like, all right, let's go, it's time to leave, you know, or all right, it's time to stop playing. I I kind of give them like a buffer so it's not just such a all of a sudden, so that they can kind of mentally prepare themselves for the transition as well.

SPEAKER_00 39:10

And you probably do that too. Yeah, no, that's really important for kids. They need to know, yeah, they got to prepare themselves. Um, I have some really fun games I want to share with you. Okay, so these are like little brain break games. Um, I just started doing them this year. One of them is called noodle dancing. Okay. You know, like the good old-fashioned pool noodles, like the long pool noodle. Okay. So you have a leader who's holding the pool noodle.

SPEAKER_02 39:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 39:35

And however they bend the noodle, everyone is on the carpet. They're they're looking back. They have to move their body as if their body is the pool noodle.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

It's so cute. It's fun.

SPEAKER_00 39:46

Now I let my leader stand on top of the desk because, hey, way more fun. Yeah, for sure. You gotta monitor them, right? You gotta like lay down some ground rules. Yeah. But so my little noodle dancer, they stand on top of the desk and they start bending the noodle. They can throw and spin the noodle, and their bodies jump and spin. Oh, sometimes yeah, it's fun. They'll twist it like a pretzel, and then the kids get on the floor and twist their bodies like a pretzel. And then at the end, they take a bow with the noodle, and all the kids take a bow, and then we'll either switch or we'll we'll go into back into work. Um, I love that. So that's a quick brain. That is so cute.

SPEAKER_01 40:22

How long do you give them?

SPEAKER_00 40:24

Different, different times. It depends. Like sometimes I'll do two liters, like just so that they can have uh they can switch. Sometimes we'll do one quick one, but I I'll usually only let them like 30 seconds to a minute. Each liter will go up. It's quick. They get out all their wiggles. Now they get really energetic. So, of course, and and as we practice in class, whenever we do a really fun, crazy brain break, then we sit down and we do that grounding. We do the five-finger breathing or we do the bubble. Yes. And we talk about okay, we just got excited, it was fun. Now we're gonna calm down so that we can focus and think. And you let them know why, right?

SPEAKER_02 41:02

Right.

SPEAKER_00 41:02

Um, so that was one of my new fun ones.

SPEAKER_01 41:05

I have a 30-second dance party button. Oh, okay. Yes, tell us, tell us. Yeah, you can get it on Amazon. It's a just a dance party and it has a couple of different songs. But like if I feel like, you know, you can sense it when you're teaching a whole group lesson, and all of a sudden you see kind of like an ocean of children start with, you're like, oh, it's time. Press the button, 30-second dance party. They all get up, they get their wiggles out, and as soon as it stops, right back to where they, you know. Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 41:36

I love it. Yep, those quick little bursts of energy are so important. Um, another one that I recently heard, this is so fun. We I just started doing it this week, and the kids love it. It's called another dancing, it's called glue dancing. And this one, so you say a body part and you tell them what they have to glue it to while they're dancing. So you've got music on hand, you're gonna start and stop the music, and you say, Okay, everybody, take your hand and glue it or your hands and glue it to your desk. So their hands are glued to their desk and they gotta move their body. And then you say, Okay, glue your butt to the floor and their butts are on the floor and they're dancing. Or, you know, uh, glue your elbow to a partner and they're dancing with their elbows. That is hilarious. So cute. You gotta try them. They also are my two really fun um energetic things. Um, I'm trying to think of some more. Do you have any more that are coming to you?

SPEAKER_01 42:36

Um, let's see. We do the catch a brain wave, we do the old leaders, the hunks and chunks, um, everything into song. Yeah. Songs. I'm sure there are, oh yeah. I'm sure there are more. I can't think of any more off the top of my head, but yeah, just them personally also uh grounding right back to the grounding again, right? Yeah, it's like the opposite of being spacey, right? Exactly. Tethers us to yeah, focus.

SPEAKER_00 43:08

Um, yeah, focus. There's this new, okay. I saw it online and I'm trying to find out more. It's called Neurogames. Guys, I am trying to get an interview with these people, but it's so cool. So uh I'm still learning, but it's basically um, I guess they're like printable games that you can print. And it's getting kids to grow neurons between their brains, which we talk a lot about on the show. And so, for example, there's a page with zigzags and there's a page with circles. With their right hand, they have to draw the zigzags, but with their left hand, they have to draw the circles. So it's trying to get your body parts to do two different things. Yes. And there's just an endless amount of things like that.

SPEAKER_01 43:48

I think I've seen that. I think I've seen that before. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:51

It's so cool. I'm trying to figure out more so I can do it with the kids. Like maybe like Wednesday mornings, we do like a 15 minute neuro games, and it really will help.

SPEAKER_01 44:00

Do you know if it's on it?

SPEAKER_00 44:01

I saw it. It came through like on Facebook, how the ads and the things. And I've reached out and I have an email. So we might get to use more.

SPEAKER_01 44:10

Um, but yeah. It's kind of similar to like um like make your left hand make a circle going clockwise and make your right hand kind of like that, and like the L and the I, right? Isn't yes, exactly. I can't do it.

SPEAKER_00 44:26

Exactly. Yeah, there's one like where there's a chart and it has a picture, and you have to draw, or okay, you have to look at the chart and you have to look at a part of the picture, and you have to remember what that part of the picture looks like. And then you run across to the other side of the room and you have to draw that piece that you remember. So some of it's like memorization, some of it is the left-right, but it's so cool. And I'm gonna try to incorporate it more. But like things like that are gonna in long term, they're gonna help the kids grow those neurons, which helps them stay focused, helps them be more resilient. So many different reasons. Um, but that's a cool one that I'm I'm looking into.

