Mindful Education for Teachers Amy Secrist Mindfulness Educator - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Mindful Education for Teachers

Amy Secrist Mindfulness Educator amy@mindbodyalign.com

Mindfulness IS paying attention on purpose

Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

Mindfulness IS a way of living

Mindfulness is more than just a practice. It brings awareness and caring into everything we do—and it cuts down needless stress.

Mindfulness IS evidence based

We don’t have to take mindfulness on faith. Both science and experience demonstrate its positive benefits for our health, happiness, work, and relationships.

Mindfulness is not a silver bullet

As we all know, there is no silver bullet. But, these practices can teach kids the essential skills they need to cope in today’s society.

Mindfulness is not a disciplinary tactic

While mindfulness can help student behavior and school and classroom climate, it will backfire if used punitively or with the aim of controlling student compliance.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is simply noticing what is happening right now. Mindfulness is taking notice of how your body feels and what you see, hear, smell, and taste. Mindfulness is also noticing what your mind is doing, and paying attention to your thoughts and emotions.

Paying attention

External World (Five Senses) 1. Seeing 2. Hearing 3. Touching 4. Tasting 5. Smelling

8

Inner world (Internal Experience) 1. Thoughts 2. Emotions

MINDFULNESS HELPS TO CREATE SPACE AND REPLACE IMPULSIVE REACTIONS WITH THOUGHTFUL RESPONSES

WITHOUT MINDFULNESS STIMULUS REACTION WITH MINDFULNESS STIMULUS MINDFULNESS RESPONSE

The Power of the Pause

Mindfulness gives us that MINDFUL PAUSE

• Mindfulness offers a present moment awareness and nervous system regulation

to discern whether or not we want to say or do that

• It gives us the opportunity to intentionally respond instead of reacting
• This moment becomes very empowering for youth and adults
• The ability to recognize the moment of impulse, not repression of the impulse

Why Mindfulness?

We spend a lot of time developing our intelligence in school, and strengthening our bodies through sports or exercise. But we give our mind very little attention. When we develop and strengthen our mind we are increasing our ability to focus, recognize and manage our emotions, make better decisions, and empathize in our relationships.

Making & Enjoying Your Breath Beads

• Tie one bead to the end of the ribbon
• Add beads in any pattern you like
• Tie your last bead to the other end of

the ribbon

To Make: To Enjoy:

• Start with all beads at one end of the ribbon
• As you inhale, move the first bead slowly to

the other end

• As you exhale, slowly move the next bead

along

• Continue this way until you feel calm & steady

Research finds benefits for educators WHO RECEIVE mindfulness training

• Demonstrated reduced stress and burnout
• Reported greater SUCCESS in doing their jobs
• Had more emotionally supportive and better organized classrooms

Research finds benefits for STUDENTS WHO RECEIVE mindfulness training

• Improved attention and executive function
• Greater social and emotional skills, including emotion regulation, behavior in school,

and empathy

• Enhanced well-being, including lower test anxiety, stress, post-traumatic symptoms

and depression

Stress Response: Revs you up, preparing you to fight, take flight or freeze

• Heart beats fast
• Breath is fast and shallow
• Pupils of eyes expand (can make you sensitive

to light)

• Gut becomes inactive (difficult to digest)
• Blood rushes to your skeletal muscles and

away from your brain, making it hard to think clearly

• Hormones rush through your body, making

you feel anxious

• Expends your energy

Sympathetic Nervous System

• Heart beats slow, rhythmic pattern
• Breath is full and slow
• Pupils of eyes shrink
• Gut is active (helps you digest and absorb

the nutrients from your food)

• Increased blood flow to gut, lungs and brain
• Hormones rush in lifting your mood and

helping you to relax

• Conserves your energy

Relaxation Response: Calms you down, preparing you to rest, think and restore

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Amygdala - Primal, reactionary, fight/flight, freeze Pre Frontal Cortex - “Decision-Maker,” Executive Function

Neuroplasticity: The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment. ~ William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR, medicinenet.com

Stressful Situation Automatic Reaction (Fight/Flight/FREEZE) Amygdala

Stressful Situation Mindfulness Pause… Breathe… Prefrontal Cortex Thoughtful Response

Deactivating the Nervous System

Acute C

• m

p l e x One time incident Ongoing Stuck in “fight or flight” mode

• Over-aroused
• Over-active
• Easily triggered

Stuck in “freeze” mode

• Under-aroused
• Under-active
• Disassociated

STUCK in Fight/Flight (Sympathetic) STUCK in Freeze (Dorsal Vagal) Relaxed, Open (Ventral Vagal)

Mindfulness

Making & Enjoying Your Mind Jar

• Fill the jar ¾ full w/ water
• Add the glitter
• Fill the rest of the jar with dish soap
• Lock your lid in place with glue or

cement

To enjoy: To Make:

• Shake the jar & set

upright

• Breathe slowly while

watching the glitter settle

• Repeat if desired

History of Mindfulness

• Mindfulness can be traced back thousands of years
• Used in secular applications beginning over 40 years ago through the work of Jon

Kabat-Zinn

• Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBI’s)are used in a variety of disciplines
• Used in medicine, psychology, and corporate settings to address illness, pain, and stress,

and increase well-being

History of Mindfulness

• 1st Frontier - 1970’s Medical Field
• 2nd Frontier - 1990’s Mental health Field
• 3rd Frontier - 2000’s Education

• Decreased depression, anxiety, stress
• Improved sleep (reduced insomnia)
• Increased physical and mental ease & well-being, increased empathy for others
• Ongoing research continues to show promising results

50 years of research showing

Mindfulness can help with challenges in education

• Educator Burnout

○ 50% of educators leave the profession within 3 years

• Learning Readiness
• Toxic stress directly impacts student

○ Aptitude and regulation ○ Reduced attention spans

• Cultural forces have eroded attentiveness

MINDFULNESS STARTS WITH YOU

• LEARN MINDFULNESS FOR YOURSELF
• LEARN MINDFULNESS FOR YOUR STUDENTS

2019 - 2024 Ohio’s Strategic Plan for Education

• Foundational knowledge and

skills

• Well-rounded content
• Leadership and reasoning skills
• Social-emotional learning

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

PBIS provides a general framework to schools that include strategies for preventing problem behavior

Secularity Guidelines

1. Primary instructional language 2. Human values- kindness, cooperation, empathy, concentration 3. Teach practices in an experiential manner 4. Do not make claims about metaphysics 5. Do not include symbols, artifacts, figures or text linked to religion

Common Concerns About Secularity Concerned Parents, Educators, or Others

Two Common Types of Objections Include:

• Concerns about Religious instruction

○ Mindfulness is not inherently religious

• Concerns about the right to practice their own religion

○ Mindfulness does not interfere with personal religious beliefs and practices

3 Key Points To Share

1. Your Intention Behind Teaching Mindfulness: To Benefit Your Students 2. Students’ Positive Experience 3. Scientific Research Documenting the Value of Mindfulness

Getting T een Buy-In

Model Mindfulness

What’s in it for them

#3 Teach Teens about their brain

Teach teens about their mind

#5 - There’s an app for that!

Find us on Social Media

Bite sized mindfulness activities

1. Children’s Literature 2. Crafts & Coloring 3. Breathing Buddies 4. Breathing visuals 5. Positive affirmations

Until We Meet Again

Notice a few breaths whenever you remember. See if you can remember even one time.