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Please send us a voice memo, drawing, or letter at hello@likeyoupodcast.com. We play a voice memos from listeners either at the beginning of an episode or during the affirmation segment of the episode. If your child wants to be included, record a voice memo and send it to us. Your child can introduce themself and then say a favorite affirmation, sing a line from a Like You song, say what they like about the show, or share whatever they feel! Keep it short (10-20 seconds). For more info on how to record and send a voice memo, see this post, or click here.

Like You is a production of Perpetual Motion. The show is written and produced by Noah Glenn. The show’s artwork was illustrated by Mia Saine. Episode art is created by Lindsey Glenn.

This episode features original music by Noah Glenn. 

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Noah: Hey everyone! I’m so glad to be your podcast friend. Listener support is what makes this podcast possible. When you sign up for a Like You Subscription you gain access to special bonus content. Please consider supporting the show by subscribing through Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Find more information in our episode notes. Thanks! And here’s today’s show.

[intro music]

Noah: Hello! I’m Noah and this is Like You: Mindfulness for Kids. I’m very glad you’re here. It’s our last episode of the season before the podcast takes a break until later this fall. On this episode we’ll imagine flying and breathing fire like a dragon. So listeners of all ages, find a place to listen where you feel comfortable and safe. As I ask questions and invite you to say affirmations, you’re welcome to speak out loud, or as always, you can just think your responses quietly in your mind.

Let’s begin with a dragon breath exercise. First imagine that you are a dragon. You have enormous wings, scaly skin, and a long tail. What color do you want your dragon to be?

Now that you’re pretending to be a dragon, let’s try breathing fire. Take a big deep breath in, filling up your dragon belly and feeling it rise. Then blow long and hard as you breathe out fire. Good job. Try it again. Take a long deep breath in. Now breathe out your fire.

Now on the count of three let’s all say I like me. 1-2-3. I like me.

I like you too. You are very kind, and more powerful than you realize.

Let’s imagine you are a friendly and helpful dragon, so people bring you food and you kindly use your dragon breath to roast it for them. 

Imagine that someone has brought 100 hot dogs so they can feed a summer camp full of kids. They lay down 100 hot dogs in front of you, then slowly back away. Once they are at a safe distance, you can take another deep breath in, then blow fire back and forth across all the hot dogs. Hear the hot dogs sizzling? I think they need another breath of fire to finish cooking. Take another deep breath in, and blow your fire across the hot dogs. Now sniff the air around you, taking quick, short breaths through your nose, and imagine you can smell the hot dogs. All the kids cheer and say thank you as they eat their hot dogs.

But you’ve got another surprise in store for the kids. You invite them all to climb on your back so you can take them on a ride, flying through the sky.

You begin to flap your wings, and you rise up into the air. You fly higher and higher until you are soaring through the clouds. As you look down, you see houses far below, and tiny people staring up at you in amazement.

You feel big and strong and proud of yourself. 

Take a few moments to imagine what it would feel like to be a dragon flying through the air. Close your eyes. Imagine the wind blowing across your face, the beautiful views of the world below, the weightless feeling of soaring through the air. 

Slowly imagine floating down, down, down. And coming to a gentle landing on the ground below. The kids cheer for you once again as they climb down and say goodbye.

Now I want to imagine one more thing you can do with your dragon breath. Do you ever have big, difficult feelings that you wish would go away? Like feeling frustrated? Anxious? Jealous? Angry? Sad? These are all normal feelings that everyone has sometimes. It is good to let yourself feel what you feel, even when it’s not the best feelings. Because every one of those feelings will pass, and pleasant, happy feelings will return. Happy feelings and sad feelings are all a part of life. But do you ever have a stubborn feeling that hangs on a little too long and just doesn’t want to go away? Let’s imagine that when you’re ready for a feeling to be over, you can use your dragon breath to breathe fire on the feeling until it turns to ashes, and the ashes float away on the breeze. Let’s try it.

Think about a time when you felt frustrated. Maybe you got upset because things didn’t go your way. Or maybe you were having trouble learning something new. Try to remember how it feels when you are frustrated.

Now imagine that your frustration is a big paper ball. Take a deep breath and blow your fiery dragon breath on the ball until it catches fire. Now take another deep breath and blow more fire on the ball. All that’s left is a pile of grey ashes. Now take one more deep breath, but this time instead of breathing fire, just blow some regular air on the ashes. The ashes scatter and get picked up by the breeze until they blow away. As you watch the ashes being carried away by the wind, imagine that your frustration is being carried away too.

You can try this fiery dragon breath any time there’s a big difficult feeling that you want to go away. In fact let’s try it again now. Take a few moments to think about the day you just had, or maybe even think back about the past few days. Was there anything that made you feel really upset? Or scared? Are there any angry, anxious, or jealous feelings that you’re still holding on to? Even just a little bit? 

If anything comes to mind, let’s breathe our dragon breath on it.

Imagine the feeling as a paper ball. Take a big, deep breath, and blow your fire on it. Another deep breath in. And breathe out more dragon fire. You can repeat that, breathing in deep and blowing out fire until that feeling is just a pile of ashes. Once you’re ready, one last deep breath can blow the ashes away, and you can imagine that feeling floating far away.

Great job. I know that you can be brave and strong and powerful like a dragon. You can overcome anything that comes your way.

Now it’s time for affirmations. Affirmations are words you can say about yourself to remind yourself how wonderful you are. You can say these out loud or inside your head. I’ll say each affirmation twice. So you can listen the first time, then say it together with me the second time. 

Here we go.

I am so proud of who I am.

It’s ok to feel my feelings.

I can handle anything that comes my way.

I try my best and I don’t give up.

I am so powerful.

I release myself from my anger.

It’s ok to make mistakes.

I am always learning and growing.

I will love myself no matter what.

Now let’s take a few slow, deep breaths as we wind down our time together. If any of those affirmations stood out to you, feel free to write them down, or just store them safely in your mind to say when you need it. If you have an affirmation that is special to you, I would love to hear it! If you’d like to send a recording of your favorite affirmation to play on the show, have a grownup check our website or episode notes for more information. 

Now I’d like to end with a song. As you listen you can sing or dance along. Or just close your eyes, breathe deep, and relax.

It won’t be this way forever
I won’t feel this way forever
Night time never lasts forever
The sun will rise again
When I’m bored
I’ll remember
It won’t be this way forever
When I’m tired
I’ll remember
It won’t be this way forever
When I’m angry
I’ll remember
It won’t be this way forever
When I’m sad
I’ll remember
It won’t be this way forever
When I’m worried
I’ll remember
It won’t be this way forever
It won’t be this way forever
I won’t feel this way forever
Night time never lasts forever
The sun will rise again

I can’t wait to spend some time together again soon. We’re taking a short break, and new episodes will return in the fall. Until next time, I like you, I’m proud of you, and I’m glad we are friends. Have a happy and peaceful day.

Like You is a production of Perpetual Motion. It is made possible by our subscribers on Patreon and Apple Podcasts. Become a supporter by visiting Patreon.com/likeyoupodcast, or by tapping “subscribe” on our show page in Apple Podcasts. You can also tell your friends about the show or leave a 5 star review wherever you listen to podcasts. Like You is written and hosted by me, Noah Glenn. I also composed and performed the Like You theme music and other music that appeared in the episode. Our podcast cover art was illustrated by Mia Saine. Our episode art is created by Lindsey Glenn. Grownups can find more information about Like You by visiting our website at likeyoupodcast.com. Thanks for listening.