Activity Two: The Mood Movement (30 minutes)

The facilitator will begin by asking the participants to turn to The Mood Movement worksheet on p. 10 in their SPARK Workbook and inform them that they should only complete the top portion of the worksheet for now. Next, the facilitator will instruct participants to think back to the beginning of their day, starting with the moment they woke up. The facilitator will direct participants to write down their mood when they woke up and why they think they felt that way. Next, the facilitator will give the participants 5 minutes to think through all the different moods they experienced throughout their day and to continue to fill in the top portion of their worksheets.

Once the participants have completed the top portion of The Mood Movement worksheet in their workbook, the facilitator will ask for volunteers to share the different moods they experienced throughout the day. When volunteers are sharing their moods, the facilitator will lead a discussion about what they wrote.

Sample Questions:

1. What are the moods and causes you wrote down that you didn’t like? Example Answers: Upset because I fought with my parents. Mad because I got bad grades in math. Sad because of my breakup. Annoyed because I didn’t want to wake up.
2. What are the moods and causes you wrote down that you do like? Example Answers: Happy because I was going to see my friends. Excited for the party I was planning for. Calm because I was coming to my SPARK class.

Facilitator Note: If the participants place blame on an outside situation or circumstance for their moods, the facilitator should guide them back to see that their thinking caused their moods, not the actual situation or environment they’re in. This is a good reminder that their moods are feelings, and they should now know that feelings come from Thought.

Using dreaming as an example, the facilitator will discuss how our moods fluctuate naturally based on our thinking, regardless of our current circumstances.

Sample Questions:

1. When you go to sleep, can you control what dreams you have? Example Answer: No, you can try to think of things you want to dream about, but you can’t make it happen.
2. Have any of you ever woke up after a dream and laughed because it was so ridiculous? If so, can someone share? Example Answers: Answers will vary.
3. Have any of you ever woke up after a dream and felt scared or mad at someone because it felt so real? If so, can someone share? Example Answer: Answers will vary.
4. Do you ever experience moods after waking from a dream? Example Answers: Yes, if it’s scary or upsetting my mood becomes scared or upset. If it’s funny, my mood is happy.
5. How can you experience something if it didn’t really happen? Example Answer: Dreams are just thoughts we experience while we are asleep. However, when we wake up, we are aware of our experience, so we are still feeling the thoughts that are creating our moods.

The facilitator will then illustrate the example below on the board while explaining that when people are sleeping but not dreaming, they don’t feel anything. But when they dream, they feel what they are dreaming about, which causes moods. That’s why when people have dreams that cause good feelings they call them dreams, but if they have dreams that cause bad feelings, they call them nightmares. The facilitator will continue to explain that the moods participants experience while awake work the exact same way. We can’t control how Thought shows up or when it leaves, but when we become aware of it or make meaning out of it, we experience the mood it creates. However, there are always times when our mind is taking a break, when we are present in the moment and the Thought stays neutral.

Next,  the facilitator will share a personal example of their Mood Movement Graph.

For Example:

When I woke up, I was annoyed because I immediately thought about all I had to do (dislike). Then, I went downstairs, and my daughter was playing with Play-doh/clay, and I immediately got mad because I was thinking about the mess I was going to have to clean up (worse). Then, I drove my kids to school just listening to the radio with them (neutral), I got an idea about a project at work and got excited to test it out (like). Then my best friend called (even better), I left work and drove home just enjoying music (neutral), then I started thinking about the mess I had to clean up at home again (dislike). Then, I scrolled through my phone and saw some cute pictures of my friend’s new baby and thought about our trip coming up (like).

After personal example has been shared, the facilitator will ask the participants to return to their workbook page and chart the moods they wrote on the top section of their page on the graph.

Next, the facilitator will lead a discussion about the participants’ graphs.

Sample Questions:

1. Does your graph look similar to the one I drew on the board? Example Answer: Yes, it goes up and down all day.
2. Why do you think you all have experienced so many different moods in one day? Example Answer: Because we have a lot of thoughts popping in and out of our heads all day, and they give us different feelings, causing different moods.
3. When were you in your neutral mood? Example Answers: When I wasn’t thinking about how or what I was doing. When I was enjoying the moment.

The facilitator should then guide the participants to see that changing their mood wasn’t in their control, it simply happened naturally when their focus (thinking) shifted.

4. What are some things you’ve seen people do when they are in bad moods that lowered their mood even more? Example Answers: Yell at others, make poor choices, feel sorry for themselves, dwell on a situation, retell a story over and over, etc.
5. What are some things you’ve seen people do when in good moods that elevated their mood even more? Example Answers: Have fun, do things they enjoy, spend time with friends, etc.
6. When you are in a bad mood, how do you experience your reality? Example Answers: Hopeless, exhausting, worthless, terrible, etc.
7. When you are in a good mood, how do you experience your reality? Example Answers: Excited, happy, joyful, filled with opportunities, etc.

The facilitator will guide participants to see how continually thinking about a bad situation will cause their mood to worsen, and continually thinking about a good situation will cause their mood to rise. It’s not about trying to change your thoughts—because you can’t control them even if you tried—but rather it’s about recognizing how Thought works and seeing the value in not doing things that will cause the same thinking to swirl around in your mind. Recognizing how Thought works will naturally allow your focus to shift and new thoughts to come through.

The facilitator will end by reiterating that thoughts create various types of moods, both good and bad. However, when we are present in the moment, everything is neutral, and we will naturally feel our best in this state.

Activity Three: Q & A (5 minutes)

To wrap-up, the facilitator will ask participants if they have any questions or concerns about the class. In order to conduct the Q & A in an orderly fashion, invite participants to raise their hands so they can be called on before sharing.