The Cheer-Up Chair: a children's story 😄 and meditation

0:10 [SPEAKER_00]: Hello, Awe Islanders. [SPEAKER_00]: We're so glad you're here. [SPEAKER_00]: Let's see if you have everything you want to be calm on Awe Island. [SPEAKER_00]: Are the lights in your room dim or off? [SPEAKER_00]: Do you have your favorite blanket or listening buddy? [SPEAKER_00]: But before we begin our story, let's relax by taking a nice deep dragon breath.

0:48 [SPEAKER_00]: Breathe in through your nose, filling up your lungs, and then out through your mouth, imagining you are breathing fire like a dragon. [SPEAKER_00]: Ready, deep breath in and out. [SPEAKER_00]: good job. [SPEAKER_00]: Today, we're going to relax our entire bodies. [SPEAKER_00]: First, wiggle all your toes and then squeeze your toes together and relax them.

1:39 [SPEAKER_00]: Then lift your leg up just a little. [SPEAKER_00]: and let it float down. [SPEAKER_00]: Now lift your other leg just a little and let it float down. [SPEAKER_00]: Let's take another deep dragon breath in and out. [SPEAKER_00]: Next, squeeze both your hands into tight fists, and then release them.

2:28 [SPEAKER_00]: As you relax your hands, reach your arms around your chest and give yourself a big hug. [SPEAKER_00]: Now, make a very grumpy face, squeeze your eyes shut, squinch up your mouth, and hold that grumpy face. [SPEAKER_00]: And let it go. [SPEAKER_00]: Now your whole body is relaxed. [SPEAKER_00]: So let's take one final, deep dragon breath, [SPEAKER_00]: Great job, everyone.

3:27 [SPEAKER_00]: I hope you are tucked in nice and cozy. [SPEAKER_00]: We're ready to begin our story. [SPEAKER_00]: Let's be calm on Awe Island. [SPEAKER_00]: Our story today is the cheer up chair. [SPEAKER_00]: It was a quiet afternoon at the Awe Island Schoolhouse. [SPEAKER_00]: Soft light filtered in through the blinds of a small classroom, where Cho to beanbag chair lived.

4:23 [SPEAKER_00]: Cho-Tu sat in his usual corner, enjoying the peaceful day. [SPEAKER_00]: Today, the cozy purple bean bag chair was fluffed up into a big round ball. [SPEAKER_00]: Ready for someone to settle in and enjoy a hug if they needed it. [SPEAKER_00]: Being a cozy place to sit and relax was Chotu's job, and it was an important one.

4:54 [SPEAKER_00]: Whenever a school child needed to calm down, take a break, or just be cheered up a little. [SPEAKER_00]: They could come and spend a few minutes with Chotu. [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes, even the teachers and other grown-ups at the school liked to take breaks with Chotu. [SPEAKER_00]: Chotu was always happy to give a comforting hug to the people who worked and studied at the school.

5:26 [SPEAKER_00]: He felt proud that he could help cheer people up. [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, everybody at the school called him The Cheer Up Chair. [SPEAKER_00]: But today, no one had come in to see Cho-Tu yet. [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, the big beanbag chair rested in the corner of the classroom and relaxed. [SPEAKER_00]: Waiting for the next person who needed a squeeze.

5:57 [SPEAKER_00]: Cho-Tu didn't have to wait long. [SPEAKER_00]: A little girl stopped into the room. [SPEAKER_00]: She seemed to be feeling very angry. [SPEAKER_00]: She was breathing quickly and was frowning. [SPEAKER_00]: She flopped into the bean bag chair. [SPEAKER_00]: Her arms crossed and her brow furrowed.

6:22 [SPEAKER_00]: Cho-to looked at the little girl sympathetically. [SPEAKER_00]: Cho-to knew that everyone feels angry sometimes and that it can be a hard emotion to handle. [SPEAKER_00]: Choto circled the girl with softness, giving her a tight hug with his purple fluffiness. [SPEAKER_00]: In this room, anyone who settled into the chair up chair for a break needed to take three deep dragon breaths.

6:57 [SPEAKER_00]: That was the rule. [SPEAKER_00]: the little girl knew the rule. [SPEAKER_00]: So she took a deep dragon breath in and out. [SPEAKER_00]: And her forehead softened. [SPEAKER_00]: The girl took another deep dragon breath in and out. [SPEAKER_00]: and her arms gently uncrossed, almost without her even noticing it, with one more deep dragon breath in and out.

8:05 [SPEAKER_00]: The girl's body relaxed into the bean bag chair, and her breathing calmed. [SPEAKER_00]: Her anger seemed to have melted away. [SPEAKER_00]: She sat quietly in the chair, enjoying the hug that Choto was giving her. [SPEAKER_00]: Choto could feel the girl's body relaxing, and Choto smiled [SPEAKER_00]: Everyone always felt better after taking a few dragon breaths and getting a hug from the hugable chair up chair.

8:43 [SPEAKER_00]: He thought to himself. [SPEAKER_00]: After a few minutes, the girl slowly climbed out of the squishy chair and stood up. [SPEAKER_00]: She didn't seem angry at all anymore. [SPEAKER_00]: She calmly left the room, as Choto readied himself for the next person, who might need to be cheered up.

