Planning For It
Students’ lives can feel overwhelming. As they grow up, young people experience changing brains and bodies, expanding social lives, and mounting school pressures with each new year. Currently, with added stressors like climate change, social media, political unrest, and economic struggles, young people face a lot of “turbulence.”
Prasad Mahes once said “The mind is like water. When it’s turbulent, it’s difficult to see. When it’s calm, everything becomes clear.”
Mindfulness offers a tool – a practice and a habit of mind that has the potential to help young people calm the storm and find the pauses, the breaths, between a whirlwind of stimuli and their reactions to it.
Researchers define mindfulness as the awareness that arises when we intentionally pay attention in a kind, open, and discerning way. When we are mindful, we focus on the present moment non-judgmentally.
The concept of mindfulness, rooted in ancient Eastern contemplative traditions, predates modern research and was popularized as a secular practice in the 1990s by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn’s work on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), eventually making its way into the field of education – with a growing number of mindfulness programs emerging for young people.
Although research continues on mindfulness practices and programs with youth, many studies to date reveal mindfulness as a promising path towards enhanced well-being and effective stress reduction strategies for students in school.
Spark Interest
Choose one of the following videos to follow along with:
- Melting Exercise – Learn To Destress | Guided Meditation For Kids | Breathing Exercises | GoNoodle (Running time: 3:43)
- The Body Scanner! Mindfulness for Children (Running time: 5:51)
Reflection:
- How did it feel for you to follow along with one of these practices? What physical or mental shifts did you notice, if any?
- Can you see bringing something like this to your students? What challenges could you see with this practice? How might you mitigate them?
Learning Objectives
In this module we will:
- Understand the definition, origins, and components of mindfulness
- Recognize the social and emotional benefits of mindfulness for young people
- Explore ways to introduce and practice mindfulness with young people in your classroom
Module Resources
This toolkit includes additional resources, including classroom lessons and practices organized by developmental level, staff meeting activities, videos, podcasts, articles, and professional learning opportunities, as well as supporting materials for group facilitation on the topics of "Mindfulness for Adults" and “Mindfulness for Students”.
Individual Exploration
Mindfulness is both a practice and a way of relating to life.
Researchers define it as the awareness that arises when we intentionally pay attention in a kind, open, and discerning way. When we are mindful, we focus on the present moment non-judgmentally. Mindfulness has the potential to equip young people with essential tools to manage stress, enhance concentration, and navigate school and their social lives with greater resilience.
What is Mindfulness?
In this first segment, learn about the origins of the concept of mindfulness, how it is defined by researchers, and how it relates to students’ lives at school. [12:03]
Reflection:
- What challenges or concerns do you anticipate when introducing mindfulness to your students, and how can you address these to ensure the practices are effective and inclusive for all?
- How do you think mindfulness could support your students this year?
Why is Mindfulness Important for Students?
In this next video, learn what researchers have discovered about how mindfulness can benefit students. [4:48]
Reflection:
- What role do you believe mindfulness practices could play in cultivating a sense of community and empathy among students in your classroom or school?
How to Bring Mindfulness to the Classroom
In this final video, learn how educators can intentionally cultivate trauma-informed mindfulness practices—for students. [16:25]
Reflection:
- As you consider your students and their ages and backgrounds, which 2-3 practices can you see yourself trying out with them? Is there any scaffolding or preparation you might need to do beforehand to help students engage fully in these practices?
