A pause you carry with you

Learning intention By the end of this lesson, students can try a simple breathing pattern and explain that changing the pace of the breath may help some people settle.

Time: 40 minutes
How the room works: Small groups
You need: Paper and pens, although finger tracing also works
Opens with: Four, seven, eight

Before you start

Focusing on or holding the breath can feel uncomfortable for students with asthma, anxiety, trauma or other health needs. Offer ordinary breathing, quiet tracing or observation throughout, and stop immediately if anyone feels dizzy or distressed.

Read the full safeguarding note Adapting it for your class A note home for this lesson

Three people sitting cross-legged among plants, hands resting together — Illustration by RecipesforWellbeing.org, CC BY-NC 4.0

Why this matters

The breath is always present, although most of the time we do not notice it. Paying attention to its pace can create a small pause during pressure, before a test or after a difficult moment. Breath practices do not work in the same way for everyone, so this lesson offers options rather than a single correct technique.

Skill in context Using the breath as one way to return to the present moment and connect with yourself.

On the skill of breathing Try the interactive practice

1

Open with “Four, seven, eight”

5 min

Offer the Four, seven, eight card as one option, alongside breathing normally or watching the count without joining in. Students can shorten or remove the hold at any point.

Read aloud

We are going to try a counted breath, and you can breathe normally or simply listen if focusing on the breath does not feel comfortable today.

If you are joining in, breathe in gently for four, pause for up to seven, and breathe out slowly for up to eight. The counts are guides, so shorten them or leave out the pause whenever you need to.

We will try three more rounds at an easy pace, without forcing the breath to become deeper than it wants to be.

Return to your usual breathing and notice what the practice was like for you, including if it made no difference or was not comfortable.

Listen for Watch for discomfort, dizziness or breath-holding that feels strained, and remind students that returning to an ordinary breath is part of the practice.

2

Teacher explanation

10 min

Breathing mostly happens without our attention, but we can also notice and gently change its rhythm. For some people, a comfortable out-breath that is slightly longer than the in-breath can support settling. It is not a test of control, and a bigger or slower breath is not always better.

Breathing cannot remove the source of stress, and it should not be used to ask someone to tolerate an unsafe situation. It can offer a brief pause in which we notice what is happening and decide what support or action is needed next.

Questions for the room

What can make a breathing practice feel supportive, uncomfortable or distracting?
Why is it useful to have more than one way of pausing?
Where might a brief breath practice help, and where would practical action or another person's support matter more?

3

Draw your breath

16 min

Invite each student to draw a simple continuous shape they can trace with one finger, such as a square, triangle, wave or circle.
Demonstrate on a square: trace one side while breathing in, the next while pausing if comfortable, the third while breathing out, and the last while resting.
Give students three quiet rounds with their own shape. They can change the pace, remove the hold, breathe normally while tracing or simply look at the shape.
In groups of three or four, invite each person to show their shape and, if they wish, lead one round using only "in, pause, out, rest".
Ask groups to discuss which pace felt easiest to follow and why different people may prefer different patterns.
Invite one willing group to lead a final round, with watching or passing treated as full participation.

4

Private reflection

6 min

Which version of today's practice felt most usable, including ordinary breathing or not taking part? Note one situation in which it might offer a pause, and one situation in which you would need a different kind of support.

How they reflect Private journal

5

Closing

3 min

The breath is one possible place to pause, and it will not remove the thing causing pressure. If it gives you a little more room, you can use that room to choose what you need next.

Safeguarding

Focusing on or holding the breath can feel uncomfortable for students with asthma, anxiety, trauma or other health needs. Offer ordinary breathing, quiet tracing or observation throughout, and stop immediately if anyone feels dizzy or distressed. Follow health plans and usual safeguarding procedures.

If something a young person says gives you concern, follow your setting’s usual safeguarding route. This is not yours to carry alone.

Adapting it

Ages 13 to 15: Keep the practice visual and hands-on, use short counts and make all breath holds optional. Emphasise that comfort matters more than completing the pattern.
Ages 16 to 18: Connect the practice to revision, exams, driving tests or difficult conversations, while acknowledging that it does not change the demands around them. Offer counting without drawing for students who prefer it.

In other settings

Form time: Offer the counted breath with clear alternatives, then give students three quiet rounds of shape tracing.
Assembly: Demonstrate a short shape breath from the front, making ordinary breathing and observation equally visible options. No one needs to share a response.
Small group: Try several comfortable patterns and talk about individual preferences without deciding which one works best for everyone.

