Originally appears in the Summer 2014 issue
I NEVER KNEW THERE WERE so many different flavors to a strawberry,” said a 14-year-old freshman,
when attempting a mindfulness eating exercise.
“I never thought about what it really looks like,” another student said, giggling self-consciously.
A third student took a risk. “This is the first time I’ve ever had a strawberry.”
“And how was it?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Sweet first, then sour, then sweet again.”
“Like life, maybe?” I asked.
The intention of the activity was to mindfully eat a strawberry, an exercise I facilitate on the first day of teaching mindfulness to my students. The word mindfulness has recently found its way into the mainstream lexicon, though it has been in humanity’s lexicon for over 2,400 years. Only recently are people becoming aware of this idea of “paying attention.” Often this is the first time students have ever put
so much attention on eating. Through this simple task, they begin their own personal journey into themselves, and ultimately, grow an increased awareness of their environment.
As a teacher and a former social worker, I have personally noticed the attention span and emotional capacities of my students being compromised. This generation of students exist in a fast-paced, high-expectation culture where they are asked to think nonstop. To put it bluntly, our kids are stressed. Three years ago, this inspired me to begin teaching mindfulness. In the simplest terms, according to Amy Saltzman’s Still Quiet Place curriculum, mindfulness means “paying attention with kindness and curiosity”; an age-appropriate way to define
it to young people. Jon Kabat-Zinn, the first person to begin studying mindfulness from a scientific point of view, defines mindfulness as “paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” Thanks to Kabat-Zinn and his successors, the mindfulness movement has transcended any negative stereotypes about being hippie-dippy, touchy-feely stuff. On the contrary, the more we teach our students to pay attention to the present moment, the more they begin to heal from the everyday trauma of adolescence -as well as the deeper traumas like poverty, suicidal thoughts, abuse, sleep deprivation, health issues, etc.
I teach both English and Mindfulness in a small charter high school in East Palo Alto, California, a low-income community in the shadow of Silicon Valley. Nearly 30,000 residents are packed into the 2.5 square miles of this community, with an average income per capita of $17,600. The daily challenges of poverty that my students face are evident in the classroom: poor attendance, lack of academic confidence, and very little parental engagement. These conditions are challenging not only for the students, but also for the teachers.
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Mindfulness Classes
This year, I have taught mindfulness to students in grades nine to 12. We have an advisory program, so I taught Introduction to Mindfulness for eight weeks to the incoming freshmen with 20 students per class. I also have two classes with a 15-student roster in our regular block schedule: Mindfulness Community (grades 10-11), and Mindfulness for Seniors (grade 12). Additionally, I spend the first 2-5 minutes of my regular English classes leading a mindfulness breathing exercise with my students. This helps them to transition from “hallway culture” to “classroom culture,” and has become critical to the efficacy of my classroom management. Those two to five minutes set the tone for a more intimate, productive learning environment. As I reflect on this past year, there are three significant lessons I learned from the various cohorts of students I have been working with: 1) freshmen need movement, 2) seniors need resting time, and 3) the most effective mindfulness curriculum out there today is the teacher’s own personal mindfulness practice.
The cohort of kids who seemed to manifest the most authentic mindfulness this past year are the tenth and eleventh graders in my Mindfulness Community class. Originally, my intention was to have them be the school leaders; teaching mindfulness to others, and exploring big ideas like ethics, compassion, and empathy. I had also hoped they would be able to spearhead a student-generated recycling program. But within six weeks of the class’ inception, I realized I was way ahead of myself. Most of my students are on their way to becoming first-generation high school graduates; preparing for college is an overwhelming process for them and their families, let alone saving the environment. It became clear to me that I needed to start there – with the overwhelming feelings they were experiencing. So, I tossed my lesson plans aside and changed the class into a goal-setting study skills class grounded in mindfulness.
When my Mindfulness Community students walk into the class, the first thing they do is rearrange the room. They push the tables and chairs aside, and they go to the area of the room where I store the yoga mats and meditation cushions. They know which mats they like and which cushions they prefer. We gather in a circle, and when everyone has settled, we meditate. In the first few weeks, it was five minutes a day, three days a week. By the third quarter, my students built the capacity to do mindfulness meditation for 15 minutes a day, three days a week. I learned very quickly that some mornings my students’ energy was too low for them to sit quietly, and their occasional defiance and whining about “not wanting to do the mindfulness stuff” forced me to think on my feet about how I could help them increase their heart rates so early in the morning. So, I started taking the class out for mindful walks in the neighborhood. During these walks, the exercise is to not talk, text or even look at their cell phones, just to simply observe their senses. When we return from the walks, they journal and reflect on their experience.
