1. Mindful Meditation Creating Space for Ourselves and for Our Students
Gina Pin
Dan Rivers
Jack Powers
Joel Barlow High School
E2Lead Symposium 2016
Ask them to sit quietly for two minutes: an example of what meditation is not.
Ask them where they’re from and why they’re here. What do you hope to learn?
(We need to bring a clicker, speakers and an extra converter plug)

2. Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the gentle effort to be present with experience
It is noticing without judging. You notice your breath. You notice when you are distracted. You bring yourself back to the present.
How can this help learning?

3. Meditation Meditation is a practice of paying attention
Observing without judgment.
Like lifting up the hood of the car and seeing how the engine operates. Getting to knowhow your own mind operates.
How can that help learning?

4. Meditation: A Beginner’s Guide
Follow with Belly Breathing.
Climb on the river bank and notice your thoughts come and go.
Thoughts come and thoughts go; you are not your thoughts

5. Stress and the Brain
“Excessive stress damages the developing brain architecture, leading to vulnerability to lifelong problems in learning, behavior and overall health”.
- National Scientific Council of the Developing Child, 2007 & Yoga4classrooms
Show fist analogy

6. Stress and the Brain stress Flynn, Y4C
Survival mode: fight, flight or freeze
Overloaded stress response systems: amygdala and hypothalamus
Blockage of executive function center
Impaired cognitive regulation
Impaired behavioral regulation
Difficulties in learning and memory function
The constant “flight or fight” state makes it impossible to process information in a thoughtful manner – impairing cognitive and behavioral regulation.
Acute stress leads to difficulties in learning and memory function.
Chronic stress is associated with difficulties in effective executive functioning.
So, when a child is in survival mode b/c of stressors at home or at school
-He cannot effectively processes information
-And will have difficulty consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory
-Proper functioning of executive capacities are undermined
Flynn, Y4C

7. Research Findings: Yoga and Mindfulness for Schoolchildren
Research on yoga interventions in schools is in its early stages, however initial results are promising.
School-based yoga and mindfulness interventions have been found to exert positive effects on several factors such as:
Emotional Balance
Attentional Control
Cognitive Efficiency
Negative Thought Patterns
Emotional & Physical Arousal
Reactivity
Negative Behavior
Concentration
Mood
Anxiety
Self-Esteem
Coping
Resilience
Classroom Behavior
Serwacki & Cook-Cottone, 2012, Case-Smith et al., 2010, Ehud et al., 2010, Khalsa et al., 2012; Mendelson et al., 2010, Noggle et al., 2012; Santangelo White, 2012; Telles et al., 2013.
Thanks to Lisa Flynn of Yoga4Classrooms

8. Behaviors, Mental State, Health & Performance
Yoga Practices
From Lisa Flynn
(postures, breathing, relaxation, meditation)
Mind-Body
Awareness ↑Mindfulness
↑Attention
↑Concentration/Cognition
↑Self/Social Awareness
Self-Regulation ↑Emotion Regulation ↑Stress Regulation
↑Resilience
↑Equanimity
↑Psychological Self-Efficacy
Physical Fitness ↑Flexibility
↑Strength
↑Balance ↑Respiratory Function
↑Physical Self-Efficacy
Behaviors, Mental State, Health & Performance
↑Mood, ↑Well-Being, ↓Psychological Disorders,
↑Positive Behaviors, ↓Negative Behaviors, ↑Physical Health,
↑Cognitive/Academic Performance, ↑Relationships, ↑Quality of Life

9. My Goals for Meditation in Math
The Problems
Most students in the class have difficulty with attention
Most students in the class suffer from math anxiety
The Goals for the Two-Minute Meditation
Increase students’ ability to focus on math assignments
Reduce students’ math anxiety
Zoey Story? Can’t easily replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts. Easier to learn to notice thoughts without getting hijacked by them.

10. The Results So Far Student Quotes
“It relaxes me and gets me focused for class.”
“It slows down your hyper-ness before class.”
“It focuses me before we start.”
“The meditation can calm you down “

11. Sources For Getting Started
Flynn, Lisa. Yoga4classrooms.
Halliwell, Ed. "6 Reasons Why Mindfulness Begins with the Breath." Mindful.org.
Halliwell, Ed. How (and Why) You Should Take a Few Mindful Breaths Each Day" Mindful.org.
Harris, Dan. "Adorable Animated Mice Explain Meditation in 2 Minutes" Mindful.org.
"Learning Emotional Intelligence, Meditation, and Yoga in Schools." Mindful.org.
Marshall, Jason. "A Primer on Meditation." The Art of Manliness.
Siegal, Daniel J. Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain. New York: TarcherPerigee, 2014

12. Benefits of Laughter Reduced Stress Improved sense of well-being
Increased energy
Improved mood
Lowered blood pressure
Laughing yoga: fake laughter has all the physiological benefits of real laughter