One: Alone. Yes.

Ultimately, you are alone.

You. I School is Your class. You ARE the class- student, teacher and subject. You are #1.

You are always alone with yourself (your thoghts), right? 24-7. With or without others around you.

Now, what do you want? Have you written anything down yet? Just a question, but can you get what you want? Without spending time getting it? Know what I mean? These things take time. First experiment is to try to get a sense of time. Oh, this will take time. What else are doing?

The goal: What you may want, is this: To be alone and Ok with aloneness. Being Ok, with yourself. More of the time. In more situations; for more of your life.

Activity: AM/PM self-talk.

Eyes closed, First thing in the morning. Before, or after an alarm.

Ask: How do I feel? This is very important. The more you can simply identify how you feel- you can help yourself already by avoiding traps. Say you wake up sad or angry. Pause. before you talk to someone, you might start a fight unknowingly because you don’t quite know how grumpy you are, say.

BONUS- say “good morning” how did you sleep? did you dream? (if so, write it down- for later I.School), what is one thing you can do for yourself today? (Glass of cold water- put hand lotion on, wear special shoes… something super simple and easy).

PM, I’ve been thinking about that one. How about, “What is one thing you learned today?” But my head starts spinning by night. I would need to ask myself that an hour or so before bed. I like to go to bed with stories. And hopefully dream tonight.

Tip: Reading Mythology helps dreams.

Activity option Part B: Make your bed.

Every. Single. Day. AND, Think about how you want to feel about yourself when you get back into that same bed tonight. Pause.

Part C- Self-Check

I’m also curious as to whether this one would work but here is my idea: at least once a day. Or Three? The same times every day, stop and make an observation of yourself. Say 10:30 am. Every day. Like a self-check.

And do something physical every day at the same time. Like- sit up straight- first observe your posture and then adjust.

If you are in class, talking to someone, looking at your phone/ screen. 10:30 am- take a mental note of what the topic is at that particular time. Note how you feel perhaps. Sit or stand up straight- real slow and cool like. No one will even notice. But do it consistently throughout the school year. Same time every day 5-7 days a week.

No daily alarms, ideally; no technology to remind you, and become more dependent on. Pick a time, and then trust yourself. Repeat.

Other ideas, 3 times daily- do something physical. Sit up, pull shoulders back, make a fist with your toes, face the palms of your hands up on your lap (like in class)? Go get that drink of water, put on that hand lotion, if these are an option. *be warned, what you condition yourself to do you will start to do automatically. So, make it realistically simple. And not to worry, if you can condition yourself, you can re-condition the condition, again. (Grin)

Why?

Here is my rational: What I hear from students- is a loss of control. A feeling of having no control over their environment. So, I’m thinking this might be a way to re-condition your brain/body connection by giving it a sense of internal or intrinsic control. With you, the I, in command. Like tricking your brain into doing what it probably wants to do in the first place. Have some time and autonomy. Not control, but Self-control, in what our body and brain is doing and thinking. A philosophy of “Command yourself, or be Commanded” sort of notion.

Also, It may reduce some anxiety, because you will be more predictable to yourself. Something you can always count on. You pick the times. You decide what to do or not do physically and mentally for less than 30 seconds a day. 10 seconds each time.

Conclusion:

Thoughts and or activities Week One.

AM/PM self- talk.
I.Notebook Ideas. Write down wants.
Pause Three times a day. Same time. 10 seconds (?) for self-check in. Sit up.

Notebook Questions:

What do you want? (From intro, week one)

Are your actions matching that? When you are alone?

What is stopping you from getting what you want?

Who are your influences? (Are you sure?)

*My past years of videos and blogs are not easily followed, sort of messy. And that is exactly what I recommend for you. Your I school does not have to make sense! It only needs to make sense to YOU. Be cryptic, mysterious, say YES.

Prep for week 2: What are you Talking About?

Seriously. What consumes most of your conversations? Is that what you want?