The YESS Institute at Shaw Heights Middle School: Love Thyself

Brainstorming about LOVE!

This past week we transitioned from speaking about stress to a discussion centered around self-love. We were excited to try a new lesson from the newest YESS curriculum entitled, "Love Thyself." This lesson fit in perfectly with our talks last week about the power of visualization and positive affirmations when needing to combat stress and overcome obstacles in life. We also finalized the slide show for our mentors in anticipation of our End of Year Celebration this Wednesday, May 17th at 6:30 at Westy High School. Several of our mentors have been selected to speak on Wednesday, and while they are certainly nervous, the pride is undeniable. We ended our week by visiting the Glow Show art installation on Friday and by playing some games together. Our mentors and mentees cannot wait for the celebration on Wednesday!

Student artwork depicting violence and nonviolence.

Tyler Parks did a wonderful job with his illustrations.

Our mentors and mentees really enjoyed doing the two day lesson on self-love. We watched two short videos, including a TedX talk on radical self-love. So many of our scholars suffer from self-doubt and anxiety as they navigate the transition from childhood into their teenage years, and this lesson really impacted them. They all noted that one comment in particular stuck with them after the Ted talk had finished: "If you were to talk to your friends the way you talk to yourself in your head, would they still want to be friends with you?"

Tyler's hard work on defining what love is, and is not, to him.

I think this really sums up the disparity in the way some of our mentors and mentees treat others yet are unable to treat themselves with the same love and compassion. We noted how it is hard to love and help others if we don't first and foremost love ourselves. We did a brainstorm on the board where we put all the things we associate with love inside the heart; those things that detract from our ability to love (either ourselves or others) we placed outside the heart. Each scholar then completed his or her own heart. We touched on the fact that we can find love in many places, and that we need to positively focus on these things as we know just how powerful positive thought can be.

We also discussed the Sanskrit term, "ahimsa," which means practicing compassion and nonviolence towards one's self and others. Our mentors and mentees worked on explaining the differences between violence and nonviolence, and each was asked to consider what obstacles, events, or behavior may for them trigger a violent reaction; awareness is the first step towards change, and so every scholar took time to contemplate this "line" and noted what they can do to remain nonviolent in these situations (we referred back to our lessons on combating stress and our seven habits for success).

Our mentors and mentees really valued the lesson on self-love and care, and we all felt empowered after our positive discussion on all the things that make us feel loved. Next week we will talk more about love as we do the "Love Cup" lesson. Stay tuned!