Kevin Polk, the creator of the matrix, began a podcast called “The Art of Being with the ACT Matrix “. I recently joined him as co-host. Together we chat about how the matrix is used with invited guests as well as what we cook up on our own.

This podcast looks at the classic movie, “The Matrix” from the ACT Matrix point of view. Check it out below:

https://youtu.be/3Usaog-egVU

The podcasts are now available on Soundcloud, Google Podcasts and Stictcher.

I work with many students who find themselves in difficult situations. Each one has unique and challenging learning and behavioral issues.

They can be struggling in kindergarten, melting down in middle school or losing steam in high school. They appear frustrated, discouraged, disconnected or disengaged. Many have felt like giving up, lashing out or throwing in the towel.

The teachers of these students work very hard to meet their learning, social and emotional needs. They are dedicated and invested. Doing this kind of work is rewarding, challenging and emotionally draining. While working to make a difference, the staff can feel just as upset as their students.

Helping out can get pretty heavy.

What students and teachers need is a way to help them work together to overcome obstacles and take on the challenge of learning academic skills, developing themselves, and being all they can be. It takes time, patience and lots of compassion on behalf of teachers, specialists and others. There are no quick fixes and change occurs over days, weeks and sometimes years.

To help everyone move toward effective teaching and learning, I have developed a dynamic approach that allows everyone to move forward. I teach everyone in the classroom how to increase satisfaction and decrease stress. You probably have not heard anything about it yet; but learning how to harness this process will give you and those you serve a happier, healthier, and more collaborative classroom.

My mission is to help everyone in schools learn to act with something known as psychological flexibility.

Psychological flexibility is the ability to “notice” what you are doing, to be aware of what is showing up inside of you, and choosing what works to get you where you want to go, even in the presence of obstacles. The term was coined by Dr. Steve Hayes and colleagues to denote an evidenced-based process that seeks to increase valued living while reducing suffering ( see reference at the end of this article )

Current research (see Kashdan and Rottenberg reference below) supports promoting psychological flexibility for a wide variety of behavioral issues that extends to the classroom and beyond. It is the cornerstone of mental health.

When we “notice” something, we become aware of it “in-the-moment.” Awareness of what we are doing leads to having choices about how to respond or make necessary changes. Each day we experience unwelcome challenges that show up outside of us as difficult situations like flat tires, conflicts with others, and not enough time and resources to accomplish what we want. Then some challenges come from inside of us by way of unwanted thoughts, feelings, moods, and urges. All of these things can bog us down and make things more difficult.

The same holds for students and especially those that experience a lot of stress and discomfort when it comes to school and learning.

Students that struggle socially and emotionally are less psychologically flexible. They spend a lot of time dealing with uncomfortable thoughts, feelings and urges and are easily overwhelmed and frustrated. They have less energy to do what matters to them like making friends and being successful in school ( they all do want these things by the way, even if they say otherwise ). They get stuck in their thinking and pay less attention to what is going on around them. When this happens, they get stuck in their actions as well and end up with fewer choices.

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