In this article you’ll find an overview of mindfulness and practical strategies compiled by Alison Cohen, a certified mindfulness teacher and secondary school leadership and instructional coach, for bringing mindfulness into your life both inside and outside the classroom to support your own well-being and, in turn, the well-being of the young people in your care. She ends the post with resources for introducing students to mindfulness too. Below are some links found within the article that highlight some of the benefits of mindfulness.
- Who Me? Biased? (Video) Length: 2:27 mins
This video shows how implicit biases are thought processes that happen without us even knowing it — little mental shortcuts that hold judgments we might not agree with. Sometimes those shortcuts are based on race, ethnicity or gender. These biases can cause educators to engage with students, colleagues and other school community members in destructive ways that are misaligned with their conscious values. Mindfulness can help us act more thoughtfully in the moment and rely less on those automatic shortcuts. - Mindfulness Mitigates Biases You May Not Know You Have
- Mindfulness Can Literally Change Your Brain
- CARE for Teachers (Video) Length: 3:07 mins
Study suggests that mindfulness-based interventions can “increase teacher social and emotional competence and the quality of classroom interactions.”