Curriculum connections

Australia, Personal and Social Capability: Self-awareness — emotional awareness; Self-management — emotional regulationChecked by AI review against Australian Curriculum Version 9.0, General capabilities: Personal and Social capability, its elements and sub-elements on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Brazil, BNCC: Self-knowledge and self-care (GC 8) — caring for physical and emotional health; recognising emotions and dealing with themNot yet checked against its source.
Canada, BC Core Competencies: Personal Awareness and Responsibility — self-regulating; well-being (managing stress)Not yet checked against its source.
Canada, Ontario HPE: Personal skills — coping skills such as relaxation techniques (1.2); recognizing stress (1.1) · Gr 7–8: A1.2 (e.g. deep breathing)Not yet checked against its source.
Chile, Orientación: Wellbeing and self-care — everyday actions for wellbeing: appropriate rest (OA 4, 7°–8°); managing stress (OA 4, 1°–2° medio)Not yet checked against its source.
England, PSHE: Health and Wellbeing: mental health and emotional wellbeing (KS3 H7, H10, KS4 H7)Checked by AI review against the PSHE Association's Programme of Study for PSHE education, Key stages 1 to 5, 2020 wording (read from a school-hosted copy, 2023/24) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
England, RSHE: Mental wellbeing: worrying and feeling down are normal, and managing those feelings (statement 4); coping strategies (statement 7)Checked by AI review against the DfE's Relationships education, relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education guidance in force from 1 September 2026 on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Finland, Transversal competences: L3 Taking care of oneself and managing daily life — emotional skills and ways of acting that promote wellbeingNot yet checked against its source.
Ghana, Core competencies: Personal Development and Leadership — health and self-regulationNot yet checked against its source.
Hong Kong, Values Education: Health education (健康生活教育) — promoting physical and psychological well-beingNot yet checked against its source.
India, NEP: Mental health (NEP 4.28); Wellness (NEP 4.23)Checked by AI review against the National Education Policy 2020, final English text (July 2020, the PIB-hosted copy) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Indonesia, Graduate profile: Health (kesehatan) — physical and mental health (kesehatan fisik dan mental): settling through the breathNot yet checked against its source.
Ireland, Junior Cycle Wellbeing: Resilient — coping skills for life's challenges; knowing where I can go for helpNot yet checked against its source.
Japan, Courses of Study: Health — mind and body affect each other; coping with stress (ストレスへの対処)Not yet checked against its source.
Kenya, Competency-based curriculum: Self-efficacy — effectively managing stressful situationsNot yet checked against its source.
Mexico, Nueva Escuela Mexicana: Feelings and their influence on decision-making — self-regulation; Axis: Healthy living (keeping stress manageable)Not yet checked against its source.
New Zealand, Health and PE: Personal health and physical development — self-management skills; Hauora: taha tinana and taha hinengaroNot yet checked against its source.
Scotland, Health and wellbeing: Mental and emotional wellbeing — learning ways of managing thoughts and emotions (HWB 3-02a); personal coping skills (HWB 3-06a)Checked by AI review against Education Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence, Health and wellbeing: experiences and outcomes on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Singapore, CCE: SEC: self-management; CCE Curriculum Content Area: Mental HealthChecked by AI review against MOE's 2021 Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) Syllabus, Secondary on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
South Africa, Life Orientation: Development of the self in society — stress management: coping techniques (Gr 12)Not yet checked against its source.
United States, CASEL: self-awareness; self-managementChecked by AI review against the CASEL Framework (2020), as published on casel.org on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
European Union, LifeComp: P1 Self-regulation — regulating emotions and behaviour, including stress responses (P1.2); P3 Wellbeing — care of mental healthNot yet checked against its source.
Middle East and North Africa, UNICEF life skills: Self-management — regulating stress and emotions with a simple breath practiceNot yet checked against its source.
IB, ATL: Self-management: affective skills (mindfulness awareness, emotional management)Checked by AI review against the IB's MYP: From principles into practice, Approaches to learning (for use from September 2014/January 2015, a school-hosted copy) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
OECD Learning Compass: Core foundations: health foundations (mental well-being); Core foundations: social and emotional foundations (emotional regulation)Checked by AI review against the OECD Learning Compass 2030 concept notes Skills for 2030 and Core Foundations for 2030 (2019) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
UNESCO SEL: Mindfulness (breath awareness and physiological regulation)Checked by AI review against MGIEP's page naming the four competencies, with their definitions from summaries of Rethinking Learning (MGIEP, 2020), which could not be opened on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
WHO life skills: Coping with stress — learning how to relax so that tension does not build; Coping with emotionsNot yet checked against its source.
Inner Development Goals: Being: Presence; Being: Self-AwarenessChecked by AI review against the Inner Development Guide's 25 skills across 5 dimensions (idg.guide, 2025) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Sessions for advocates, capacities: Regulate under stressChecked by AI review against the three capacities of Ten sessions for advocates, as the sessions on /advocates/ name them on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.