Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.
This scientifically validated method can be beneficial for everyone; it addresses adults as well as children, nurses, patients, entrepreneurs, high-level athletes, teachers, parents and so on. The movement of mindfulness is spreading in schools and universities in many countries: England (a project was set up by Jon Kabat-Zinn with the Ministry of Education to adapt mindfulness to the school environment), the United States of America (in the Universities of Yale, Harvard, Columbia, etc.), the Netherlands (where the government offered training in mindfulness to teachers who wished to do so for a few years), Belgium (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) but also in hundreds of hospitals around the world, and in many companies.
Mindfulness exercises are ideal to start the day at school – all musicians take a moment to tune their instruments before a concert – to go from a playful activity to one requiring more concentration, to help the children concentrate, refocus and calm down, to become more conscious and present within themselves in everything they do, to better manage the anxiety and stress of exams and to generate appreciation and well-being. Some exercises are adapted to preparing to go to bed, others are used spontaneously by the children to face a difficulty or to heighten their concentration. The practice of mindfulness at home or in the classroom will offer us beaches of calmness and sweetness and high-quality moments of sharing.
Start by regularly doing short sessions of a few minutes, and adapt the exercises to the circumstances (when they are peaceful, in order to deepen this quality of presence; before starting classes, in order to refocus; when they are restless; in the evening before doing homework; before going to bed, etc.).
Since mindfulness is a quality of presence, a way of being, we can do everything mindfully: Act, communicate, eat, play, study, rest, etc., simply by being fully awake, present within ourselves and in what we do.
Studies on the benefits of mindfulness in schools show that it reduces stress, anxiety, depression and bad behavior; these interventions also help the children manage their anger and improve their sleep and self-esteem. Children who attend these courses are calmer and have a better ability to manage their emotions; they show more empathy and better social skills. Their attention, memory and reasoning skills are also heightened.4
Recent meta-analyzes confirm these findings.5 They are particularly significant as numerous experts argue that the most important prerequisites for child development are executive control (management of cognitive processes such as memory, problem solving, reasoning and planning) and the regulation of emotions (the ability to understand and manage emotions, including and especially impulse control). These key contributors to self-regulation underlie their emotional well-being, effective learning and academic success. There is ample evidence that mindfulness improves the executive control of children6 and adolescents.7 Children with the lowest control8 over executive functions and lowest emotional stability9 are likely to benefit most from training their mindfulness.
Since chronic stress can have a negative impact on the maturation of areas of the brain involved in learning,10 interventions aimed at improving executive functions and also supporting stress reduction – such as mindfulness – are likely to lead to improvements on the academic level.11 Indeed, studies with children and adolescents on the impact of mindfulness have demonstrated improvements on the cognitive level (attention, for example) and on their academic outcomes.12
Emotional resilience, adaptability, ability to handle difficulties and the capacity to form constructive social relationships are all important aspects of the children’s development. A lot of evidence shows that mindfulness contributes to each of these aspects.13 These positive effects are often still present 3 years after participating in a class; relatively short interventions also produce already tangible results.14*
* The last three paragraphs were inspired by the Mindful Nation UK Report (MAPPG), October 2015.
Can mindfulness change these numbers? Studies on the benefits of training mindfulness demonstrate that teachers who regularly practice these exercises feel better, are significantly less prone to burning out, organize their classroom better, enjoy an increased self-esteem and are less stressed. Teachers noticed an improvement in the relationship with their students, as well as in the academic performance of the students and the class in general.