Feeling It- Dog Mind Vs Lion Mind

Students from 1R and 1M have both been participating in group work activities exploring the 'Feeling it' programme from Smiling Mind.

We recently learned about the many ways to practice mindfulness and one way is to cultivate 'Lion Mind.'

'Lion Mind' is the opposite of 'Dog Mind.'

Imagine your mind being like Doug from 'UP! Your mind might race with anxious thoughts, your thoughts might go around in circles or you might struggle to be present because your mind is constantly wandering.

'Lion Mind' is when your mind is more present and non-reactive. 'Lion Mind' is about being aware and observing with curiosity, so that we can choose how we want to respond rather than reacting automatically in ways that may not always be so helpful!

And well.... that is a challenge... and a state of mind that you have to practice!

To discuss this more each group created these amazing lion canvases. The process involved the group working in two's and being experiential and expressive with the paint to leave their own individual mark on the canvas. We explored automatic negative thoughts like 'what if I mess up what the last person did?' and 'what if I make a mistake? and more.

Our art designs was inspired by the art of Jin Yong a Chinese Artist who lives in Galway. He recently exhibited his work at ArtSource in the RDS. He is super-super talented and we even learned from his blog that he even doubts himself sometimes! In his art it looks like he writes in thoughts he has in the moment as he paints so there is a story hidden in the paint too.

So we gathered together when each lion was finished and hid our own one word mantras in the manes and added a gold crown with posca markers. Our mantras and more about 'lion mind' can be found on the BFL Resources page here. Check it out!

Pop into A4 to see the real paintings and spot our hidden words!