EmotionAll with Pauline Lawson

23/08/2026

I get so excited 😆 when I see emotional literacy rippling out further and further through the work that I do at the EmotionALL Studio … both through the direct work I do with the children, families, schools, and community groups I work with …

AND also through The B.R.E.A.T.H.E. Approach training!

👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

Next week two of the lovely ladies that have embarked on The B.R.E.A.T.H.E. Approach training last year have their very own workshops for kids and I know they both do amazing work in schools and with parents.

It is all part of the ripple effect that starts at EMOTIONALL 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

If you are interested in learning more about The B.R.E.A.T.H.E. Approach, maybe training for you to be one a B.R.E.A.T.H.E. COACH OR GUIDE.
Make it part of your life, work, business!

I’m here … let’s chat! 🗣️

I even have the online training version ‘under construction’ so will need beta tester bonuses! 💻

Scroll through my page to find both Laura and Louise doing their thing!

Get in touch if you would like to chat about all things B.R.E.A.T.H.E. training!

🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

23/08/2026

The lovely Louise has an amazing emotions workshop happening next week too at FISHERROW in EAST LOTHIAN.

Check out her socials for more info 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

It is lovely to see emotional literacy rippling out to more of our children and young people in classes and workshops … building their skills to become emotions detectives!

🔍 Calling all curious children aged 5–9…

Scribbly & Still’s next children’s workshop is:

**Big Feelings, Busy Brains & Brilliant Bodies: Becoming a Feelings Detective**

Through games, dancing, play, and creative activities, children will begin to investigate the clues their minds and bodies give them about how they are feeling.

They’ll explore questions like:

🕵🏻 What does a worried tummy feel like?
🕵🏻 Why does my body suddenly want to move?
🕵🏻 What might help when my brain feels very busy?
🕵🏻 Which clues tell me a feeling is getting bigger?

Every child will create their own detective badge and take home a Feelings Detective notebook filled with activities to continue exploring.

📅 Saturday 12 September
📍 The Fisherrow Centre
🎟️ £20 per child
👧 Ages 5–9
🔍 Maximum 10 children

This is a children-only workshop, so grown-ups can enjoy a little time to themselves while the detectives investigate.

Booking link in bio or DM for more information

23/08/2026

EDIT - this block fully booked, but follow Breathe & Learn with Laura for more news!

👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

Woohoo - Laura has 1 spaces left in her PEEBLES based B.R.E.A.T.H.E. class!

Her new block of classes starts tomorrow 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

New block starts tomorrow with 1 space available… DM or email to book!

22/08/2026

Don’t be caught out by the cute.

Why I don’t do sticker cards, loyalty cards or attendance badges with the children I support.

Because they are all extrinsic rewards.

No matter how cute we make them - Sticker cards, loyalty cards, certificates, badges, prizes … they are all based on the same behaviourist principle.

Do the thing, get the reward - and the flip side of a reward is punishment.

If the reward is what motivates, then not getting the reward becomes the punishment.

That might be missing the sticker, having a gap on the card, not getting the badge, or that sinking feeling that I haven’t achieved what I was supposed to.

I’m much more interested in children experiencing the “I did that!” moment and the feeling.

They set a goal, reach a milestone, learn something, overcome something, or simply keep going, and the success totally belongs to them.

We can absolutely celebrate with them. But we really don’t need to create an external reward for them.

And attendance badges? - Nope - not helpful either.

Children are not responsible for their attendance in most circumstances.
They don’t decide if they are unwell, what is happening at home, whether they can get to school a class or session.

So rewarding one child for something they can control while another child gets the empty space on their card or chart doesn’t sit comfortably with me.

We have all been sold the idea that rewards are motivating.
They CAN change behaviour. That is exactly what behaviourist approaches are designed to do.

But changing behaviour and developing genuine motivation are not the same thing.

Do just a reminder - Don’t be caught out by the cute ☺️

21/08/2026

Nearly home after all my motorhoming adventures!

I had to take a wee stop off in FIfe to deal with some family stuff.

I’ll be back home tomorrow - cue lots of laundry 🧺 - and back at my desk next week!!

Looking forward to lots of phone calls, zoom meetings, school meetings, class prep, and 1-to-1 session … all resuming week beginning 24th!!

If you need me just reach out!!

21/08/2026

This is a question I have asked a million times.

As a friend, family member, parent, colleague, teacher, and manager.

When someone opens up a discussion, it can be really useful to find out what they actually need from you.

“Do you want me to listen or do you want my advice?”

It sounds simple, but it can completely change the conversation.

Sometimes they know exactly what they want.
Sometime they need a full on rant.
And they just need someone to listen.

Sometimes they genuinely don’t know, and being asked gives them a little pause to think about what would actually be helpful right now.

And sometimes it changes halfway through.

Maybe at the start they need you to listen, but as the conversation unfolds, they then decide they would actually like some advice.

That’s okay too. You can ask twice or more!

It saves us jumping in at the wrong moment, trying to fix something that wasn’t ours to fix, or offering advice when what was really needed was someone to simply hear them.
Jumping in can interrupt someone else’s flow.

And particularly for parents of teens…

It can save us putting our foot firmly into something that wasn’t actually asking for our input in the first place! 🤣 oops!!

Such a simple question, but one that can make a surprisingly big difference to how we listen and respond.

Give it a try - and let me know how it goes ☺️

21/08/2026

We love our kids. 🥰

We would buy them whatever it takes if we thought it might help them.

If their wellbeing is being challenged, stress, anxiety, sleep, friendship issues, school or exam stress, whatever it is, there are so many things we can reach for.

Books, cards, fidget tools, posters, an emotional support potato 🤣

These are lovely, and some will prove really helpful.

