Sidewalk Science
The Research Behind Mental Health Hopscotch
What is Mental Health Hopscotch?
In order to explain what these sidewalk chalk squares are, I should first explain how they came to be.
My eyes sadly gaze at the blue light from my phone as I lay in bed. My frown deepens while I read the news. It's almost two o'clock. My father knocks on my door and peeks inside; a smile bright on his face. He asks me if I want to do something to help with the global crisis. My mouth pulls down as I tell him I don't think there's anything a 15-year-old girl can do to fight a pandemic, and his smile becomes wider. He then begins to tell me about his idea. My father explains that we can make sidewalk chalk art to help boost neighbors' morale in this stressful time. I was all into the idea. We kept on talking and fleshed out an interactive design that could be recreated by people all over the nation. With my limited art skills, my newly earned learner's license, my dad's expertise on mental health, and some chalk, we got to work.
Mental Health Hopscotch is a researched-based sidewalk chalk art that helps hoppers improve their mental health. When participants jump on the squares and do the tasks, they are doing activities that are scientifically proven to help boost your mood. Participants do activities such as saying things they are grateful for, dancing, and power posing. When participants are done, they can choose to post pictures with the #mentalhealthhopscotch or even visit "EQ in your PJs" to get more in-depth learning on how to boost their emotional intelligence, mental health, and awareness of social and emotional factors in this hard time.
Gratefulness
During the first few steps of the Mental Health Hopscotch, participants are told to say four things for which they are grateful. This gets hoppers thinking positively, especially in these times where it is so easy to think negatively. Optimism is one of the first steps toward a happier day and life. When participants acknowledge what is going well in their life, they can be appreciative for what they have, and even start to show that gratitude to the people they love.
There have been many studies that have shown how impactful gratitude is for your happiness and mental health. In one study by Robert Emmons and Dr. Michael McCullough, participants were told to write a couple of sentences about their week. Some participants were told to write about things that they were grateful for that happened in their week; some were told to write about things that had irritated them during the week, while others were told to write about things that had impacted them during the week, but didn't specify whether or not the effect was positive or negetive. After ten weeks of writing, participants were asked about their happiness and exercise. The people who had been writing about things they were grateful for recorded higher happiness and exercise levels than those who wrote of things that irritated them (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).
In a Ted Talk by Kelly McGonigal, she tells listeners why stress is helpful. McGonigal tells people in the audience that when participants in a study were asked about their stress levels, whether or not they believed stress was harmful, and then tracked by public health records to see who died, there were some surprising results. The people in the study who expressed that they had high levels of stress, but thought of stress as helpful "had the lowest risk of dying of anyone in the study, including people who had relatively little stress," (McGonigal, 2013). Although this Ted Talk is about stress, and the Mental Health Hopscotch involves Gratefulness, there is a connection. Having hoppers say things for which they are grateful helps them think of this stressful time as helpful in some way or another. Hoppers are reminder that even in a stressful time, they can think of things that make them happy.
This is also some of the same science that helps our hoppers when they do the activity on the ninth square of the hopscotch, "Looking forward to..." This activity challenges hoppers to be optimistic and think of positive things that can come despite this stress.
Dance
In an article from Harvard Neurobiology, writers explain that dance "helps reduce stress, increases levels of the feel-good hormone serotonin, and helps develop new neural connections." Dancing has also been proven to help make your brain healthier, resulting in fewer chances of dementia.
Power Pose
According to Amy Cuddy's Ted Talk on the subject, power posing increases testosterone levels by twenty percent. Not only that, but after having test subjects do power poses and then having them do a five minute job interview with blank-faced interviewers, all of the participants who had power posed beforehand were hired by unbiased watchers. Cuddy enforces the idea that people's posture affects their minds and their minds affect their behavior, which then changes their world.
After doing this step in the Mental Health Hopscotch, participants should feel confident and be ready to take on whatever challenges this crisis throws their way.
In Ron Gutman's Ted Talk, he referred to a British study in which the researchers found that "one smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate" (2011). Gutman also spoke of a reduction in stress hormones and an increase in good-mood hormones from just one smile. Toward the end of his speech, he references a study from Penn State University that had results showing that people who smiled more were viewed as more competent.
Re-frame the Picture
Create it!
First, draw the title super big and bold. Then write the directions. The directions should say, "Before you start, smile, think of 4 things you're grateful for, 1 dance move, 1 superhero pose, and 1 thing you're looking forward to." Next, write, "Deep Mindful Breath," and get started on the hopscotch.
The hopscotch has ten boxes. Three single boxes, followed by two boxes side by side, one single box, another double box, and then two single boxes. The first three boxes should have the words, "Grateful for ...?" and then whether it's the first grateful thing, second grateful thing, or so on. You signify this by writing a 1, 2, 3, or 4 next to the words, "Grateful for ...?" In the middle of the first side by side boxes, write, "dance move." The sixth box should be another grateful breath. The seventh and eighth boxes are side by side and should have the words, "superhero pose" written in the middle of them. The ninth box should have the words, "Looking forward to ...?" written next to it. The tenth and final box should say, "Do the Hokey Pokey and turn your situation around, " above it.
If any of these directions doesn't make sense, look at the pictures scattered throughout the article, click on the link above, visit #mentalhealthhopscotch, or make up your own way to do it, just make sure to spread positivity.