Murray State ' s Digital Commons Integrated Studies Center for Adult and Regional Education Spring 2017 Mindfulness in Learning

This paper focuses on the concepts of mindfulness and how it can be applied to early education to reduce stress, encourage positive behavior, and help students be more empathetic successful productive human beings. The mindful based curriculum includes mindful movement, mindful eating, mindful breathing, mindful rest, self-regulation skills, empathy, and compassion building skills. Teaching these skills to youths has proven effective in increasing self-esteem, lowering stress levels, reducing bullying and increasing compassion. Children that are taught in an environment that promotes mindfulness are more likely to succeed according to research. With an introduction to the history of mindfulness and the mindfulness movement in Western culture, this paper gives a full and comprehensive understanding of not only why mindfulness is a valuable tool but also demonstrates how studies reflect positive results which encourage further research and application. Running head: MINDFULNESS IN LEARNING 3 When a child enters the world they have no knowledge of what will be expected of them in this life. They have yet to experience the stress of test taking, meeting deadlines, and any instances of mental health challenges have yet to emerge. With the exception of special needs children, babies have very basic needs that their caregivers must attend to. Despite differences in culture and circumstance, children respond well to more relaxed, soothing methods much better than they do stressful, erratic responses, which often only succeed in making the child more fitful and the caregiver more stressed. With this is mind, it stands to reason that children, as they grow and become more aware of the world and the stresses in their environment, should use these early methods to cope with the world around them. The concepts found in mindfulness can be applied to teach students to handle the stresses of not only school, but life as well in such a way that they can be more productive, empathetic, and successful throughout their lives. School age children are, on average, energetic and constantly learning. They learn from teachers, parents, peers, and in general the world to which they are exposed. If they are only exposed to chaos and lack of structure and true understanding, they will have a difficult time finding clam and focus within themselves. Mindfulness, in conjunction with other mindful elements, goes back to those early days of calm soothing and purposeful thought and turn away from the over sensitized nature of the world most children find themselves trying to learn and grow. In order to understand how these practices work it is important to learn what exactly mindfulness and extended elements of mindfulness are and how they apply to learning. History of Mindfulness The concept of mindfulness has its roots in the Buddhist faith. According to the Buddhist faith, it is wholly important to know the mind, train the mind, and free the mind. Through combined meditation and purposeful movements, those following these lessons become aware of Running head: MINDFULNESS IN LEARNING 4 how they think and what drives those thoughts. While this is the first step, it is the cornerstone for building the foundation of this effective teaching. For instance, when mindfulness instructor and writer Ed Halliwell began first exploring mindfulness as a study, he realized he had a pattern of rushing through life and activities, both mental and physical, then collapsing in what he perceived as a restful state; though it was really exhaustion on several levels. “The more I engaged with mindful movement practices, the more I felt it was showing me my habitual style of engagement. Instead of avoiding the unpleasant feelings that arose when I slowed down, I was now paying attention to them, seeing how they affected me, and choosing to stay with them” (Halliwell, 2013, para. 3). This revelation is the first step in the Buddhist process of becoming and practicing being mindful. According to Buddhist teachings, to truly know the mind a person must spend time with the mind, evaluating not only what they think but how and why they think. This does not mean the person is intent on changing their thoughts, but rather just being aware that those thoughts and reactions exist (Fronsdal, 2006, para. 4). A good analogy might be a person being in a crowded room or event where everyone is busy and moving, engaging, and they stop within themselves apart from the activity and realize while they are a part of the swirl of excitement, they are also a separate single observer, calm and still in the moment of the excitement. The next step in the mindfulness process is training the mind. This concept is a bit more difficult because it requires the person to accept and forgive themselves for the way they think. It can be a difficult process because in general people would rather think they have a healthy outlook on life and deal with obstacles well, when in many cases that may not be so. Perhaps a person is quick to anger or become frustrated when faced with challenges great or small. Perhaps they would rather “not dwell” on an issue when really they are just avoiding dealing with the Running head: MINDFULNESS IN LEARNING 5 problem. All of these responses are very natural and to a degree encouraged by the world in general. They are however counterproductive to the mindfulness process. Training the mind focuses on facing these realities for what they are and forgiving the self and treating the self with kindness. This allows for the practitioner to open themselves to further training which benefits their overall outlook. The main method of training the mind is active meditation. Active meditation does not mean forced. Rather, it is more of a letting go process in the beginning; then later once a level of acceptance and understanding has been reached, a more focused study of an attitude. (Fronsdal, 2006, para. 8-9). Being able to change the way a person thinks becomes a very powerful tool. They may be able to find acceptance in chronic pain and find ways to let some of that pain go. A person plagued by depression may find the strength in their battle instead of seeing it as a weakness. Change and acceptance of perception of self can lead to change and acceptance in the external world. The last step in truly being mindful is learning to free the mind and thus the self. Buddhist believe the things people hold onto hold them back form true peace. The processes of learning how a person thinks and being aware, of forgiving themselves for how they see things and finding better approaches, leads to a fuller understanding of what they are doing to hold themselves back form true peace and understanding. “The more we know ourselves, the easier it is both to train ourselves and to know what needs to be released. The more our minds are trained, the easier it is to know ourselves and the more strength and wisdom we have to let go. And the more we let go, the fewer the obstructions to understanding ourselves and the easier it will be to train the mind” (Fronsdal, 2006, para. 10). This concept can be applied to every aspect of life. Running head: MINDFULNESS IN LEARNING 6 Society is bombarded with images of how they should think, look, or act on a daily basis. There is no doubt it has in impact of how people perceive themselves and those around them as well as how they react to these destructive ideas. This leads to fad diets, erratic behavior, bullying, self-doubt and an increasing amount of desired instant gratification just to function and feel fulfilled for most people. With the uses of these methods and tools practitioners of mindfulness are able to have a better understanding of their bodies and their selves so that they may cope better with the world around them. The lessons of mindfulness in the Buddhist faith provide the chance for the practitioners to not only find inner peace, but to also handle the stresses of the world around them with ease. Benefits have been has proven to extend into medical conditions, learning environments, mental issues, and even prisons. These elements are the foundation for the mindfulness movement. They are only the beginning however. As all movements evolve, the mindfulness movement has evolved to include other elements that build on the foundation principles for a more complete experience. Elements of Mindfulness The mindfulness movement as evolved from simple breathing and meditation techniques to a broader definition of activities. While the core of this movement is breathing and thought, those utilizing these methods have discovered ways to take the core values and apply them to eating, movement, emotional awareness, and rest. Particularly in the Compassionate Schools Program, which will be discussed later, these additional aspects of mindfulness are proving to be the foundation of an overall system benefitting many students, teachers, and even parents. To better understand why these other aspects of mindfulness are so important, it is first necessary to have a full understanding of mindful eating, mindful movement, emotional awareness, and mindful rest. Running head: MINDFULNESS IN LEARNING 7 It is hard to pinpoint a beginning to the mindful eating concept, as it seems to have evolved with the mindfulness movement, but the core values and principles behind mindful eating are very clear. As discussed earlier, mindfulness is the act of being very in tune mentally, physically and emotionally with one’s body. This translates to eating in that when someone eats mindfully, they are also in tune in those same ways. “Applied to eating, mindfulness includes noticing the colors, smells, flavors, and textures of your food; chewing slowly; getting rid of distractions like TV or reading; and learning to cope with guilt and anxiety about food. Some elements of mindful eating hark back to Horace Fletcher, an early 20th century food faddist who believed chewing food th