Event: TedX Beacon Street

On Saturday, Rana Chudnofsky of MGH's Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine and I teamed up to bring relaxation techniques and mindfulness to TedX Beacon Street.  Rana brought in some innovative technology called emWave that provided graphic representations of participants heart rhythms, which serve as an indicator of relaxation.

Rana and I guided participants as young as 5 and old as 75 through body scans, breath awareness, and visualizations to help them relax their bodies. As their bodies relaxed, a rainbow slowly moved across the screen until it landed in a gold pot. 

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After participants completed the exercise, they were invited to spin the wheel for a thermometer (hand temperature is an indicator of body relaxation), a worry stone (a tactile reminder to stay present), or a hershey's kiss (to complete a mindful eating activity).  I also brought in some literature on mindfulness in schools, a mind jar, and a bell to demonstrate some of the ways mindfulness is being used in the classroom.

A big thank you to Rana and the organizers of TedX Beacon Street for letting wise minds. big hearts. contribute to this event!

Stories from the Field, Part III: Heartfulness? The Cheesiest.

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Stories from the Field are small moments about how mindfulness is impacting the students I am working with, in hopes of capturing what it means to learn and use mindfulness. This story comes from a large high school resource room in Portland, Maine:

Today was our first heartfulness activity. After a quick check in and settling with the bell, we talked about how happiness research suggests (a) happiness is contagious and (b) there are things we can do to make ourselves happier. Before we began our practice, I front loaded  that it might feel awkward or cheesy, but to just try it out and see how it felt. I invited them to imagine one person they cared about to send kind wishes:

I wish for you to be happy...I wish for you to be healthy...I wish for you to be peaceful...

I then invited them to personalize and wish any thoughts they had that might be specific to that person. Finally, they let go of the image and opened their eyes with the bell. Students shared their experiences:

 "I thought of my grandma..."

 "It made me smile..."      

"It made my heart ache..."    

"I thought of my niece..."     

"It made me feel relaxed..."

"To be honest, the phrases were too cheesy and I couldn't really get into it..."

"Yeah, it felt hard to think about imagining myself saying those things to someone..."

I thanked the students for sharing and admitted that the cheese factor is particularly high with the heartfulness activities. We can modify the language if it feels more true to us, but it's interesting that we are so uncomfortable sharing kind wishes. It is interesting that it is so unnatural. 

Part of my job as a Mindfulness Educator is to norm all possible responses students might have to a given activity. I cannot tell them how it will impact them or even how it should. I can speak from my own experience, from the research, and then create a space for them to have whatever experience they are going to have. It is truly all welcome. 

But really, who doesn't love a little extra cheese?

 

 

 

Stories from the Field, Part II: The 4 Year Old and a Random Act of Kindness

Stories from the Field are small moments about how mindfulness is impacting the students I work with, in hopes of capturing what it means to learn and use mindfulness. This story comes from a small house with a small child in Portland, ME:

Four-year-old Mable is described by those around her as "smart" and  "strong-willed." Sometimes when I come to see her she stops midway through an activity and runs off,  and sometimes she refuses to participate without one of her parents present. She has the typical gripes with her two-year-old brother, but one day she showed such sweetness:

Mable's mother suggested we try art because Mable loves to draw. This particular day, I brought materials to make a mind jar. When I showed her mine, Mable was overjoyed that she was going to get her very own. She helped me add the glitter and we practiced using it. Mable spontaneously requested that we make one for her baby brother, so we made a second one. At her father's prompting, Mable showed him his jar and explained that you can use the mind jar by looking at it when you're upset.  

My lesson: Spontaneous kindness is wonderful to witness between siblings, and mind jars are a sure win with the little ones.

For instructions on how to make your own mind jar, check out PreSchool Inspirations

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Stories from the Field, Part I: Trying it out in real life

Stories from the Field are small moments about how mindfulness is impacting the students I am working with, in hopes of capturing what it means to learn and use mindfulness. This story comes from a large high school in Portland, Maine:

 

We started last class by discussing the above quote, and how when we continue to be angry, it actually punishes ourselves rather than the person towards whom we hold anger. We then explored the physical sensations associated with different emotions. Students noticed things like anger in their fists and jaw, gratitude in their stomach, and worry in their chest. These physical sensations are indicators for us about what's going on, and often go unnoticed. We closed by practicing mindful breathing as a way to anchor ourselves when we feel strong emotions arising.

Two days later, a beautiful thing happened:

One of the big boys (when did high schoolers get so big?) came in and told us he used mindfulness just that morning when he was furious. He said he was the kind of person who would usually go off, but he thought about what we talked about last class and went and found a counselor instead of what he would normally do. There was a round of applause from his classmates. 

My lesson: I don't always know who mindfulness is going to stick with nor how they are going to use it. I was was most excited that he seemed proud of himself taking a different course of action that may actually help him in the long run.

PIN Wellness Panel

On October 7, 2015, I had the pleasure of sitting with some deeply knowledgeable women on the Parents' Independent School Network (PIN) Wellness Panel, hosted by Berwick Academy. Cindy Briggs, the Assistant Headmaster at Berwick Academy, spoke of the innovative wellness center and program there, which incorporates exercise, SEL, yoga/mindfulness, and nutrition into their approach.  Trisha Ross Anderson represented Making Caring Common, a Harvard Graduate School program that creates and offers tools to help build compassion in the classroom. Rana Chudnofsky spoke of the mind body connection on behalf of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine. Finally, I rounded out the panel representing the wise minds. big hearts. program and my experience using mindfulness in my own classroom. 

The Unspoken Prep

When teaching middle school English, I had six preps for the week: 8th grade English, expedition (interdisciplinary) block, crew, writing intensive, and reading lab. The sixth prep was for myself. I had to prepare to be my best self in the classroom each day. Some teachers have equanimity easily accessible; some of us are, shall we say, a little rougher around the edges. I needed to do the extra work to scan my body, breathe deeply, and maintain perspective.  

Mindfulness: A Tool for Social Justice

Mindfulness does not, and is not intended, to numb children and make them passive. Students can learn to fully experience their emotions, empathize with the experience with others, and respond mindfully. Mindfulness can be an important tool in social justice curriculum by reinforcing compassionate and intentional action in our students.

Addressing the emotional toll of teaching

Teaching is hard. The demands can feel insurmountable, and because of this, we see teachers leaving the classroom, and avoiding the profession all together, at alarmingly high rates. While we are waiting for structural changes from the political world, on the ground we can give teachers tools to fortify their internal worlds. By teaching them how to develop their own inner strength, they can cultivate a resilience to withstand the professional pressures.  

Harvard Medical School study finds links between yoga and student wellness

The craze of yoga and mindfulness in schools can seem overblown. However, research speaks. Mindfulness and yoga are two limbs of the same tree, and Dr. Khalsa's findings suggest this tree is helping children blossom:

Dr. Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, at Harvard Medical School, conducted a study on the impact of yoga v. regular PE classes on student wellness. In two semester-long studies, she found statistically significant impacts on, "anger control, resilience to stress, anxiety, and negative mood." Furthermore, anxiety decreased marginally in the yoga group, but increased significantly, by nearly a third, in the PE control group, suggesting yoga is a strong preventative tool. 

Read more at Why Yoga is Changing Schools