"As teachers, we have a duty of care to ourselves"
Lille Learmont, DHT of Bonnyrigg Primary
The following section is FOR education staff. Notice that this section is the first section of bringing mindfulness into school. YES, WE START BY RESOURCING teachers so they can then be present to our kids.
I invite you to play with some of the practices I have mentioned for children on yourself. Playing with them yourself not only gives you a first-hand experience but is also a great way of modelling to our children.
These practices are like going to the gym. These little practices will resource you over time, so that when you are having to meet a situation that seriously drains you, you have built up enough inner capacity to meet it.
Littles matter! As Gladwell says in the Tipping Point, littles, become mediums and then big. Little practices, over time will have a cumulative effect. I know I don’t necessarily notice at the time- it’s only when I stop my practices do I really notice the difference they make.
Thanks to a suggestion by a teacher (thank you Kevin McKenzie, Deputy at Bonnyrigg Primary), I have organized this section into periods of time e.g. what you can do in 1 minute, 5 minutes etc. That said all these practices can be shortened or extended.
Tune into your feelings right now. You don’t need to do anything more than that. Notice your feelings.
Once I’ve noticed my feelings, sometimes I ask myself, if compassion and kindness were a person right now what would they say to me?
What would serve you right now? What do you need?
Put a 1-minute timer on and notice your breath. (Insight timer app is useful).
Take a minute out – what are you noticing outside of yourself, and inside of yourself?
Notice your heartbeat.
Journal for a minute…write it out…it can be complete garbage…just get it on to paper.
Tune in to one feeling right now. What colour is it? Where is it in your body?
Name 5 things you are grateful for right now.
Hold the star pose for 1 minute. Star Pose | The Cosmic Kids Yoga Pose Universe! | Kids Workout
A reminder that all I need to do, is what I am attending to in this moment, such as writing an email. There is no where else to be and nothing else to do. I can’t do two things at once, so I might as well be fully present to this task.
Sit at your desk or even at the end of your lunch take some time to tune into your feet. Check both your feet are fully making contact with the floor (you can keep your shoes on for this). What is the temperature of your feet? How do they feel in this moment? Within and on the surface? What about the spaces between your toes? Bring attention and awareness to them without judgement. You may want to breath into your feet.
Do some breathing for 5 minutes. It may help to count on the in breath and count down on the out breath. Try to pause between breaths.
What are 5 things you can see in the room right now; 4 things you can touch; 3 things you can hear; 2 things you can smell and 1 you can taste? Name them out loud and be specific for example not chairs but the blue chair, the cream table, etc.
Try holding the tree pose for 2 minutes on one leg and 2 minutes on the other. (Tree Pose | The Cosmic Kids Yoga Pose Universe! | Kids Workout)
Put a timer on and do a mini body scan. (The Body Scanner! Mindfulness for Children)
Try 5 finger breathing for 5 minutes. (5 finger breathing technique)
Try writing for 5 minutes. It can be nonsense…it sometimes helps to get it onto paper.
What ever you are doing right now or about to do, do it EXTRA slowly. Slow right down.
Get outside during your lunch break. Walk to a random tree. Touch it. Breath. Notice the air on your face, your hands or your arms. Breath. Walk back.
Take the time to eat lunch slowly, quietly or maybe on your own. Maybe once a week. Maybe outside under a tree. Breath.
Take some time to walk around the block, breath. Notice the environment, your body and any feelings.
Walk to the toilet slowly. Walk back slowly. Breath.
Take 10 minutes to do a mini meditation. Breath in and out. Notice your breath. It may help to visualise silver dust on the in breath and gold dust on the out breath.
•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)
Part 2 of SCRL builds upon the concept of looking after yourself and each other in schools. The training covers;
The ABC's of Self-Care
Being a secure base and navigating the space between
Widening your collective window of tolerance in school
Strengthening the 3 flows of compassion within our school communities
Please see the Professional Learning Site for information on upcoming training.