The Issue of Forced Mindfulness
I am a big believer in the practice of mindfulness. This is the practice of learning how to get the mind to focus on a present task, so that you can drown out the noise and in return it usually gives perspective on where you are in life right now.
Most of us follow busy routines and get pulled in a million directions. The only time we really get a break is when we sleep. Yet, studies have shown our sleep seems to be dwindling as well. We as a generation are work-a-holics and we are sending those messages to our youth. Our youth has never been more stressed than they are today. I can point you to many studies, if you disagree, I have loads. Our kids our stressed. Our kids are stressed because they are being raised by stressed parents and taught by stressed teachers. We are modeling this behavior and many of our youth are internalizing these unhealthy ways of always being busy or stimulated. So the new wave of teaching social-emotional learning and mindfulness in the classroom or at home makes total sense. I am all for this. 100% in. I do have issues with the way it is being implemented though.
To be mindful you have to be authentic. Every single one of us has different ways of reaching our present mind where we can do true reflection and calm. Some people journal, others meditate, many take a walk, and some just sit on their deck with a cup of coffee. Some do breathing exercises and some color. Someone who colors might feel ridiculous when they do breathing exercising, increasing anxiety as it does not calm them. You enhance what you practice, meaning if you practice something that gives you negative thoughts then you will enhance negative thoughts. So... how do you teach mindfulness if it works differently in everyone? You need to teach multiple ways to reach the same goal and then let people decide.
I cannot force my students to do breathing exercises at the beginning of class. I can though at the beginning of class teach a new way to self-regulate and then let people choose. First five minutes after lunch choose your calming activity. Sit in silence, doodle, breathe, meditate, journal, or stretch. As a teacher, I can do what I do too. I am not someone who does breathing exercises. Something about it freaks me out and I actually start to hyperventilate, because I get in my own head about my own breathing. I then begin to evaluate my breathing whether it is a good breath or a bad breathe. Did I really hold it that long? Did I actually forget to breathe? It becomes a massive mess of concern in my brain. So if a teacher taught that to me as a tool in a tool kit of ways to self-regulate. I would put that one in the bin. Then the next day my teacher taught me to make a list of all the things I love. I would do that and find myself smiling, forgetting the drama of the day. I would then put that tool in my tool kit. But if the teacher always did breathing exercises... maybe I will learn to calm my mind or maybe it will just be another thing I dread about class. Five minutes of breathing where all I do is think about my own breathing and get myself all stressed about the concept of breathing. I'm strange I know.
We need to be intentional in our approach to teach these concepts, because these concepts are deeply personal. My mindful practice might not work for you. Yours might not work for me. So let us focus on diversity and authenticity rather than encourage people to sell something they themselves do not do. It is easy to spot. Someone who sells a concept they heard at a conference, but you know when they are truly upset this is not what they do. This is not a tool they use, but a tool that they think might calm you in order to get to their agenda. We as educators NEED to be authentic. We cannot be anything other than who we are. But we do need to teach ourselves and teach our students how to cope with stress and be more mindful. So we need to find that balance.
Mindfulness needs to be mindful not mass produced. Otherwise it WILL become part of the noise.
Most of us follow busy routines and get pulled in a million directions. The only time we really get a break is when we sleep. Yet, studies have shown our sleep seems to be dwindling as well. We as a generation are work-a-holics and we are sending those messages to our youth. Our youth has never been more stressed than they are today. I can point you to many studies, if you disagree, I have loads. Our kids our stressed. Our kids are stressed because they are being raised by stressed parents and taught by stressed teachers. We are modeling this behavior and many of our youth are internalizing these unhealthy ways of always being busy or stimulated. So the new wave of teaching social-emotional learning and mindfulness in the classroom or at home makes total sense. I am all for this. 100% in. I do have issues with the way it is being implemented though.
To be mindful you have to be authentic. Every single one of us has different ways of reaching our present mind where we can do true reflection and calm. Some people journal, others meditate, many take a walk, and some just sit on their deck with a cup of coffee. Some do breathing exercises and some color. Someone who colors might feel ridiculous when they do breathing exercising, increasing anxiety as it does not calm them. You enhance what you practice, meaning if you practice something that gives you negative thoughts then you will enhance negative thoughts. So... how do you teach mindfulness if it works differently in everyone? You need to teach multiple ways to reach the same goal and then let people decide.
I cannot force my students to do breathing exercises at the beginning of class. I can though at the beginning of class teach a new way to self-regulate and then let people choose. First five minutes after lunch choose your calming activity. Sit in silence, doodle, breathe, meditate, journal, or stretch. As a teacher, I can do what I do too. I am not someone who does breathing exercises. Something about it freaks me out and I actually start to hyperventilate, because I get in my own head about my own breathing. I then begin to evaluate my breathing whether it is a good breath or a bad breathe. Did I really hold it that long? Did I actually forget to breathe? It becomes a massive mess of concern in my brain. So if a teacher taught that to me as a tool in a tool kit of ways to self-regulate. I would put that one in the bin. Then the next day my teacher taught me to make a list of all the things I love. I would do that and find myself smiling, forgetting the drama of the day. I would then put that tool in my tool kit. But if the teacher always did breathing exercises... maybe I will learn to calm my mind or maybe it will just be another thing I dread about class. Five minutes of breathing where all I do is think about my own breathing and get myself all stressed about the concept of breathing. I'm strange I know.
We need to be intentional in our approach to teach these concepts, because these concepts are deeply personal. My mindful practice might not work for you. Yours might not work for me. So let us focus on diversity and authenticity rather than encourage people to sell something they themselves do not do. It is easy to spot. Someone who sells a concept they heard at a conference, but you know when they are truly upset this is not what they do. This is not a tool they use, but a tool that they think might calm you in order to get to their agenda. We as educators NEED to be authentic. We cannot be anything other than who we are. But we do need to teach ourselves and teach our students how to cope with stress and be more mindful. So we need to find that balance.
Mindfulness needs to be mindful not mass produced. Otherwise it WILL become part of the noise.
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