Most people who want to practice mindfulness themselves or teach mindfulness to their students regularly cite one obstacle: There’s not enough time. And I totally get it. One of the main reasons so many of us feel like we need mindfulness and the peace it can bring is because we are overworked and overwhelmed. Adding another item to the to-do list seems counterintuitive. But as I suggested in my previous post, the few minutes it takes to practice mindfulness make all the other minutes more valuable.
Reflect for a moment on a time when you were overwhelmed and distracted, unsure of where to begin. Did you take a few minutes to center and focus before settling down to work? Or did you try to plow through it immediately? If you took a few minutes to pause, it is likely that you were more productive than you would have been had you not taken these few minutes. The same is true for our students.
When was the last time that you walked through the halls of your school during passing? (If you haven’t done it recently, try to do it the next time you’re at school.) It is loud, crowded, and chaotic. The kids are chatting about their recent test, planning for an evening study session, and sometimes cramming in some extra studying as they walk through the halls. Four minutes later, they enter a new classroom, and the teacher expects them to immediately begin whatever is on her agenda for the day—forget about all their other work, tests, relationships, feelings, and get ready to learn something new/write an essay/take a test/participate in class/present a project. “I have a curriculum to get through,” we say. “We need to get started.”
But we’re teaching kids more than curriculum. And if they aren’t ready to learn, it doesn’t matter what time we start teaching. Giving them a couple of minutes to settle their nervous systems, practice focusing, and acclimate to the space can help them learn more in less time.
The saying “waste time to save time” is applicable here. You’re spending a few minutes in the beginning to help the students learn more effectively during the other 37 minutes that you’re with them. While mindfulness doesn’t guarantee a distraction-free period, it definitely helps. And once you’ve been teaching mindfulness for a while, you can help them regain their focus more efficiently than if you hadn’t introduced the concept at all.
A recent experience that I had with my ninth graders illustrates this concept. It was the day that their first major essay for my class was due, and they were vibrating on an incredibly high frequency. The first student in the door rushed for the stapler. The next one said, “Mine is only two pages. Is that ok?” Before I could answer, her friend said, “Mine is five pages. Is that ok?” The barrage of questions continued until I reached my arms out in front of me, gestured for them to sit down, and said, “It’s all ok. Whatever it is. It’s ok.” We took a few deep breaths together, I collected the essays, and we did a ten-minute guided meditation. The practice transformed our energy: the silence and stillness nourished us and enabled us to move forward to the next task (adjectives and adverbs). Had we not taken this time to center and focus, we would have had a much harder time learning something new. We also would have been much more exhausted afterwards because we would have spent all that time fighting to control our nervous systems.
If you’re thinking about teaching mindfulness, my advice is to stop asking, “When can I fit this in?” Instead ask, “How could I teach without fitting this in?”
Ms. Hastings 