Academics

World Language Teacher Maria Downey and Senior Alexa Austin

Mindfulness is most classically defined as paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, without judgment. In everyday terms, it simply means paying attention to what is going on with you, both externally and internally, in the present moment and accepting whatever that experience is. Over the last 30 years, mindfulness has become popular in secular circles for its proven benefits as a means to reduce stress, increase focus and concentration, and cultivate empathy and compassion. It is widely used in pain management, trauma therapy, and is being implemented with increasing frequency in education. Two components foster a strong mindfulness practice: formal sitting meditation, often with a focus on the breath or body, and informal practice that is incorporated into everyday life. On a personal note, I came to practice mindfulness after becoming tired of operating on automatic pilot, of constantly doing. I started researching mindfulness and mindfulness in education. I took an 8-week class on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction at Ramapo College's Krame Center, and later took the Mindful Educators Essentials course through Mindful Schools. I am now qualified to teach mindfulness to youth, K-12. I currently incorporate mindfulness lessons into my classes at RHS.

Once trained, teachers can utilize the mindfulness to develop more profound relationships with their students and to help them develop emotional regulation skills and more focused attention. The practice of taking 5-10 minutes at the start of class to teach students how to pay attention to what is going on with them and to identify how they are feeling, has given my students an opportunity to truly arrive in my class, to settle in a profound way and to prepare to learn. One of my students, Alexa Austin (class of 2020) says, “I definitely think mindfulness should have a place in school because kids don’t have the opportunity in their day to just stop and slow down. It’s like they are encouraged to just keep going and going and it can have a lot of negative consequences on their school work and health. So, even if it’s just one teacher doing it, I think it could help a lot of kids who don’t even realize that they need a break or time to just sit and breathe.”