Mindfulness in Schools

“… It’s not that children are unable to learn, it’s that very often they are unavailable to learn.” – Katrina Schwartz

Never have wiser words been spoken than the words stated above. And, I believe these words to be true because I have never met a child who did not want to learn especially when truly and fully available to learn. Unfortunately, more and more students are finding it difficult to attend during the school day for a variety of reasons. As a result, teachers are looking for creative ways to help support this growing population of students.

According to Katrina Schwartz, teachers across the country are looking for ways to help “improve student self-control in order to increase classroom participation, respect for others, happiness, optimism, and self-acceptance levels.” To achieve these outcomes, teachers are turning to mindfulness based stress reduction to better support students. Mindfulness is easy to do, and it combines meditation and yoga techniques. Since there is such great buzz about this program, schools are now incorporating the technique of mindfulness “as part of an effort to address the social and emotional needs of children.” Many schools are finding tremendous success using mindfulness meditation with students from various backgrounds. To learn more about how mindfulness meditation works to help support the learning process for students, check out Katrina Schwartz’s blog post on Mind/Shift. tlb