Links from video (in order of videos)
- Mindful Seeing for Elementary Students (PreK – Upper Elementary) A mindfulness practice in which students develop their ability to focus by closely observing the shape and contours of a small rock. (less than 15 minutes)
- Mindful Listening for Students (PreK – Middle School) In this mindfulness practice, students develop their attention by tuning into the sounds in the classroom as they come and go, ultimately focusing on the sound of a bell or chime. (less than 15 minutes)
- Mindful Music Moments (PreK – Adult) Each day for a week, the entire school (or classroom) mindfully listens to a 4-minute recording of Dvorak’s “Symphony No. 9, From the New World”. (less than 15 minutes)
- Listening to Music Mindfully (Upper Elementary – High School) Students practice mindful listening with their whole bodies—noticing their thoughts, feelings, and movements as they experience a piece of music. (less than 15 minutes)
- Finger Tracing: Mindful Breathing for Students (PreK – Middle School) Students learn to trace the outline of their fingers in rhythm with their in-and-out breath pattern, which helps to develop their attention skills. (less than 15 minutes)
- Mindful Movement for Teens (Middle School – High School) Lead students through a sequence of movements and stretches while prompting them to breathe deeply and relax parts of their bodies. (less than 15 minutes)
- Be Like Nature: Mindfulness for Young Children (PreK/Lower Elementary) A script for educators that helps young students see their bodies as trees, their breath as wind, and their kindness and warmth as reflections of the sun. (less than 15 minutes)
- Rhyming Body Scan for Young Children (PreK/Lower Elementary) This rhyming script leads children through a brief body scan where they notice, breathe into, and relax their body parts, (less than 15 minutes)
- “The Guest House” Poem and Body Scan for Teens (Middle School – College) Share a poem that focuses on mindful self-acceptance, and lead students to pay attention to their bodies, noticing the physical sensations and feelings they experience. (less than 15 minutes)
- Mindful Poetry Moments (Upper Elementary – Adult) Each day for a week, the entire school (or classroom) mindfully listens to a 4-minute recording of David Whyte’s “Everything is Waiting For You”. (less than 15 minutes)
- Contemplative Writing (Upper Elementary – Adult) This variation on freewriting is a method of inner inquiry, helping students to explore their thoughts, emotions, or ideas on a topic of their choice, an academic-related question, or an ethical dilemma. (less than 15 minutes)
- Contemplative Reading (Middle School – College) This practice, inspired by the lectio divina method, asks students to read a text slowly and carefully and then reflect on it, helping to cultivate deeper awareness and understanding. (less than 30 minutes)
- Creating Art Through Contemplative Practice (Middle School – College) Students create a “scrapbook” of meaningful images, then use those images to engage in a contemplative art process. (multiple sessions)
- Breath-Counting Mindfulness Practice for Tweens and Teens (Middle School – High School) Students learn to focus on their breathing patterns by counting each breath. (less than 15 minutes)
- Flow and Tell (PreK – High School) After checking in with their breath, body sensations, emotions, and thoughts, students take turns listening and sharing what they observe in the present moment. (less than 15 minutes)
- Shake It Off (PreK – High School) Students notice what it feels like inside their bodies when they are shaking or tensing body parts, resting their bodies, and transitioning between these states. (less than 15 minutes)
- Rainbow Relaxation: Mindfulness for Children (YouTube) Guided mindful breathing video for young children. (5 minutes)
- Guided Mindful Breathing Video for Young Children Brief guided mindful breathing activity using the imagery of smelling roses and blowing out candles. (5 minutes)
- Mindfulness in schools: Evidence on the impacts of school-based mindfulness programs on student outcomes in P–12 educational settings Article by Dr. Roeser and colleagues about the latest research on school-based mindfulness programs.
8.8 Take It Deeper: Integrating Mindfulness Into a Lesson (fillable PDF)
A worksheet to help you plan for how you might bring a “mindful moment” into a classroom lesson.
Module Resources
This toolkit includes additional resources, including classroom lessons and practices organized by developmental level, staff meeting activities, videos, podcasts, articles, and professional learning opportunities, as well as supporting materials for group facilitation on the topics of "Mindfulness for Adults" and “Mindfulness for Students”.
A worksheet to help you plan for how you might bring a “mindful moment” into a classroom lesson.
Group Facilitation
Before facilitating groups, spend time in individual exploration in order to experience and embody the learning. And if you haven’t yet explored our introduction to SEL in California, make sure you explore those resources.
Module Resources
This toolkit includes additional resources, including classroom lessons and practices, staff meeting activities, videos, podcasts, articles, and professional learning opportunities, as well as supporting materials for group facilitation on the topics of "Mindfulness for Adults" and “Mindfulness for Students.”
A revisable, turnkey powerpoint slide deck to use for professional learning sessions on the topic of "Mindfulness for Students".
A powerpoint slide deck with welcoming and closing activities to include in professional learning sessions.
A worksheet to help you plan for how you might bring a “mindful moment” into a classroom lesson.
“The mind is like water. When it’s turbulent, it’s difficult to see. When it’s calm, everything becomes clear.”
Do you want to dive deeper into the science behind our GGIE practices? Enroll in one of our online courses for educators!
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