Week 7 -- Mindfulness

Image result for welcome backWelcome back

 Journal -- Write what you know about mindfulness. What is it? Do you use it? How do you use it? What are the benefits of mindfulness? These are all questions that if you don't know the answers to now, you will know them before the end of class today.

 What is mindfulness? -- Mindfulness is the psychological process of purposely bringing one's attention to experiences occurring in the present moment without judgment, which one develops through the practice of meditation and through other training.

 How can mindfulness help students? Mindfulness restores a sense of calm in the classroom by helping students develop inner peace ... Some of the purported benefits of mindfulness include decreasing stress and anxiety, improving self-esteem and self-regulation, and increasing calm.

 So what does mindfulness look like? Mindfulness comes in all shapes and sizes.  Yoga is a form of mindfulness.  Meditation is mindfulness.

 Some things you can do to be more mindful are:

  • Pay attention. It's hard to slow down and notice things in a busy world ... Listen when someone is talking to you.  
  • Live in the moment. Try to intentionally bring an open, accepting and discerning attention to everything you do. ...
  • Accept yourself. Treat yourself the way you would treat a good friend. 

Here are some of my favorite mindfulness exercises: 

 Mindfulness Eating
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2Eo56BLMjM

Five Senses Exercises
https://copingskillsforkids.com/blog/2016/4/27/coping-skill-spotlight-5-4-3-2-1-grounding-technique

Or use the order of practice below.  All that is needed is to notice something you are experiencing with each of the five senses.

 Follow this order to practice the Five Senses Exercise:

 Notice five things that you can see. Look around you and bring your attention to five things that you can see. Pick something that you don't normally notice, like a shadow or a small crack in the concrete. 

 Notice four things that you can feel.  Bring awareness to four things that you are currently feeling, like the texture of your pants, the feeling of the breeze on your skin, or the smooth surface of a table you are resting your hands on.  

 Notice three things you can hear.  Take a moment to listen, and note three things that you can hear in the background. This can be the chirp of a bird, the hum of the refrigerator, or the faint sounds of traffic from a nearby road.

 Notice two things you can smell.  Bring awareness to smells that you usually filter out, whether they're pleasant or unpleasant. Perhaps the breeze is carrying a whiff of pine trees if you're outside, or the smell of the fast food restaurant across the street. 

 Notice one thing you can taste.  Focus on one thing that you can taste right now, at this moment. You can take a sip of a drink, chew a piece of gum, eat something, notice the current taste in your mouth, or even open your mouth to search the air for a taste. 

 This is a quick and relatively easy exercise to bring you to a mindful state quickly.  If you only have a minute or two, or don't have time or tools to try a body scan or fill out a worksheet, the five senses exercise can help you bring awareness to the current moment in a short amount of time. 

The Body Scan
https://positivepsychology.com/mindfulness-exercises-techniques-activities/


Mindfulness Bell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGFog-OuFDM

Mindfulness Coloring


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