SPEAKER_01 45:02

I love it.

SPEAKER_00 45:03

What if your class is is low on energy? We kind of might have touched on it, but if they're just lethargic and low, what is your go-to thing or things?

SPEAKER_01 45:12

Um, you know what? Sometimes I like to take them outside just because nature, you know, it's just something about being in nature, something about fresh air to me. Like one of my uh my husband and mine, we love to go. Our favorite pastime is going camping.

SPEAKER_02 45:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:30

And just disconnecting. And I don't know if it has to do with coming from the Polynesian side of me and just their, you know, it's all about nature and just connecting with the earth. And I feel like if their energy is low, if if we have a quick walk around the school or to the play, you know, just something out, then come back in and quickly get started back up on work again.

SPEAKER_00 45:53

Yeah, no, that's so true. That's a really good one. I love that. And then also I think we had mentioned anything cardio. Cardio always gets that heart pumping.

SPEAKER_01 46:01

Um gets the blood flowing through the brain.

SPEAKER_00 46:03

Yeah. There you go, exactly. Okay, moving on to parents. So for parents who feel overwhelmed, okay, you know, again, let's get back to the schedule at home. It's busy, it's crazy, you got to take the kids here or there, you have things to do, you might have work. Teachers deal with this all the time. We're in the middle of the chaos, we're right in the middle of that pit. It might be something that we've already talked about, but do you have any quick tricks that a parent can do when they start to feel stressed or overwhelmed?

SPEAKER_01 46:33

Um, it's the same thing that we had just mentioned, um, going for a walk in nature. And if possible, if you're not at school, if possible, if you could take your shoes off and actually physically touching grass with your feet, like physically grounding yourself, doing the deep breathing, um, back to the dim lighting if you're indoors, uh, reducing screen time, reducing fluorescent lighting. I think all of those things are factors that contribute to your well-being.

SPEAKER_00 47:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:04

If you can focus on nature and getting away from screen time, because you know, let's face it, technology is both a blessing and a curse, right? I mean, it's just, it's everywhere. We're gonna have to learn to live with it, but it's just regulating the amount of time that we're using it. I think it's very important. It's key.

SPEAKER_00 47:22

I think it's really important too. And for our kids, you know, everything it all goes hand in hand, whether it's us or the kids, it's the same. One thing that I notice a quick, just a quick mental shift, is I always check in with my shoulders. So I note it, it's like it changes my whole body. I notice when I'm getting overwhelmed or overworked, it goes along with breathing. I'll stop and we have the kids breathe. Usually I have the kids breathe when I need to breathe. Because again, that those four, there's something about the magic four with your breath. That fourth breath, it really changes your nervous system. But I always check in with my shoulders because my shoulders, I carry my stress up like this. So I carry everything and I notice when I start rushing around and I say, Oh my gosh, let me lower my shoulders. I'm like, oh, I'm so tense up here. So that was a quick little thing that I've been doing. And that really helped shoulders, take a couple of breaths, and then we can think. We create a little bit more space between that chaos.

SPEAKER_01 48:20

Absolutely. And mine is similar to yours, but I wasn't thinking it in terms of shoulder. I was thinking it in terms of lung, like yes, like expanding your lungs and just kind of like getting that air in there, getting it down to the belly, the belly breathing. You know, sometimes I have the students lie on their backs so that they know that it's not just the shallow chest breathing, but they they have to put their hands on their belly, and there needs to be a rise and fall of their hands so that they know that they're actually doing the belly breathing, and it's not just that one, you know, just the shallow chest breathing. It's just everything all the way down to their toes, you know.

SPEAKER_00 48:59

Yes, I love it. I need to do that. I need to do some belly breathing. Um, all right, one minute takeaway for a parent. What can the parent do? One minute, real quick.

SPEAKER_01 49:09

This is one thing, and it's not just for the parents, but it's for everybody. And I also need to continue reminding myself of this. If it's out of your control, you gotta let it roll. I tell my students this, I just remind myself of this. Sometimes things are out of your control. The the weather, the traffic, you know, and so we do the whole circle of control, you know, graphic organizer. What can I control? What are things that I can't? And just focus on the things that you can control.

SPEAKER_00 49:45

That's it. Beautiful. Yes, that is the best advice. It really is. I love it. All right, Miss Veronica, is there anything else cool or interesting that we missed today? Is there anything else that you want to leave people with?

SPEAKER_01 49:58

Just just we're just over here trying to help create better human beings, better souls for this planet, you know? And uh one of my favorite things also to share with my students is to think before you speak. Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? Is it kind? And again, I did not create this, I found this, but I think those are beautiful words to live by. I love it. And I feel like what you are doing for this world and this planet is all of those things. And so I appreciate you, Miss Stacey Piangel.

SPEAKER_00 50:33

Thank you so much. I appreciate you, Miss Veronica Fuato. You are doing all those things and more. Thank you so much. All right, Veronica. Well, thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing your time and all of your great tips and tricks. I appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Hope to see you soon. Yes. All right, guys, if you enjoyed this episode, I hope you use it to inspire those around you. And I'll see you next week on In a Spiritual Sims Kids.

SPEAKER_01 50:57

Are we ready for a positive affirmation song? Ready? I am happy.

SPEAKER_02 51:05

I am happy. I am great. Where are you? I am great.

SPEAKER_00 51:43

For those looking to connect further, please feel free to send emails to info at inaspiritual sense.com or hit me up on Instagram where you can find weekly inspiration and updates. I look forward to connecting with you!

SPEAKER_01 52:12

This show is part of the Mindful Podcast Network.