Why Don’t We Teach Mindfulness in Schools?
What if you had the power to change your students’ outcomes, improve their ability to regulate behaviors and emotions, and give them a life-long tool that has been proven to be beneficial to their health? And, what if that could be done in every school, every day, without taking away instructional time or adding additional planning burdens on educators, or costing hundreds of dollars? And, what if parents, educators and administrators also reaped these same benefits, would you do it?
As we enter a new school year, these are the questions we should be answering, with a resounding “YES”. The scientific proofs are irrefutable. Thousands of studies, throughout the world, have shown the benefits to the individual, the institutions and to society. Mindfulness practice is taught, or researched in the top universities including Yale, Harvard, Stamford and Oxford. Oxford even offers a master’s degree in mindfulness practice.
Mindfulness practice is not a religion or new age practice
Mindfulness practice is not a religion or new age practice. Rather, it is a skill that trains people to be able to control their reactions to emotions and stimuli. It does not negate emotion. On the contrary mindfulness allows us to feel the emotion and become active, rather than reactive. It gives us the ability to place a pause and to become reflective instead of reactive. The skill of learning not to be controlled by our emotions is critical for both physical and emotional health. It is a skill that is required to succeed in life, not just in school. In fact, major corporations and business leaders spend thousands of dollars to learn mindfulness for themselves and to train their team members, so they can improve success rates and increase bottom-line results.
Among the results of research on high school aged children in the United States, we have found that nearly half meet the criteria fo
r having a mental health issue. This includes conditions such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders and ADHD. These conditions often lead to suicide attempts or ideation. Behavioral issues are the single most cited reason for student drop-out.
Further studies on teaching mindfulness practice in the classroom have shown dramatic increases in the ability of students to regulate their emotions, demonstrate pro-social behaviors and improve academic achievement. These are important results because they ultimately result in teachers having more instructional time, rather than less.
So, the question that must be answered is “Why Don’t We Teach Mindfulness in Our Schools?” Why aren’t parents, business leaders, educators demanding the inclusion of mindfulness practice as a required course in the school curriculum? These questions are confounding when we look at those schools that have incorporated mindfulness practice as part of their curriculum and the results they have achieved.
Mindfulness practice trains us to be “present”
Mindfulness practice trains us to be “present”; that is having an awareness of the moment so that you can connect with it. It is about focusing your attention on one thing at a time, focusing on a person, a task or an event. The result of such practice is a greater sense of calm and well-being, better understanding of self and subject, and more productivity. Imagine the benefits that educators, students and families could reap from the inclusion of mindfulness practice in our schools.
The challenge for school administrators is recognizing the amazing benefits of including mindfulness practice in the classroom. Most administrators are driven by the cost of implementation or push-back resulting from fears of failure. These drivers include staff development time, impact on instructional time, result measurement, intractability of Boards of Education and Superintendents. Another challenge is finding the experts to train staff, as well as finding the materials necessary to successfully design a program. But, what if the cost of such a program was less than their morning coffee and bagel? What if, there was a resource that provided a step by step, fun instructional guide for teachers and the research to demonstrate the benefits to Boards of Educations and Superintendents?
These are exactly the challenges that I sought to address when I wrote – “Staying In The Moment – Helping Students Achieve More Through Mindfulness Meditation”. This ebook gives you a proven
path to improve student outcomes and help you once again energize you and your classroom. Implementing mindfulness practice in your classroom significantly reduces disturbances and behavioral issues, increases student participation, and most importantly empowers you and your students to achieve more than ever thought possible.
The exercises that I give you in “Staying In The Moment – Helping Students Achieve More Through Mindfulness Meditation” are easily adapted to any age group, including faculty and staff. You owe it to yourself and your students to discover how this ebook gives you the exact steps to improve student outcomes… in a couple of weeks.
The best part is that I have made buying this ebook a No-Brainer! As I teacher, I know how much of my own money I spend for my students. So I priced this ebook at a price that guarantees you will buy it. I want you to be able to download and use these techniques and not break the bank. I want all of our classrooms to develop students with life-time skills. In order to do that, I decided this ebook would be in everyone’s reach. I have made it available for most major ebook readers and the cost is only… $2.99.
Make this year different! Start right now just use the tab below and purchase your copy of “Staying In The Moment – Helping Students Achieve More Through Mindfulness Meditation”. Please share this blog post and information with your colleagues and be sure to drop me a line about your success with the program.
