At Girls on the Run, our lesson focused on something we all face at some point—peer pressure. The participants learn to recognize these moments and activate their Star Power using the Stop & Take a Breather strategy!

There are four main parts of this strategy. First is Stop, where you stop yourself from immediately acting/responding. Breathe, where you take five deep breaths. Next is Thinking through the choices you have. Ask yourself: Does this choice activate my Star Power and others' Star Power? Lastly, Respond, where you choose one of those ways and respond! Coaches then display this to the girls with an example of how this strategy can help them make choices that align with their values.

Girls practice using their new strategy to listen to their Star Power in real-world situations! Girls are asked to write down a specific time they felt pressure to do something or a time when they had a hard time being themselves. As girls are running/walking laps, coaches run in the opposite way and come up and tag the girls, and they FREEZE! The coach then reads the situation and the only way for girls to get unfrozen is to use the strategy and think through their choices out loud and tell their coach how they would respond. 

Coaches encourage the girls to put this new strategy to the test before the next practice and remember: when faced with peer pressure, Stop & Take a Breather to activate your Star Power!