One day in the autumn, I had them pick up a leaf from under a pear tree. Naturally, many of them thought it was weird, and some cracked jokes, but I stuck to my agenda. A couple of brave kids bent down and found a leaf, with the rest of the class following. Several of my students commented that this was the first time they had ever held a leaf. I asked them to hold it with them all day, just to remind them of this moment, and of their connection to nature. This opened up an entire conversation about our relationship to the earth. It’s a conversation that never would have happened in my traditional classroom. Because California’s seasons tend to shift with subtlety, I have made it a point to ask my students to observe the subtle changes in that pear tree throughout the year, always directing them to observe their thoughts, feelings, and body sensations whenever we walk past it. This pear tree has become a symbol for our class, and two of my students have told me that they pay attention to it now on their walk to and from school. One of my students wrote in his journal, “I never paid attention to trees and stuff, but now I do. I get what you’re saying about how they change, like us, and how we are all connected.”
As it turns out, our school offers optional weekend hiking trips several times a year, which culminates in extended backpacking trips. Interestingly, many of my mindfulness students signed up for the hiking trips as a result of our mindful walks. When they returned from the last weekend camping trip, my students shared with me that despite the rainy weather and the physical challenge of hiking, they now appreciate nature even more.
One of my more savvy students replied, “It’s because of the stuff you’ve been saying this year on our mindful walks about nature, and being open to it. Things looked different on this camping trip, and the rain felt more real.”
I’m happy to report that one of my more advanced mindfulness students has applied to attend a mindfulness nature retreat in Northern California through an organization called Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme).
In addition to the mindful walks, we meditate on potent words like “pass,” “fail,” “school project,” “family,” “love,” “hope,” “gangs,” “shooting,” and any other words that are floating in their word bank that day. In addition to semester goal setting, we also do daily goal-setting of a very specific type. The final results are not in yet, but the preliminary results show promising success, with over 70% of the class meeting or exceeding their GPA goals.
One of my greatest challenges has been the freshmen. The freshmen are a squirrely little bunch transitioning into their first year of high school, trying to fit in and find their place. They have a lot more energy than the seniors. After a challenging first semester, in which I tried to stick to the curriculum I was using, I brushed the curriculum aside and returned to my objective: to introduce the kids to mindfulness – my way. I bought some hula hoops, jump ropes, and a parachute, and I opened every class with a kinesthetic activity. I talked to them more about mind-body awareness, but always brought them back to paying attention to the breath. The warm-up seemed to be the game changer for the freshmen, particularly the gender-conforming males.
Many of my seniors have to work 20-30 hours a week to support their families, so they came to love Fridays in our Mindfulness for Seniors class because we have resting time for the last 20 minutes of class. During this time, the entire class rests on their yoga mats, and I play calming music. All of their digital devices must be turned off, and they cannot talk to each other. Some kids fall asleep, while others simply take in the quietness of the moment; something that is hard to come by in their lives. I took a poll one day, and learned that my seniors average five and a half hours of sleep a night. We know that they need eight to 10 hours, and that sleep deprivation impacts their brain chemistry. I was surprised with how little they knew about the importance of sleep, and how to actually rest. “My idea of resting used to be listening to my loud music, being on Facebook, plus texting my friends,” wrote one senior. “Now I turn everything off and tell my family to leave me alone for fifteen minutes, and do the deep breathing. It works.”
This level of self-reflection has been a critical tool not only for my students, but also for myself as both a teacher and a mindfulness practitioner. The greatest lesson I have learned this year is that my own personal practice is the best curriculum I can use for my students. I have had to maintain a lot of personal and professional discipline to be an effective mindfulness instructor. I have been diligent about keeping notes after each class, reflecting not only on what I observed in my students, but what I observed in myself – cognitively, emotionally, and physically. Additionally, I have maintained the discipline of my own mindfulness meditation practice, sitting 20-30 minutes every morning, as well as meeting regularly with my mindfulness teacher, attending day-long sittings throughout the year, attending conferences, and staying in touch with other mindfulness instructors. Ultimately, it was that 20-30 minutes of sitting a day that created the space needed to transmit the lessons down to my students.
When I have asked any of my mindfulness students to write down what they remember the most from each mindfulness meditation, they all write “drop the judgment.” We ask our students to think critically, but what we tend to forget is how self-critical they are. By giving them the space to drop the judgment, I am observing their hearts are opening up, at least in my one small classroom. We know that when kids are in a place of fear, their brains shut down, which impacts their learning. So, to see my students opening their hearts in my class, gives me a sense of hope that their minds are also opening up.