But there is something much bigger that I think we often miss.

👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

Our kids and teens are smart and curious.
They need to understand what is happening to them, not just be given something to help them manage it.

They need the how AND the why … both are essential!!

What is happening in their brain and body?
Why does stress feel the way it does?
Why can something small suddenly feel HUGE? Why do emotions influence what we think, say and do?

This is where neuroscience and emotional literacy really matter.

Because when children understand what is happening both within them and around them, only then do the tools start to make much more sense.

Breathing isn’t just something they are told to do, they need to understand why it can help.

A fidget isn’t just something they are given, they need to understand what it can do for them.

An affirmation isn’t just something they are expected to repeat, they understand how our thoughts and self-talk can influence how we feel and respond.

This is why I created ‘The B.R.E.A.T.H.E. Approach’.

To bring the knowledge, understanding, AND practical tools together for our smart, curious kids and teens.

And this is what I build every day through EmotionALL, with classes, coaching, courses and community all coming together.

If you’re looking for something that goes beyond simply giving your child another tool, have a look at what I’m offering at EmotionALL.

Understanding changes how we use the tools. And that can change how our kids understand themselves.

21/08/2026

I am trained in mindfulness, through lots of different training and qualifications over the years.

And I have loved them all.

Different people presenting, different people sitting alongside me, with different approaches and ideas flowing.

And there was always something I loved about the calm in the room. A whole group of adults finding their stillness together.

As a teacher and school leader, I was already supporting children with big emotions and big behaviours every day, so I was constantly thinking about how these approaches could translate into real school life.

Then I tried transferring some of that into a room full of children and teens …
. and it is not the same. Honestly, it is not even slightly the same! 😂

Kids and teens are not necessarily built to lie still for any length of time, and their minds often jumping like a box of frogs, and simply asking them to sit quietly and listen would be a challenge in itself.

So I think differently about what mindfulness can look like for them.

Breathing in lots of different ways, so they can find a style that works for them.
Many neurodivergent period have quite disordered breathing - so things like traditional box breathing may not hit the mark.

Fidget tools, because permission to move actually helps with focus.

Mindful colouring.

Puzzles & Games

Weighted toys and tools.

Bubble blowing.

Sensory ‘find it’ tubes.

And just lots of other ways to bring attention back to the here and now.

I often tell the kids that they can simply choose do something ‘mindfully’, even for just a few minutes.

You can read mindfully.

You can walk mindfully.

You can eat mindfully.

You can even tidy out your sock drawer mindfully. ☺️

And it all counts.

Because mindfulness does not have to mean sitting perfectly still with your eyes closed.

Sometimes it is simply setting the intention to be present and paying attention to what you are doing.

This is a big part of why I created the B.R.E.A.T.H.E. Approach.

Yes we generally begin with Breathing and Relaxing, but mindfulness is woven throughout the whole B.R.E.A.T.H.E. Approach.

Building skills around breathing, awareness, focus, self-talk, movement, learning and reflection in ways that are much more suited to a child’s or teenager’s developmental stage.

We just have to stop expecting it to look just like adult mindfulness.

And that is something I explore in my B.R.E.A.T.H.E. Approach training for anyone wanting to bring practical, engaging emotional wellbeing and mindfulness skills to the children and young people they work with.

If you would love to find out more about The B.R.E.A.T.H.E. Approach training then let’s chat.

Suitable training for all of us raising, caring for, and educating children and young people.

Let’s chat - message or comment and we can set up a time!!

20/08/2026

When we change our focus, everything can change.

There have always been kids whose behaviour challenges the adults around them.
Big behaviours, tricky behaviours, behaviours that leave us wondering, “What on earth do I do with this?”

And for a long time, the focus has been very much on the child.

How do we get them to stop?

How do we make them behave differently?

And as adults, we have plenty of ways to try. We can shout, control, shame, threaten, beg, bribe or cajole, all in the name of discipline and compliance!

But we know so much more now .. and are working hard to put it into action.

We know there is so much happening beneath the behaviour.

We have neuroscience, positive psychology and a much better understanding of emotions, regulation and the developing brain.

So instead of only looking at the behaviour, we can get curious about what is happening underneath it.

Emotion - nervous system - regulation - all the emotional literacy factors - environment - and more …

The skills the child has, or perhaps hasn’t yet developed.

And we also need to remember something really important.

We are part of this too.

As adults, we have emotions, nervous systems and our own triggers.
We don’t always get to choose the behaviour coming at us …
but we CAN work on choosing our response to it.

Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is step away from the behaviour for a moment and look at everything sitting underneath it.

There are so many layers between the behaviour we see and the response we choose.

And that is where the real work begins.

Look after yourself too.
You are learning this stuff alongside your children, not standing outside it as some perfectly regulated adult.
None of us got that job description 🤣

Learn more about supporting emotions, regulation and emotional literacy with EmotionALL

Get it touch to work with me - children, teens, adults, schools, community groups, and more!

Just reach out - message, comment or head to the website.

20/08/2026

If you have been thinking about booking in for the upcoming term-time B.R.E.A.T.H.E. CLASSES then there are some spaces.

(Apologies also if you looked at previous dates and some didn’t quite line up … yup that was me 🤪… all fixed now and correct dates on posters!

Please do message or comment and I can point you in the direction of booking forms & info!

Friday kids 4.45pm-5.45pm - FULLY BOOKED
Friday kids 6pm - 7pm - SPACES
Friday tweens/teens - 7.15pm-8.30pm - FULLY BOOKED

Tuesday kids 5pm -6pm SPACES
Tuesday tweens/teens - 6.15pm - 7.30pm SPACES

Wednesday Games/Lego - 5.15pm - 6.15pm SPACES