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Mindfulness Techniques for Classrooms

The document discusses how a teacher incorporates mindfulness practices into their classroom to help students manage emotions and connect with peers. It describes leading mindful breathing exercises where students focus on their breathing using a chime to signal when to breathe in and out. Yoga is also practiced during gym class using calming music and poses that relate to curriculum topics to make the movement meaningful. These mindfulness activities are intended to help calm students' minds and bodies, especially during transitions between classes.

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93 views1 page

Mindfulness Techniques for Classrooms

The document discusses how a teacher incorporates mindfulness practices into their classroom to help students manage emotions and connect with peers. It describes leading mindful breathing exercises where students focus on their breathing using a chime to signal when to breathe in and out. Yoga is also practiced during gym class using calming music and poses that relate to curriculum topics to make the movement meaningful. These mindfulness activities are intended to help calm students' minds and bodies, especially during transitions between classes.

Uploaded by

api-469160289
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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I believe teaching mindfulness is crucial in helping our students manage their emotions and

connect with their peers. We know that when our students feel a sense of safety and belonging,
trust their classmates, and know how to manage stress, learning is amplified (Willis, 2015).
Mindfulness is something that I teach and practice every day in the classroom.

We practice mindful breathing, wherein I use the simple, calming sound of a chime to notify
the students it is time to breathe. The students can rest their heads or close their eyes and
focus on their breathing. By breathing deeply into your belly, you can use your breath to calm
both your body and mind (Shardlow, 2015). They are guided to breath in through their nose,
like smelling a flower, and out through their mouth, like blowing out a candle. This is done for a
few minutes, and helps calm their minds and bodies. I usually engage in mindful breathing in
moments of transition, such as when the students arrive back into the classroom after recess or
after gym class.

Another way to incorporate mindfulness, is through yoga. Each class is given 2 gym blocks
throughout the week, and I take one of them as an opportunity to teach and practice yoga.
Introducing movement into your classroom allows your students to tap into their natural way of
learning (Shardlow, 2015). This year, my students and I ended up with the very first gym block
on Monday mornings. This was a great time to bring in lamps, calming music and yoga mats
into the gym, and create a calm and relaxing space to practice yoga. Children can mimic their
environment to develop their self-expression and self-confidence (Shardlow, 2015). It was a
great way to start off the week, and allow the students to move and partake in a mindful
exercise. I also appreciated Shardlow’s advice in using poses that correspond to the curriculum,
such as posing as different animals, to make the motion relevant and meaningful to the
students.

References

Shardlow, G. (2015) Integrating Mindfulness in Your Classroom Curriculum. Retrieved from:


https://www.edutopia.org/blog/integrating-mindfulness-in-classroom-curriculum-giselle-
shardlow

Willis, A. (2015). Shared Mindfulness: Building Supportive Relationships in the Classroom.


Retrieved from: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/shared-mindfulness-building-supportive-
relationships-abby-wills

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