Fifth Grade Mindfulness Contributed by Erik Swanson, Fifth Grade Science Teacher As part of our school-wide health and wellness initiative, the fifth grade team attended a mindfulness workshop led by Bonnie Levine in October. Several years ago, Mrs. Levine decided to incorporate mindfulness practices into her classes. During the October workshop, she shared some of her personal recollections of those experiences. She also taught us various mindfulness practices that we could include in our daily routines with our students.
We purposefully practiced mindfulness this school year by taking part in several activities in the morning and periodically throughout the day, including mindful breathing, listening, eating, and walking. Ultimately, these activities became an integral part of our day.
Erik Swanson’s science classroom took a moment for mindfulness. Spring–Summer 2015
One of the main ideas that we learned about mindfulness is not about clearing the mind, but about being present. Too many times throughout the day, we are distracted by thinking about what happened in the past or what we are going to do in the future. If our brains are emotionally overwhelmed or stressed, it is difficult to make clear decisions and act thoughtfully. Practicing mindfulness and having the awareness of being in the moment strengthens concentration and attention, and supports “readiness to learn.” The advantage of mindfulness is that it can be practiced by anyone at any time and is a great aid to the educational process.
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Eila Nambiar ’22 (left) helped Sunaya Mueller ’22 get into the right frame of mind for a deep breathing exercise.
What fifth graders are saying about mindfulness: “ I learned that I never really listened. Also, I learned I always thought about the past or future, never the present.” “The mindfulness practice makes me feel positive and peaceful.” “ I like the mindfulness practices because you get some time to reflect. I learned that in such a high-tech world, it is sometimes hard to do this.” “Mindfulness helps me connect with myself.”
I have been able to observe first-hand how these practices—which take only a few minutes—have helped our fifth graders to reduce stress and increase self-reflection. I look forward to hearing from both these students and my teaching colleagues [up the hill in Umpleby Hall] in terms of how this practice positively influences them as they begin Middle School next year!