Incorporating Mindfulness
There are so many ways for green educators to incorporate a mindfulness practice into their classrooms. One does not need to be a zen master to have his or her own practice nor does a teacher need to have a full block scheduled class (like I have) to teach mindfulness. My English students benefit tremendously from two to five minutes of mindfulness before we tackle grammar, writing strategies, and literary analysis. Also, K-8 students are the most receptive to mindfulness due to their openness. Like most teachers, we can modify curriculum to fit the age we are teaching.
If you want to learn and teach mindfulness, the first and foremost qualification you must have is willingness and an open mind and heart. I would recommend that a willing teacher find a mindfulness beginners class online or locally. Mindful Schools has become increasingly popular and well-received, probably because the creators of this organization are former teachers, so they understand the needs and limitations of teachers. They offer a Mindfulness Fundamentals class online for $125, which includes an online instructor, text, audios of short mindfulness practices, and some rich lectures from Jon Kabat-Zinn. There is also a forum that provides teachers the opportunity to share with other teachers. From there, you can cultivate your own mindfulness practice, which could look like breath practice five minutes a day, two to three times a day, and could build up to 20-30 minutes a day. There is new research indicating that practicing five minutes a day three to four times a day has the same effect as sitting for 20 minutes a day. The key is to be consistent, and to do it daily. Sitting with others can lessen the feeling of isolation for the social personality as well as create a sense of community. After establishing a mindfulness practice, a novice can start each class with a quick breathing exercise. Trust me, once the students get comfortable with it, they will be requesting it as my first group of students did three years ago. (They used to yell at me when I would forget to start the class with mindful breathing.)
Ultimately, an educator with a mindfulness practice can take some next steps in supporting his or her green students in the one area where all students need support – self-awareness. As Stephanie Kaza says in her book Mindfully Green, “When we come to see ourselves as part of the green web of life… we are naturally drawn to respond with compassion.”
Teaching students to know themselves deeply through a mindfulness practice can help them build the self-awareness that is necessary to thrive in this complex world. Additionally, on a more practical level, research indicates that a student’s executive function skills increase with mindfulness practice. This includes not only concentration and memory, but also emotional regulation. We all know that being an activist can be very draining, and emotionally taxing. The burnout rate is high for those who take on the responsibility of creating a cleaner earth. Mindfulness can help create the extra capacity young people need to tackle climate change, or other environmental issues. Our own internal environment must be well maintained before we expand out to the external environment. Teenagers, in particular, who may feel stressed and overwhelmed with the work that lies ahead of them, can learn to go easy on themselves with the support of a healthy mindfulness practice.
Lastly, as I stumbled upon this year, a short mindful walk, and paying attention to a static element of nature (our pear tree) throughout the year could also deepen a student’s relationship to the earth. Teenagers especially, are deep thinkers with tremendous capacity to make personal connections. Bringing them back to that same pear tree every week, and asking them to explore their thoughts, feelings, and body as they curiously explore the intricacies of that one tree can lead to some profound insights. Although they may not be able to express them with great articulation, they are ultimately tapping into their core self, which is more than any 21st century teacher can ask for.
This past year feels like just the beginning of something new and meaningful for me as a teacher, and hopefully feels the same for my students. Mindfulness may not be the panacea to our educational dilemmas, but it can be the balm we have been seeking for our classrooms. It provides students the opportunity to build that necessary inner resiliency, and it helps prevent teacher burnout. If we can teach our young people to turn off their screens, close their eyes, and explore their own inner screens, then we are providing them with the wealthiest piece of technology on the planet – their minds.
Resources
Kabat-Zinn, Jon. Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment and Your Life.
Gunaratana, Bhante Henepola. Mindfulness in Plain English.
Schoeberlein David, Deborah and Suki Sheth. Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfulness: A Guide for Anyone Who Teaches Anything.
Saltzman, Amy. A Still Quiet Place: A Mindfulness Program for Teaching Children and Adolescents to Ease Stress and Difficult Emotions.
Lantieri, Linda. Building Emotional Intelligence: Practices to Cultivate Inner Resilience in Children.
Broderick, Patricia C. and Myla Kabat-Zinn. Learning to Breathe: A Mindfulness Curriculum for Adolescents to Cultivate Emotion Regulation, Attention, and Performance.
Websites
http://www.mindfulschools.org/training/mindfulness-fundamentals/?gclid=CjkKEQjw75CcBRCz2LiEs5OPsZoBEiQADgUma33LV4T3c4fZIpMp0j0lw4hK7c_TbxC3hx4ekTVNfbw_wcB
http://www.care4teachers.org/
http://ibme.info/
http://www.niroga.org/
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Caren McDonald teaches high school English and Mindfulness in East Palo Alto, California. Before becoming a teacher, she was a social worker and a playwright, having produced plays in Boston, Alaska, New Mexico, Michoacán, and Los Angeles.