Letter from Ms. Jenn: Mindfulness in the Classroom

   Lately, I have been super into mindfulness and meditation and would love to start bringing it more into the classroom. Being mindful means to be in the present. To be non-judging, positive, aware, trusting, patient, and to be able to let go of things that don't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

   There are many ways to be mindful that usually just starts with trying really hard to stop, take a second, and be aware of everything that's going on. That's a little easier said than done, especially for the little ones. Some ways that we will be practicing here and that you can do at home include: yoga, breathing techniques, sensory exploration, listening exercises to really listen to the world, thankfulness, and not worrying.

   Being a kid with all kinds of things to busy yourself makes it hard to be mindful. But practicing a little at a time here and there definitely makes it easier, especially when the whole family practices mindfulness as a group.

   We shared an article awhile back about a school that practiced mindfulness as the lead core of their curriculum and they had great success with it. One of their favorite exercises that the kids were interested in was their breathing rock. Each child had their own special breathing rock that they would place on their belly to watch it rise and fall with their breath. The idea was for each child to breath deeply and calm their body all while they were being mindful of their breathing and their body by watching their breathing rock.

   There are lots of ways to easily be mindful. We would love to hear about what you do at home to be mindful as we practice mindfulness here at Jellybean.