How to make a glitter jar
A glitter jar is an emotional tool. When we are under the spell of anxiety or we are struggling with the emotions that our thinking mind is producing, a glitter jar offers a a powerful visual metaphor that helps us see the connection between our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. It shows us how mindfulness can help us calm our mind when it is spinning with thoughts.
How to Make a Glitter Jar
- Use a 16 oz mason jar, a spice jar, or even a plastic water bottle.
- Pour 1/2 cup of distilled water into the jar. Unlike tap water, distilled water contains no minerals or contaminants and will keep the glitter jar mold free.
- Add 1/2 a cup of clear glue into the jar. You can add 1 to 3 drops of food colorant to the glue for a tint effect.
- Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of craft glitter into the jar. Use glitter that sinks rather than floats. Adding some glycerin to the water slows down the fall of the glitter.
- If you want, you can pick three colors of glitter: one to represent thoughts, one to represent feelings, and one to represent behaviors (or “urges to do things”).
- Fill the jar to the top with distilled water.
- Seal the jar with a hot glue gun around the lid. Press the lid onto the jar and secure it with the metal ring.
- Shake the jar.
- You will see that difficult it becomes to keep track and see clearly what our thoughts, feelings, and urges are.
How to Use the Glitter Jar for Mindfulness
- The jar is like our mind, and each color of glitter represents something different in our mind.
- Let’s say you put in red for thoughts, gold for feelings, and silver for urges to do things.
- Usually, we wake up, and things are pretty settled. We can see that clearly. All the glitter has settled on the bottom of the jar.
- But pretty soon, things start swirling around. ( you can swirl the jar for each one of these events) Maybe you are running late, or you think of a project you have not had enough time to complete. You may hear scary things on the news in the car ride to school. Or you get to school and find out you have a test you had forgotten about.
- Now it’s only a few minutes into the school day, and you can’t can’t concentrate or see clearly because all of your thoughts and feelings and urges are getting in the way. Swirl the jar and see how all the glitter is floating around just like tour thoughts, emotions, and urges.
- So what is the one thing you can do to get the glitter to settle and see clearly again?
- Observe the glitter. Focus on the how the different colors gradually start settling ta the bottom of the jar.
- Now you can close your eyes, feel and count your breath till ten. Now open your eyes and observe the glitter. Be still! And what happens when you are still? Your mind settles and gives time for the “glitter in your mind” to settle. Then you can see clearly again.
- When things become clear, we’ll know the wise next thing to do. In fact, that’s one definition of wisdom: seeing things as they are and choosing how to act.
- While we wait, does the glitter go away? No, it stays at the bottom. Our thoughts and feelings and urges are still in our minds, but they are no longer in our way, clouding our vision.
Other Uses of the Glitter Jar
- A finished glitter jar can serve as a visual timer for other practices, such as breathing practices. For example, you can shake the jar and say: “Let’s do some mindful breaths until the glitter settles.”
- You can also use it as a meditation practice by shaking the jar and then focusing your attention on the glitter going down to the bottom. The glitter is your anchor, where you will come back once and again when you notice your mind has drifted off.
- Families can use the jar as a “calm-down jar,” to mark and measure calm-down time. Ideally, the entire family can use the calm-down jar together when there is a conflict: “We are all upset with lots of thoughts and feelings rights now. So let’s all take a break until the glitter in the calm-down jar has settled and then start talking again.”
- The glitter jar can be very helpful in training our brain to focus our attention. The more we use it, the more we will be able to teach our brain to do what we want.
Hope you enjoy this this mindful tool!!
Monica