Music to My Ears

Okay counseling (and other) friends, lets try something!  Wherever you are reading this, sit up in your seat.  Close your eyes.  And think about a song.  Any song, but specifically one that draws a strong physical response.  What do you feel like when you hear this song...ecstatic, contentment, sorrow?  For me, at the moment, that song is Katy Perry's Roar.  I feel this song all the way down to my toes and I belt it out loud in my car most days on the way home.  It perks me up and helps me melt away a long day in a matter of minutes.  It makes me feel powerful...like the eye of the tiger ;-)

Now, let's think about that.  You just simply recalled a song and thought about how it made you feel.  Imagine harnessing that power for good.  A post or two ago I shared we begin each group with relaxation.  An integral part of our deep breathing exercises is the new-fangled app called Spotify.

Spotify is an app you can download on your desktop computer, your laptop, your iPad, or even your iPhone or android device.  It is similar to Pandora, but with MUCH more versatility.  Basically its the most user friendly music player you will ever encounter.  The best part, the basic edition is totally FREE!  That means, for FREE, you can download this application to your computer and listen to almost any music you want, anytime.  For the music lover (me, me!) this is the best invention since sliced bread.  

Getting back to small groups...Kelly and I utilize spotify by creating "kid friendly" playlists.  These playlists are composed of soothing, quiet instrumental tracks.  These instrumental tunes go a long way in "setting the mood" for relaxation.  And the group that follows, as we often play soft music throughout all our groups.

If you enjoyed my PSA for Spotify, great!  If you are like me and take most gushing reviews with a grain of salt, get ready for my next sentence.  WARNING: explicit ads will be aired on any and all basic editions!!!  What does this mean for unsuspecting school counselors?  This means, that in the middle of your first grade small group while everyone is beginning to have a calm body, Kanye West will start dropping swear words at a loud decibel.  Not cool.  

GOOD NEWS: you can get rid of these ads!  You can upgrade your Spotify to an ad free edition for $4.99 per month.  To me, it is totally worth the price tag.  You can even downgrade your subscription during the summer months!

Here a few of the albums I utilize to guide our relaxation exercises:

• Calm Children Collection: Piano Music for Naptime
• Calm Children Collection: Piano Music for Reading
• Baby Music: 100% Organic Acoustic Lullabies

And for the girls' group:

• Fred Molin: Princess Lullaby (Disney Princess edition!)

In case you aren't a fan of the digital download generation, you can get most of these titles from Amazon.  Those are just a few examples of the calm tunes we listen to in the cookie monster room.  Do any of you utilize music during small groups?  I would LOVE more music suggestions!

Lastly, we finally got a poster up for Bully Prevention Month:

Kristina