Foundational Practices For Mindfulness In And Out Of The Classroom

Abstract

One can practice being mindful through conscious awareness and focused attention at any given moment throughout the day. Further, incorporating a formal mindfulness practice can be viewed as a valid strategy for helping to improve overall well-being. The purpose of this article is to provide teachers with four foundational mindfulness practices and four additional tips for using these activities in and outside the classroom. The foundational practices and tips provided are arguably some of the more basic mindfulness techniques, yet there is strong empirical evidence to suggest these activities can be useful in promoting a wide range of mental and physiological health benefits. The four foundational practices include Feel the Connection of Feet to the Ground, Find your Breath, Sense the Space Around You, and Hand on Heart. The four tips include Simple but not Easy, Sound Therapy, Processing Questions, and Mindful Self-Compassion Practices. We believe that a wide variety of individuals may be able to promote their social and emotional health from use of these contemplative practices and are hopeful teachers will find them to be personally and instructionally beneficial.