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