What is mindfulness and why is it essential for the classroom ?
Mindfulness is a practice of awareness, it is being tuned in to what is occurring in the present moment. Humans are natural time travelers, moving from the past to the future with very brief pit-stops in the present. When we spend most of our time focused on memories or events from the past, we can struggle with feeling of regret, guilt etc.. Focusing on the future can result in anticipatory anxiety, what kids may deem to be, the worry monster.
Mindfulness helps us to step into the present moment at any given time using our own natural resources such as our breath and our five senses, to defeat our worry monster. It pulls us back from spending our time in a heightened sense of anxiety, caused by, focusing our attention on all of the many things, that could or might happen and teaches us to focus on what is happening in the moment. It is 'being present'.
Cultivating a mindfulness practice from a young age is highly beneficial for life. Being aware of your ability to consciously choose your thoughts is like harnessing your very own superpower.
Mindfulness has been shown to strengthen the prefrontal cortex with just 8 weeks of practice . The prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain that is responsible for focus, concentration, rational thinking. According to Bobby Azarian, author of The Mindful Child, “Fundamental principles of neuroscience suggest that meditation can have its greatest impact on cognition when the brain is in its earliest stages of development”.
There is now a vast amount of research on the benefits of mindfulness for children, it includes;
- Increased patience.
- Greater impulse control - ability to respond rather than react to triggers.
- Cultivates the habit of being present and therefore increases focus.
- Cultivates resilience for dealing with life's many challenges.
- Helps to harness greater self acceptance.
- Helps them to remain calm in stressful situations.
- Helps them develop more compassion for others.
Details of course content
The course I provide is, a Mindfulness and Positive Psychology course, based on the MBSR-Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and MBCT - Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, content devised by Jon Kabat Zinn. Mindfulness and positive psychology go hand in hand in fostering a happy life. Mindfulness teaches us the benefits of 'being present' while positive psychology illustrates the importance of gratitude for 'what is'.
The course content is designed and modifiable to suit children from 2nd class - 6th class.
The course is taught to the students and their teacher once a week over four weeks. There will be an information evening provided for parents of the students taking the course in which the course contents will be discussed. Mindfulness is something that must be modeled and guided by parents and teachers.
Week 1
- What is mindfulness?
- How to be present by engaging our 5 senses.
- What worry feels like in my body.
- Our amazing brains - child friendly explanation of what happens in our brains when we worry.
- My amazing brain play doh moulding - illustrating what we have learned about what happens in our brain when we worry.
- Things I can do to calm down when I feel worried/anxious.
- New exercise on bringing our attention to our bodies - guided meditation for older classes.
- How thoughts = feelings = actions.
- How we can re-frame our thoughts.
- How to be your own superhero and choose your thoughts.
- Make our own individual mind jars with water and glitter glue. This teaches that, sometimes we can feel overwhelmed by our busy minds. By using the mindful practices that we have learned we can help re-establish calm in the mind.
- Thoughts are not always facts.
- A fun classroom or family game into how we can challenge our thoughts.
- New exercise on bringing our attention to our bodies - guided meditation for older classes.
- Noticing and accepting feelings and emotions.
- Witches of Glum story and quiz - identifies assumptions we all make - older classes only.
- Guess my emotions, emoji game - younger classes only.
- Why failure is important - First Attempt in Learning.
- Fixed Mindset versus Growth Mindset - guessing game.
- Minions in the learning pit, why it is important to be in the pit.
- What I can do when I make a mistake.
- Game using tread to show, how we create pathways in our brain when we learn. A fun way of showing the importance of not giving up.
- New exercise on bringing our attention to our bodies - guided meditation for older classes.
- What I focus on grows - positive psychology.
- How to have an attitude of gratitude and why it is so important.
- Create a gratitude tree as a class.
- Positive affirmations.
- Mindful eating exercise.
- Social media do's and don't's - older classes only.
- Fun ways to maintain a mindful practice daily.
Contact
If you would like to make an inquiry regarding the course, please don't hesitate to contact me.