I am
always grateful for the summer and I wondered why. I then take a few breaths, and I
remember. In the summer, I have time to
feel my breath, coming in and out… As soon as the last school bus leaves,
teachers are faced, for the first time in 180 days with the emptiness and the
absence from constant busyness.
That’s when teachers can truly feel breathing in; taking in
energy, instead of only remembering the exhausted sighs out; energy leaving our
bodies. We often don’t take the time to
notice such a simple yet critical activity like breathing. I have recently come to understand how
practicing mindfulness of breath can have a positive impact on education.
This
simple awareness of each breath is a big part of a concept in “mindfulness”. Mindfulness is to be aware of the present
moment. The mindfulness study started
about 30 years ago with the chronic physical pain reduction and management
research. After several positive results
were proven, mindfulness practices have been implemented into the mental health
field as an effective strategy for coping with stress and anxiety. This success has caught the attention of
educators. Now, many advocate for
practicing mindfulness in our classrooms as tool to help teachers and students
deal with the social, emotional, and cognitive challenges that impact many of
our students and families.
Over the
past few years, I have read research and testimonial articles on
mindfulness. I became curious. What is this really all about? What am I supposed to feel when I am
mindful? To satisfy my curiosity, I
enrolled in the Mindful Fundamental
online course (http://www.mindfulschools.org)
in the summer 2015. I learned that mindfulness
is the act of bringing awareness to any experience just as it is. I was becoming more aware, paying more
attention to what I was doing during my new fitness challenge. It was my first experience of mindfulness; to
be aware of the present moment, not past nor future. Gradually I became better at noticing my
emotion and physical sensations. I
realized I had a fear of being judged.
Accepting negative emotions like this was difficult at times. Emotion and thoughts are
like clouds. Clouds can hover over me at times, though I know they will
eventually float away. I began to
wonder, what if my students understood this concept? What if my students could accept their
emotions and manage them one at a time?
What if they learned to be kind to themselves? Would their learning improve? I started visualizing what this might look
like in my classroom. My own experience
with mindfulness practice built my confidence of sharing mindfulness with my
students for the upcoming school year.
At the end of the summer, I decided to implement mindfulness in my
classroom. I took in a big breath, and
started to plan.
On the
first day of the school, brand new second grade students excitedly and
nervously entered in their classroom.
“OK, class, this year you will learn something you have never learned
before. It will stick with you from
today on. It is called
Mindfulness.” I had two students that
year who had been identified as having behavioral concerns from their previous
teachers. I knew I had some challenges.
I was curious about how these students would respond to the practice of
mindfulness. I knew I had to help them understand. In front of the class, I held up a clear
water bottle filled with ¾ full of water and sparkling glitter on the
bottom. “It is your mind.” I shook the
bottle. Students eyes were glued on the
shining glitter all over the place inside of the bottle. “It is still your mind. But it is called ‘monkey mind.’ Let’s watch it settle.” This visual tool itself clearly explained to
my students about the difference between focused and unfocused minds on the
first day of their second grade year. It
was the first lesson in mindfulness.
From then
on, I implemented five minutes of daily mindfulness practice and several weekly
mini social emotional related lessons (MindUp) to cultivated my second
graders’ mindfulness. Some of the mini lessons included the scientific study of
the brain, like what part of brain would respond through mindfulness. Gradually, they started recognizing it as a tool
for self-regulation.
They began to recognize when they had strong emotion, and how to focus
when they were surrounded by distraction.
Especially, noticing their own emotion cultivated their compassion among
themselves and others. Towards the end of the year, I heard my students engaged
in meaningful conversations using the sophisticated vocabulary like “prefrontal
cortex” and “neuroplasticity”.
As a
routine, my students listened to the five minutes daily guided mindfulness
practice program (Smiling Mind http://smilingmind.com.au/)
as soon as the school bell rang each morning.
During the five minutes, students’ hands were on their bellies to feel
their breath coming and going. The
practice ended with the tranquil sound of bell…. I witnessed several occasions when students’
intentional breathing attempts, many cases, closing their eyes so that they can
block out distractions. The most
surprising fact was that the students identified as having behavioral concerns
paid attention to their breaths during daily mindfulness practice. Many students wanted to share their success
story in the circle time. “I was angry
when my friend didn’t play with me. Then I used mindfulness.” “I used
mindfulness before math fact practice. I did well.” Using their own words to explain their
mindful experiences was a huge accomplishment for second grade students. Students know when they are experiencing
strong emotions, they cannot make good choices.
As the year went by, students recognize the frustration more quickly in
the complicated academic tasks, then they took some breaths. As they found calmness, they self-talked, not
to pout but try again to the challenging tasks.
Additionally, the significant growth data in my math class was seen from
September to May using the district mandated trimester assessments. Interestingly, compared to the last year’s
high academic group without mindfulness reinforcement, this year’s group showed
more growth than previous year’s group. So why don’t we implement mindfulness
in our learning community?
Adults,
too, need to be aware of present moment and take care of themselves. Mindful adults create a mindful atmosphere
when they teach mindfulness in class.
Students feel it. That’s how we
develop relationships. Mindful Schools’ trainers have developed
the K-12 mindfulness curriculum that focuses on its benefit. They have visuals that show two wings of a
bird, one as focus and another self-regulation.
This curriculum guide is a rather simple implementation for the
classroom and shows how it is not just one more thing to do as burden. When every teacher and staff intentionally
apply mindfulness in their practice, we cultivate a safe and pleasant school
culture. A mindful learning community
strengthens students’ critical thinking and observation skills. It is also true
that teachers with mindfulness convey effective messages in the current social
emotional skills programs, such as Love and Logic and PBIS
(Positive Behavior Intervention Supports).
A structural training in Professional Development must happen in order
to create the mindful school community.
Families
can benefit from learning about mindfulness.
It can be a tool for growing positive social emotional skills at
home. We can invite parents to a
mindfulness workshop with Love and Logic
parenting class. Mindful parents utilize
Love and Logic strategies more
effectively. School staff must
collaborate with families to create and share clear knowledge about
mindfulness. We can ask PTSA for the
sponsorship when we invite a mindfulness speaker. As they gain their knowledge of mindfulness,
they, too, become aware of the present moment.
Now you
realize it doesn’t have to be only summer time to notice your breaths. As soon as you are aware of exhaustion,
breathe in. And out. Enjoy one moment at a time. When students find out that they are capable
to be aware of present moment, they will start using mindfulness as a tool to
manage themselves and focus. Learning
will become their joy.
