What does it mean to be mindful?
It means to be more fully present in the moment, more alive to being rather than doing. By practising various techniques over time your mind can become more still, more focused and more positive. Being mindful can reduce stress and
tension and improve your relationships with others. It can even open you to a deeper spiritual life. Neuroscience makes it clear that our brain is capable of changing and developing physically with practice. This is called 'Neuroplasticity'
Check out the video below for an introduction to mindfulness.
It means to be more fully present in the moment, more alive to being rather than doing. By practising various techniques over time your mind can become more still, more focused and more positive. Being mindful can reduce stress and
tension and improve your relationships with others. It can even open you to a deeper spiritual life. Neuroscience makes it clear that our brain is capable of changing and developing physically with practice. This is called 'Neuroplasticity'
Check out the video below for an introduction to mindfulness.
Benefits of Mindfulness:
- Recognise, slow down or stop automatic and habitual reactions.
- Respond more effectively to complex or difficult situations.
- See situations more clearly
- Become more creative
- Achieve balance and resilience at work and at home
- Improve memory and physical health
60 Seconds on the Web
The speed with which information increases on the web is incredible, but the challenge is to know how to sift through the information and how to use it wisely. Simply having access to information is not enough. Successful students these days are those who have strong 'information literacy' skills and can make sensible choices about what information they 'consume'. This takes principle and it takes practice. Mindfulness helps us to manage the feeling of information overload that we get through the constant streaming of web based information streaming at us.
How do I become Mindful?
Today, everyday, find a little silence. When you awake in the morning, notice your breathing, and be thankful for another day, embrace the opportunities ahead; when you are between lessons, silently notice the shifting clouds outside or the swallow preparing to leave; when you tie up your shoelaces before a match, be still and focused in the task ahead, mindful and respectful of the opposition in equal measure; when you sit to have lunch, stop and be aware of the who produced the food for you, and be grateful for having it; when you walk past the crypt enter, be still, absorb the quiet of that womblike place; when you have worried and not found a solution to a problem, trust in letting it go unresolved; when you sing, become aware of your voice as a vessel resonating with others ; when you face a difficult maths challenge stop and be still for a moment before trying to respond; when you fail, become aware of what you can learn; when you succeed, be grateful and share a smile with others without seeking acclamation; when you go to bed at night, be mindful of your breathing, be still and know that you are loved.
It is through silence that we may come into contact with that still, small voice of calm, which we find so difficult to make room for in our busy lives. But this choice is perhaps our greatest leap ever. It is beyond reason, it is on the path to faith.
Gerard Manley Hopkins, in his poem titled ‘The habit of perfection’ points to this deeper wisdom as follows:
Elected Silence, sing to me
And beat upon my whorlèd ear,
Pipe me to pastures still and be
The music that I care to hear.
Shape nothing, lips; be lovely-dumb:
It is the shut, the curfew sent
From there where all surrenders come
Which only makes you eloquent.
Today, everyday, find a little silence. When you awake in the morning, notice your breathing, and be thankful for another day, embrace the opportunities ahead; when you are between lessons, silently notice the shifting clouds outside or the swallow preparing to leave; when you tie up your shoelaces before a match, be still and focused in the task ahead, mindful and respectful of the opposition in equal measure; when you sit to have lunch, stop and be aware of the who produced the food for you, and be grateful for having it; when you walk past the crypt enter, be still, absorb the quiet of that womblike place; when you have worried and not found a solution to a problem, trust in letting it go unresolved; when you sing, become aware of your voice as a vessel resonating with others ; when you face a difficult maths challenge stop and be still for a moment before trying to respond; when you fail, become aware of what you can learn; when you succeed, be grateful and share a smile with others without seeking acclamation; when you go to bed at night, be mindful of your breathing, be still and know that you are loved.
It is through silence that we may come into contact with that still, small voice of calm, which we find so difficult to make room for in our busy lives. But this choice is perhaps our greatest leap ever. It is beyond reason, it is on the path to faith.
Gerard Manley Hopkins, in his poem titled ‘The habit of perfection’ points to this deeper wisdom as follows:
Elected Silence, sing to me
And beat upon my whorlèd ear,
Pipe me to pastures still and be
The music that I care to hear.
Shape nothing, lips; be lovely-dumb:
It is the shut, the curfew sent
From there where all surrenders come
Which only makes you eloquent.
Watch this video series on the value and challenge of silence. It is powerful:
Watch this video by Neuroscientist Sara Lazar at Harvard Medical school on the benefits of Meditation:
assembly_on_silence.pdf | |
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Here is sample of things that pupils said about mindfulness in schools:
- I learnt something totally different to what you expect to learn and I probably wouldn't have learnt it anywhere else
- I think it will help me deal with my worries in life, generally everything, but mainly worrying about exams and homework and stuff because I often get stressed about things like that
- Whenever I need to calm down or need to focus, I use mindfulness techniques as it does actually calm you down and help you focus and concentrate.
- Mainly being able to relax after a long day and be able to use things now in real life. It was almost a life changing experience.
- I think it will help a considerable amount as I have already found it useful in sporting situations. I now “.b” quite often before a football match just to relax and think about what I want to do in the game. Also I used a body scan just before my first race for the school and it totally relaxed me.
- It taught me how to calm myself which I had tried but failed before the course
- What I like most about the course is that I realize more about how brains work. I am pretty stressful at times and I am easily nervous. I realize that sometimes I am just scaring/worrying myself too much as my brain is simply coming up with stories which aren't necessary true. In addition, I realize that I haven't been paying enough attention to various simple things that happen in our everyday lives, such as our breath, the food we take in or even going to the toilet.
- Before a public exam or job interview I think the “.b” concept will help me calm myself down and be able to perform better than if I was stressed out
- I liked the fact that we were able to take time during a day and just sit back , relax, and try to just forget everything on our minds. It was nice to leave everything behind, and concentrate on the smaller, less appreciated thing in life.
- I liked learning how to meditate and search through all the tension that was in my body and my mind.
- The thing that I liked most about the course was the fact that it was a very nice break from what we normally do and it is highly applicable to the normal life that we lead. This is one very important thing that we can take away from our school lives - knowing that this will help us in future
- It was the only time in the week where I could relax and clear my mind.
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