Invite the students to vividly create this valued thing in their imaginations, to savor whatever they have chosen to recall. Ask them to imagine that this person, place, thing, or situation is a language that is telling them something. Ask them to notice and to write down how their body feels when they are in a mood of acceptance and how this differs from how they felt when asked to think of something they try to avoid. Have the students share any of their experiences or what they wrote down, or have them keep a journal in which they essentially do the same thing. And, for some reason still mysterious to me, such a process, even if merely kept in a journal and read only by the teacher, usually increases trust within the classroom.
Students become more free to share, to honestly and authentically participate in the class.
The source of this increased trust may be greater awareness on the part of teacher and students of the obstacles and blockages that exist in relationships. Students and teachers can't stop the thoughts, feelings, and memories that thwart interrelationship. Through awareness, the waves become vehicles for stronger, more viable relationships. Craig, R. 1994. Kabat-Zinn, J. 1994.