Mindfulness

Have you ever?

Have you ever taken a few breaths to calm down? Then you have practiced some mindfulness!
Have you ever noticed the variety of what you are feeling or thinking? Then you have practiced some mindfulness!
Have you ever decided to shift your focus or attention to something else? Maybe like, "I don't want to think about that right now, I would rather think about or focus on... " Then you have practiced some mindfulness!
Have you ever noticed you were reliving something from the past or worrying about the future--and decided to keep thinking about it or return to what was happening right now? Then you have practiced some mindfulness!

Tip:

If you are in the yellow or red, you are probably thinking about something in the past or the future!

You have right NOW that you can always return to.

Here is a way you can visualize how mindfulness can be!

You might have heard people say meditation. Maybe you have tried it. Many people say it is helpful to them. Many say it did not work.

Either way, meditation is not something to stress about doing it 'right' or if you are good at it.

Here is a video that illustrates what meditation is hopefully helping us to do. If you can see your cars (your thoughts) pass by without thinking more about each one for even a few seconds, then you are on your way. A few seconds leads to a few more seconds, then a few minutes, then a few more minutes. You are on your way!

What is MeditationUnderstanding meditation can be challenging for newbies. We get it.

Here are a bunch of free meditations from Headspace for you to try.

Effective Ways to be Mindful: 5 more “mindful pause” activitiesHave you heard of the mindful pause? It is a mindfulness strategy I introduced last year that focuses on taking action right away, tapping into your natural strengths. There are two simple steps: 1.) Pause for about 15 seconds to feel your inhale and exhale. 2.) Ask yourself: Which of my character strengths might I bring forth …

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Mindfulness can help us: Enjoy moments more (using our strengths of Appreciation of beauty and excellence, Gratitude)

We can be mindless even in our eating: (Did it even taste it?)

Mindful eating looks almost like this:

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Imagine doing this in a classroom or in the recess or lunch - looking around and noticing.

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Tip:

You can DECIDE or CHOOSE to let your attention wander, focus on the future for planning or on the past to learn from- and then DECIDE to come back to the present moment. "I am going to focus on being right here, right now"

Mindfulness can help us: Calm and Lower your stress

Activity: Make your class jar or groups make a jar for use after recess, with conflicts, for a test, and... yes-for the chill spot.

Tip:

We always have our breath to bring us back to now.

We also have 5 senses that at a moment's notice we can focus on to bring us to the present moment.

Each of us can be mindful (fully aware in our present moment) as we: eat, walk, talk, listen, observe, relax, play... basically all the time! We are always one focused breathe away.

Keep track of your focus for a day!

Get Involved:

Have you found a breathing exercise or a way that helps to remind you? Share it here:

Mindfulness can help us: Be purposeful (less impulsive by using our strengths of Prudence, Self-Control, Judgment, Social Intelligence)

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Mindfulness can help us: Understand ourselves better ( helping our strengths of Perspective, Humility, Prudence, Self-Control, Judgment, Social Intelligence, Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence, Love, Curiousity, etc.)

Mindfulness is being aware of all that is, without judging it good or bad, right or wrong. Just noticing it is - as it is. As it passes by... allowing us to see a new now.

Tip:

You can be mindful anywhere and at anytime during your day. If you need to, feel free to use the chill spot if you need some 'time in' to reflect.

Tip: It is always a new now!

Get involved: Share a Success, Question or Idea!

Do you have a success you want to share when you used mindfulness and it helped? Share here!

Do you have an idea that can help your class or school become more mindful? Share your idea!

What question do you have about being mindful? Ask here!

Additional breathing exercises that teachers like:

Stop, Breathe & ThinkAt Stop, Breathe & Think, we believe that taking a few minutes each day to feel the calm is as important as regular exercise. If we can help more of you regu...

Tip: You can't have a 'bad day'--the day is FULL of moments! Not every moment was 'bad'. More accurately could be: I had some difficult moments.

24 Ways to Make Mindfulness StickierI don’t have the time to practice mindfulness. I would like to meditate but I usually forget. Meditation is too difficult. My mind always wanders. When I survey participants in my mindfulness programs, these are the three most common mindfulness obstacles people report. I say “obstacles” because these are hurdles that get in between you …

Using your strengths with mindfulness...

5 Mindfulness Practices to Bring to Your Classroom - Left Brain BuddhaMindfulness practices help children improve their ability to pay attention, by learning to focus on one thing (e.g., breath, sound) while filtering out other stimuli. Mindfulness also provides kids with skills for understanding their emotions and how to work with them.

Sometimes I hear "everything is bad" or "my day is terrible" or "everything is going wrong." Especially when someone is 'in the red.'

I hear their frustration or sadness. But I understand those sentences are very inaccurate.

Of course-Not EVERYTHING is bad. Not your WHOLE day is terrible... Not every single minute, every single second, etc. It might feel good to be that mad or sad for the moment. But when you are ready to move from that feeling you can.

Surely, certain aspects may not have gone well (as you expected, wanted or hoped). As you start to be more accurate with your words, you will find your perspective also changes. You may still feel as you feel for those unmet expectations but by being more accurate you can also see there are other parts to your day too--that continue to unfold second by second.

This definition (below) was at the top of the page for our Character Ed kickoff.

Some definitions of Mindfulness:

Copied from www.viacharacter.org/blog/integrating-mindfulness-character-strengths/

"What is mindfulness?

The scientific definition of mindfulness is (1) the self-regulation of attention to immediate experience, with (2) an orientation of curiosity, openness, and acceptance (Bishop et al., 2004). This means that when we are being mindful we are taking control of what we focus on – we are controlling our attention. As we attend to our present moment – whether this be to an emotion, a thought, a belief, an impulse, a sensation, or to something in our surrounding environment – we need to approach that “thing” with a curious, open, and accepting attitude (Niemiec, 2014)."

Copied from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/mindfulness/definition (The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley):

"What Is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment.

Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future."

Ok, sounds confusing. What does that have to do with me? Answer that and you are on your way with an important, lifelong reliable tool.

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