What a feeling ! Guided self-trainings to learn about and welcome our emotions is the title of the new collection of audio tracks created by Ocarina to help children explore and understand their emotional world. 5 tracks that talk about 5 emotions: joy, calm, anger, sadness and fear; each one is composed of a narrative part and a guided meditation that aims to relax the mind and the body, starting from the self-observation. An original project, conceived and created by OcarinaSound, in collaboration with two professionals from the pediatric area and aimed at preschool children. In three different languages: Italian, English and French.
The importance of telling children about emotions While a newborn is struggling with the emotional universe in a passive and purely instinctive form, towards the third year of age, a child can begin to understand, not only what his emotions arouse, but also how to communicate them and, slowly, to manage them. Talking to children about emotions through an understandable narrative helps them understand how that pot of sensations – which for them is often a source of deep disturbance or of absolute happiness – is something completely normal that unites all human beings; a true own source of energy which, if well directed, can become a faithful life partner. Helping children, from the earliest years of life, to talk about themselves and their emotions, allows parents to understand and support them better. At the same time, for a child, knowing how to identify his moods is essential to develop a serene attitude, strengthen his self-esteem and relate to others.
Ocarina’s Emotions tales Leo and Lisa are the protagonists of the 5 audio stories created by Ocarina that speak about emotions and everyday life. Listening to these stories, the little ones can identify with the two main characters: in Leo, when he feels anger in the morning because he doesn’t want to get up, or when he relaxes to a state of absolute calm during a trip to the countryside with his parents. But also with Lisa’s moods, happy and excited while celebrating her birthday with friends, or terribly sad for having to separate a few days from mom and dad, and again, when she is afraid because she has to stay at the recreation center for the first time alone. By identifying with these two characters, children will have the opportunity to enrich their emotional vocabulary, thus learning to identify and recognize their emotions. The audio stories can be listened to independently or with parents or teachers. In fact, they represent a valid educational tool to help kids learn to talk about their own feelings and also to approach and meet the inner world of their little friends.
Guided meditations Each audio story is followed by a guided meditation which aims to help the child observe his emotions, feel the effects they cause on his body, and then move on to the relaxation phase. In the evening, at the end of the day, even while lying in bed, it is certainly the ideal time to offer your little ones these little meditations. The guiding voice – accompanied by relaxing music – will invite children to think about how they feel in every part of their body, from head to toe, and then focus attention on their breath in order to reach a state of relaxation and calm. Through simple breathing exercises and playful guided visualizations that suggest transporting themselves to ideal places – such as flower meadows and the summer sea – children can calm their mind, relax their body, leave all those negative sensations and impulses, often a source of anxiety and agitation. Nowadays many studies on young people show, in fact, how a good and constant meditation practice can help improve their concentration and connect better with themselves; an undoubtedly essential aspect in this world so overloaded with stimuli, in which children have no reasonable and stable filters with which try to manage such a sensory and emotional avalanche. At the same time, correctly channeling their negative emotions will better orient their social skills, their way of relating, for example avoiding situations of violence and aggression.
The project has been created by OcarinaSound in collaboration with Chiara Noci, yoga teacher for children and Pauline De Falco, Child Neuropsychiatrist.
