MINDFULNESS PRACTICES & RESOURCES
Why should you incorporate mindfulness practice into your classroom?
Educators should implement mindfulness practices in schools to promote social and emotional learning among elementary-level students. These practices provide students with the skills they need to process their environment and be present; which improves focus, decreases anxiety, and encourages emotional healing.
IMPROVEÂ ATTENTION, EMPATHY, AND COMPASSION IN THE CLASSROOM
"Mindfulness practices [involve] sitting quietly and bringing one’s awareness to thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, or an external object. Neuroscientists and emotion researchers have found that this kind of practice heightens the activity in the regions of our brain that regulate our attention, which then carries over into our everyday lives."
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"Mindfulness practice is also a way to deliberately cultivate positive qualities such as empathy and compassion. Previous studies have linked mindfulness to increased activity in brain regions associated with these positive emotions."
REDUCEÂ ANXIETY ABOUT READING & LEARNING
Mindfulness practices can be used to create a calm learning environment, which is especially important for students who experience anxiety related to school or other stressors. Â
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Some tips include guiding students in breathing and centering exercises, integrating positive affirmations into the day, and taking the classroom outside.
PROMOTE STUDENT EMOTIONAL HEALING
“The trauma that our children carry affects their ability to learn. (...) Because the children have witnessed such high levels of conflict, their bodies are often knotted with feelings of worry and fear, emotions that propel them into the fight or flight mode -- a continuous state of stress that impacts their physical and mental health. These issues prevent them from feeling safe enough to focus in class."
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"Before the children began practicing mindfulness, the teachers had struggled to help the students recognize their emotions, pay attention in class and communicate their feelings verbally instead of using their fists. After beginning the practice, a sense of serenity entered the classroom, and the teachers and school administrators recognized how much mindfulness had changed the school climate."
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