Anita Kate Garai
Discover the writer inside you! Through engaging and inspiring FEELING poems, interactive performances, games and workshops.
beingwithourfeelings.com
Books by Anita Kate Garai
Book series 'Being With Our Feelings' (Routledge, 2022), includes four lively rhyming books - exploring anger, fear, self-acceptance and making choices - as well as a toolkit packed with activities, games and meditations.
978-1032233277
Being With Our Feelings: A Mindful Approach to Wellbeing for Children - A Teaching Toolkit
A vital resource, full of practical advice for developing and nurturing children’s emotional, mental and physical wellbeing, this toolkit offers a range of easily implementable, creative options to teach young people how to be with their feelings, themselves and each other with acceptance, kindness and compassion. Using storytelling, movement, drama, art, spoken word, guided meditations and providing plenty of photocopiable and visual aids, the Being With Our Feelings toolkit is a must-have resource for ensuring a mindful, embodied approach to wellbeing.
978-1032233987
The Red String: Exploring the Energy of Anger and Other Strong Emotions
Using a red string as a metaphor for the energy of strong feelings, this beautifully written storybook is a journey of the physical sensations of anger as it runs through the character’s body - making them want to punch as it gets into their arms, kick and stomp as it travels down their legs and scream out hateful things as it wraps itself around their heart.
Full of relatable and easy to understand scenarios, The Red String:
has a gender neutral central character
helps children to identify powerful feelings like anger and recognise their possible effects
introduces the strategy of allowing the energy of strong feelings to ‘dance’ in our body, instead of letting them control our thoughts and behaviour
enables children to begin to accept strong feelings such as anger, without shame or judgment
ends with a mindful reflection, to help children explore and be with their feelings.
Strong feelings can be overwhelming and consuming. This book is essential reading for teachers, parents, or anyone working with young people who wishes to help children understand, embrace and cope with powerful feelings such as anger, in a healthy way.
978-1032233994
What if All the Trees Blow Away: Exploring Anxiety, Fear and Uncertainty
This captivating storybook helps young people identify and explore feelings of anxiety, fear and uncertainty. As the narrator anxiously pours out a plethora of ‘What if?’ thoughts ranging from realistic to fantastical, these seemingly never-ending worries eventually build into what some readers may recognise as a panic attack. They discover that beneath the head full of worries lies the feeling of fear, and rather than resolving all the anxious questions, they can acknowledge and be with the fear itself.
Sensitively written and highly relatable to anyone who has experienced anxious thinking, What if All the Trees Blow Away:
has a gender neutral central character
helps children recognise their anxious thoughts as fear
guides children on how to take back control of their anxious thinking
explores the connection between emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing
aids in normalising the feelings of fear and worry
encourages sharing and seeking support
ends with a mindful reflection, to help children explore and be with their feelings.
978-1032233338
I Don’t Want to be Me - Amelie’s Walk: Exploring Self-Acceptance
supports emotional wellbeing through a greater sense of self-worth and self acceptance
helps children to discover alongside Amelie, that being yourself is enough
ends with a mindful reflection to help children explore and be with their feelings.
This book is essential reading for teachers, parents, and anyone who wishes to help children feel heard, seen and accepted, just as they are.
978-1032233963
I Just Can’t Decide!: Exploring the Challenge of Making Choices
This colourful, engaging, gender neutral story, introduces the reader to a child overwhelmed with all of life’s choices. Should they sit with their friends or befriend someone new? Should they share what they know or keep it to themselves? Should they listen to their heart or follow the crowd?
Written with honesty and a clear youth voice, I Just Can’t Decide!:
looks at the challenge of making choices
champions the courage to make your own choices
promotes listening to your heart, intuition and body, in addition to your mind
teaches children about conscious behaviour and self-reflection
explores ideas of integrity, values and right action
ends with a mindful reflection, to help children explore and be with their feelings.
This book is essential reading for teachers, parents, or anyone working with children, who wishes to empower young people to make good choices, with sensitivity and self-awareness.