Discover an Approach

Mindful Approaches

A mindful approach to practice is one tightly aligned with restorative practice. This approach asks the instructor to consider every student-to-teacher and student-to-student encounter with a care, courtesy, and kindness.

Below are basic strategies and techniques that comprise a mindful approach. Become familiar with these approaches by incorporating them into your daily interactions with students and staff.

Confronting Stress

The classroom is a space filled with emotion and energy. This is what draws us to teaching and makes the classroom so engaging to be a part of. However, the danger of these qualities lies in their capacity to breed conflict and anxiety. These emotions are necessary to meaningfully confront ideas and generate new learning, but they have to be treated with caution and care.

When confronted with a moment of stress, always return to the breath.

The 7/11 breathing technique is a controlled breathing exercise. It asks that the practitioner take three meaningful breaths. Each breath is inhaled for seven seconds and exhaled for 11 seconds.

Use this technique when you feel that stress or anxiety is impacting your decision making.

Mindful Lunch

A school day can be non-stop barrage of emotion, and no one has the time to sit with these feeling and consider them. Lunch, however, can be an excellent moment to sit mindfully with your thoughts and meditate on your day.

There are many different approaches to a mindful lunch. What is important is that you make time to consider how you are feeling. Select a meditation strategy and take eight minutes to be by yourself.

Non-Violent Communication

Nonviolent Communication, (NVC), is based on the principles of nonviolence-- the natural state of compassion when no violence is present in the heart. NVC begins by assuming that we are all compassionate by nature and that violent strategies—whether verbal or physical—are learned behaviors taught and supported by the prevailing culture.

NVC also assumes that we all share the same, basic human needs, and that all actions are a strategy to meet one or more of these needs. People who practice NVC have found greater authenticity in their communication, Increased understanding, deepening connection and conflict resolution.

The NVC community is active in over 65 countries around the globe.

For more information: https://www.cnvc.org/

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