If you are looking at expanding practices of mindfulness across a team, consider the following:

• Experiment with how you hold staff meetings. Maybe start with 5 minutes of silence to allow people to physically and mentally come into the meeting or invite people to notice their feet for a minute or invite staff to bring in a mindfulness practice that is working for them.

• Consider posters for teachers around staff areas like in toilets or in the staff room encouraging/reminding them to breath, take a moment, be kind to themselves.

• Could you start a mindfulness space for after school once a week or even once a month?

• On a train you can often choose the ‘quiet carriage’, can you create a space like this in your school? A space to pause and fold in before heading into the class again.

• You can get apps on your phone that gently ring a bell randomly throughout the day. This is a gentle reminder to breath. (Mindfulness bell app)

• If you want to take a whole school approach then Assembly is a great place to introduce or start some school wide practices. Here are some simple tools to start and repeat in assembly.

• Belly breathing

  • Share the belly breathing video found here. Belly Breathing: Mindfulness for Children  (Ref: @The Mindfulness Teacher on YouTube)

  • Play with belly breathing in one session.

  • Maybe start and/or end every other assembly with some belly breathing.

• Practicing our attention and awareness through sound.

  • • • The Head Teacher or a Mindfulness Ambassador could hit the sound bowl. Invite everyone to listen to the sound and move their fingers for how ever long they can hear it.

• School yoga

  • • I know this depends on numbers and space, but if you do have the space there are lots of different yoga moves you could bring into assembly. Yoga is a great way to connect with your body and breath. Examples can be found here. Maybe chose one for each assembly.

• Impactful, simple posters around your school can act as reminders to come back to the moment.  You can ask the kids to create these based on different themes. Some messages include:

• • • Remember your belly breathing.

    • Take 3 belly breaths.

    • What are 5 things you can see now?

    • Be kind….to yourself and others.

• What about a mindfulness board with photos of the children?

• What about placing posters in particular areas:

• • • Try eating slowly for a minute. This could be in the canteen.

    • As you wait, why not tune into your feet right now. In a waiting area.

    • Why not take a deep breath while the kettle boils? Staff kitchen.

• What about creating some Mindfulness Ambassadors? They could meet to consider what else the school could do to cultivate mindfulness.

• • • Origami is a fantastic way to teach kids mindfulness.

    • It can be scaled to any age.

    • It’s cheap…I have bought a pack of 500 sheets at the Works for £5.

    • It encourages a child to slow down, take their time. I believe slowing down can help kids (and adults) be more mindful, less reactive and more responsive.

    • It is a great metaphor for schoolwork. It can sometimes be difficult at first but if we slow down, are kind to ourselves, maybe do some breathing, we can learn.

    • I invite children to breath as they are folding. Again, it can become a tool to help nurture mindfulness.

    • It can tie into any festive season. For example, reindeer bookmarks at Christmas or bunnies at Easter.

    • Some great you tube videos include:

Easy Origami Bunny (youtube.com)

CHRISTMAS CRAFTS - Easy Reindeer Bookmarks for Christmas (youtube.com)

Top Tip

• Origami is a great way to cultivate mindfulness. A fold I have used with children as young as 6 is the fortune teller folder. It takes time, practice and lots of breaths. A great metaphor for life!

• How To Make a Paper Fortune Teller - EASY Origami (PPO- Youtube.com)