9:09 [SPEAKER_00]: He looked down at himself, and noticed there was a big dent in his middle where the little girl had sat. [SPEAKER_00]: Choto wondered whether the next person who came in would fluff him up before sitting down. [SPEAKER_00]: But it turned out the next person wasn't going to sit down, exactly.

9:34 [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, the little boy who came to Chotu's room seemed to be feeling very tired. [SPEAKER_00]: He walked very slowly into the room towards Chotu and flopped. [SPEAKER_00]: into Chotu face down, throwing himself lengthwise across the purple beanbag chair. [SPEAKER_00]: The boy lay across the beanbag on his belly, facing the wall.

10:16 [SPEAKER_00]: It was a bit of a challenge giving him a hug when he was in this position, but Chotu managed [SPEAKER_00]: The boy took one deep dragon breath, in and out. [SPEAKER_00]: And relax into the bean bag, comforted by the squeeze of the squishy chair. [SPEAKER_00]: He took another deep dragon breath in and out.

11:08 [SPEAKER_00]: And slowly rolled onto his back as the beanbags squished beneath him. [SPEAKER_00]: Then the little boy took one more deep dragon breath. [SPEAKER_00]: in and out. [SPEAKER_00]: After that, his breathing quieted. [SPEAKER_00]: a few minutes past and Choto heard a tiny little snore coming from the little boy.

11:48 [SPEAKER_00]: He smiled, happy that the boy could rest briefly. [SPEAKER_00]: After a little while, the little boy gave a start and woke up with a snort. [SPEAKER_00]: He sat up and rubbed his eyes. [SPEAKER_00]: He stood up slowly and stooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr [SPEAKER_00]: but then Cho to looked down at himself, and realized he was now completely flattened.

12:43 [SPEAKER_00]: Cho to thought to himself, wow, I'm squashed pretty flat right now. [SPEAKER_00]: I hope I can hug the next kid who needs me. [SPEAKER_00]: But it wasn't a problem. [SPEAKER_00]: A while later, another child came into Chotu's room. [SPEAKER_00]: The child raced excitedly over to Chotu's side and fluffed him back up.

13:13 [SPEAKER_00]: Now the purple bean bag chair was poofy and round again. [SPEAKER_00]: The child bounced down into Chotu's softness and Chotu thanked the child with a big hug. [SPEAKER_00]: This child seemed to be feeling very energetic. [SPEAKER_00]: So Choto would try to help the child calm down a little.

13:39 [SPEAKER_00]: The child took a deep dragon breath in and out. [SPEAKER_00]: Then the child took another deep dragon breath, in and out. [SPEAKER_00]: Feeling energy coursing through the body. [SPEAKER_00]: With one more deep dragon breath, in and out. [SPEAKER_00]: The child seemed to relax in Chotu's embrace.

14:46 [SPEAKER_00]: The child sat peacefully in the soft bean bag for a few minutes. [SPEAKER_00]: Then calmly, the child stood up, fluffed up the bean bag chair once more, and walked gently out of the room. [SPEAKER_00]: Cho to smiled to himself. [SPEAKER_00]: He thought about how the same deep dragon breaths and the same cozy beanbag chair seemed to be able to help all the kids no matter how they were feeling.

15:24 [SPEAKER_00]: The dragon breaths and the cheer up chair helped kids who felt angry to calm down and put things in perspective. [SPEAKER_00]: They helped kids who felt tired to get a little bit of rest. [SPEAKER_00]: And they helped kids who were overexcited to relax and focus. [SPEAKER_00]: Every child benefited from taking a little breather in the cheer up chair.

15:59 [SPEAKER_00]: The light coming through the blinds in Chotu's room was getting dimmer. [SPEAKER_00]: It was the end of the day. [SPEAKER_00]: Chotu e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e [SPEAKER_00]: Slowly, the big beanbag chair relaxed into the floor, ready for a nap.

16:39 [SPEAKER_00]: He's stretched and you're hot. [SPEAKER_00]: One more time. [SPEAKER_00]: Now it was time for Choto to take his own dragon breaths. [SPEAKER_00]: He took a deep dragon breath in and out. [SPEAKER_00]: As he breathed out, he thought of all he had to be grateful for. [SPEAKER_00]: Thinking about the kids he had helped today.

17:33 [SPEAKER_00]: Show two took another deep, dragon breath in and out. [SPEAKER_00]: He was grateful to have given the tired little boy a place to nap and the excited child a place to calm down. [SPEAKER_00]: Smiling, show to took one more deep dragon breath in and out. [SPEAKER_00]: Most of all, Choto was grateful to be a cheer-up chair, always ready to give hugs and comfort to kids and grown-ups who needed it.

18:36 [SPEAKER_00]: The beanbag chair squeezed himself tight and then re-lapsed, wishing everyone happiness. [SPEAKER_00]: and Choto drifted off to sleep, dreaming of cheering up more people tomorrow. [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for joining us to be calm on our way island. [SPEAKER_00]: See you next time.