A Teacher's Idea: 4 Simple Ways to Teach Mindfulness in the Classroom

Thursday 31 May 2018

4 Simple Ways to Teach Mindfulness in the Classroom

Mindfulness. It is the latest buzzword in education that many are not too familiar with, including myself. Of course, this concept came up recently in a recent google search on educational trends. Naturally, as an educator, I was curious to find out more on this frenzy, especially how it is practiced and how easily it can be taught to young children. After much reading, I have my own opinion about it but, for the sake of transferring basic information to you, I'm only going to discuss what I have found. I suggest that you do your own research :).

What is Mindfulness?

According to J. R. Martin, 1997, Mindfulness is "a state of psychological freedom that occurs when attention remains quiet and limber, without attachment to any particular point of view." It is simply noticing what is happening around you in the moment: now; how your body feels and what you see, smell or taste. Being mindful also means paying attention to what your mind is doing at the moment.

Teaching children about mindfulness is nothing new in my view. As teachers we are always guiding students toward discovering themselves, their inner being. We have always been encouraging self-reflection and promoting introspection for the benefit of our students. Let me not go off on a tangent here. Oh, yes! Like I was saying. Mindfulness is not a relatively new concept, despite what the trend seems to suggest. What is new is the focus on making mindfulness part of the curricular experience through targeted sessions in which students get an opportunity to introspect. Teaching mindfulness to students may make them less reactive to negative experiences and more likely to notice positive experiences which can help them psychologically. But you may ask the question, "How do I teach mindfulness with the resources that I now have?" or "What are some simple ways to teach mindfulness?" Well, to be honest, there are plethora of mindfulness activities that you can find across the web. Some may be overwhelming and others may be simple enough to give you a great start. A great idea is to start simple so that you can get into understanding it progressively. Here are four simple ways to teach mindfulness to your students that I have found for you. I have created some easy visuals to help you capture the gist of it.

4 Simple Ways to Teach Mindfulness

These are four of the most simple ways to introduce mindfulness in the classroom. There are many more can work well toward getting students to focus on the present. I suggest that you explore the concept in-depth.