




































RESET Initiative®: Practical Strategies for Supporting Educators and Students


Volume 3, Issue 1 

2020 

Allies for Education 2020, 3, 1 
https://journals.library.csuci.edu/ojs/index.php/afe 

 

RESET Initiative®: Practical Strategies for Supporting 

Educators and Students 
 
Christina Pabers 
Thérèse Walsh 

The RESET Initiative® is an online or live, 7-minute per day, Social and Emotional Learning program 

designed to support educators, students, and families. RESET, which stands for Respiratory Exercises for 

Social and Emotional Teaching, originated in Mexico City under the name of Más Respiración Consciente 

and continues to be implemented there in Kindergarten through 12th grade. The techniques that make 

up RESET are aligned with the five social and emotional competencies identified by 

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). This article highlights some of the 

key features of RESET and the experiences of educators and students in schools in the US.   

When society fosters a nurturing and health-stabilizing environment for educators, administrators and 

students, everybody benefits. The RESET Initiative® offers a set of core practices that support the brain, 

nervous system and entire body in the process of teaching, learning, self-regulating and successfully 

interacting with each other. These practices are aligned with mind/body wellness and social emotional 

wellness principles. Specifically, each of the techniques that make up a RESET session can be categorized 

into one or more of the five social and emotional competencies identified by the 

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). The five social and emotional 

competencies are tools for living a healthy and balanced life. These five skills, according to CASEL, are 

self-awareness, self-management, good decision making, social awareness, and relationship skills.   

RESET utilizes 7-minute protocols which can be led by classroom teachers, counselors, para-educators, 

administrators, and students themselves. These protocols are meant for use at the beginning of the 

school day, and they are composed of a series of 1- and 2-minute exercises. These 1- and 2-minute 

exercises can also be used throughout the day as needed, whether to focus attention, use up excited 

energy, or calm the mind and nervous system. Each RESET protocol integrates CASEL’s five core 

competencies to support the development of Social and Emotional Learning through balance, 

respiratory fitness, and academic readiness. Additionally, many RESET exercises are designed to give 

students and educators an opportunity to move, breathe, stretch and vocalize so as to break up periods 

of inactivity, improve blood circulation, and oxygenate the body while enhancing academic readiness. 

Lastly, a key feature of this program is the process of connecting the voice to the breath in order to 

project vocal strength, to enunciate, to produce musical sounds, and to create rhythm. These elements 

https://casel.org/
https://casel.org/


RESET Initiative®: Practical Strategies for Supporting Educators and 

Students 
Christina Pabers; Thérèse Walsh 

Allies for Education 2020, 3, 1 
https://journals.library.csuci.edu/ojs/index.php/afe 
 

of music therapy are integrated into each 7-minute protocol to stimulate the cerebral cortex, enhance 

breathing, and increase student confidence in using their voice.   

The videos below provide information about the philosophical and scientific underpinnings of RESET and 

how it is being used in schools.   

Videos 

Overbrook Educational Center RESET Initiative®   
Interviews of educators and administrators on their experience of RESET. This video includes 

footage of classroom 7-minute protocols. Date Filmed, Fall, 2019 

View 

Principal Meredith Foote of Overbrook Educational Center 
Overbrook Educational Center’s Principal Meredith Foote speaks about the virtual application of 

RESET and especially the ‘Intention of the Week’. Date Filmed, September, 2020 

View 

7 Minute RESET Protocol with Ashley Winn  
This video is a sample of a seven-minute protocol that can be played in class or virtually as well 

as learned by the educator or student and taught live in the classroom. Date Filmed, August, 

2020 

View 

Children Talk about RESET to Hueneme School District Meeting 
Two elementary students talk about RESET at a board meeting and a RESET coach teaches one 

exercise to the entire room. Date Filmed, Spring, 2019 

View 

RESET Initiative® and the Brain and Nervous System 
This video is a discussion on the functioning of the brain and nervous system and the 

mechanisms of RESET exercises. Date Filmed, August, 2020 

View 

As RESET protocols are used for increasing lengths of time, their effects on teacher and student 

wellness, academic performance, and school culture will be observed. A research project for this 

purpose was initiated by professors in the School of Education at CSU Channel Islands in 2020. We hope 

that educators who undergo the process of learning and performing RESET exercises on their own and 

with students will elicit deeper conversations about and commitment to the essential project of 

supporting wellness for educators, students, and families.  

https://jsbl-ojs-media.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/afe/v3n1/ojs_afe_v3-1_walsh_reset_overbrook-educational-center-reset-initiative.webm
https://jsbl-ojs-media.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/afe/v3n1/ojs_afe_v3-1_walsh_reset_principal-meredith.webm
https://jsbl-ojs-media.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/afe/v3n1/ojs_afe_v3-1_walsh_reset_reset-for-a-positive-day.webm
https://jsbl-ojs-media.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/afe/v3n1/ojs_afe_v3-1_walsh_reset_hueneme-school-district.webm
https://jsbl-ojs-media.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/afe/v3n1/ojs_afe_v3-1_walsh_reset_reset-initiative-the-brain-nervous-system.webm


RESET Initiative®: Practical Strategies for Supporting Educators and 

Students 
Christina Pabers; Thérèse Walsh 

Allies for Education 2020, 3, 1 
https://journals.library.csuci.edu/ojs/index.php/afe 
 

To learn more about RESET Initiative in the United States or Más Respiración Consciente in Mexico visit 

Resetinitiative.com  and Masrespiracionconsciente.com.   

About the Authors 
Christina Pabers PhD, MA TCM, L.Ac has served in the field of health and fitness for over 33 years. Her 

PhD and Master’s Degrees are in Oriental Medicine from American University of Complementary 

Medicine and Yo San University Respectively. Her Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology, Exercise Science is 

from California State University Northridge. She teaches internationally and writes curriculum on the 

topics of anatomy/physiology, neurology, Chinese meridian physiology, exercise safety and the effects 

of meditation on the brain, nervous system and endocrine system for the Naam Yoga teacher 

certification programs. She owns and runs a medical clinic called Harmonyum Healing Center in 

Camarillo, California. 

Thérèse Walsh has been practicing yoga since 1994, has completed two 200-hour yoga teaching 

certifications and has taught adults and children of all ages and abilities. She is an Institute for 

Integrated Nutrition Health Coach and a Heart Math, Add Heart® Facilitator. She has a Bachelor of 

Science degree from Pennsylvania State University. Before devoting her work full time to RESET 

Initiative, she worked in the Supply Chain industry where looking for ways to do things better became a 

daily habit. “With my Lean Six Sigma training I realize the importance of addressing root causes, getting 

the right people involved, and creating a problem-solving culture where you start small, build, sustain 

and grow.” This business mindset along with her interest in the science of breath attracted Thérèse to 

the RESET philosophy of creating a streamlined way for people to incorporate intentional breathing as a 

daily habit and lifestyle.  

 

https://resetinitiative.com/
http://masrespiracionconsciente.com/

	RESET Initiative®: Practical Strategies for Supporting Educators and Students
	Videos
	Overbrook Educational Center RESET Initiative®
	Principal Meredith Foote of Overbrook Educational Center
	7 Minute RESET Protocol with Ashley Winn
	Children Talk about RESET to Hueneme School District Meeting
	View

	RESET Initiative® and the Brain and Nervous System

	About the Authors

