Mindfulness as a Tool for Focus During COVID Times - Helping Your Students Settle in Class

Meditation is a powerful tool that teachers can use to assist students in regaining focus and dealing with busy minds.

Last week, I got this heart-warming email from a teacher in one of my Visible Wellbeing (VWB) schools.

The teacher was overjoyed to inform me about the results of introducing meditation in class. Some of the students had some initial reluctance. But when they pushed forward with the session, the results were stunning even for the hesitant students.

For one, the class became much calmer and the students were able to handle their emotions and impulses much better. They also showed much higher levels of focus and mental acuity. Not to mention, they were more receptive to teamwork and some even showed more compassion for their peers.

The teacher said it was like teaching in a completely different class.

How did this happen?

You see, mindfulness is a special kind of active introspection. It helps students get in touch with their feelings and thoughts in a wide range of situations.

But to understand how mindfulness works, you first have to know some of the scientific bases.

The Effects of Meditation on Wellbeing

A few years back, I published a review on the effects of meditation on school children together with a team of other psychology researchers. The review covered 15 studies concerning the following beneficial outcomes:

●      Academic achievement

●      Students’ wellbeing

●      Social competence

It showed that meditation at school helped students cope better with stress, anxiety, and depression. The students were also more optimistic and expressed higher levels of self-acceptance and self-care.

Close to 60% of the 15 studies reviewed found strong significant improvements in student well-being, with the rest demonstrating slight to medium, but still significant, improvements.

In particular, first and third graders felt much less anxious after a session of mindfulness meditation. This was also observed in high school students.

Both age groups also expressed fewer negative emotional responses than the controlled groups, which engaged in quiet activities such as reading rather than mindfulness exercises.

The general consensus is that the effects of mindfulness are far-reaching. In fact, the scientific review found it to be way more than a relaxing activity or an excellent way to unwind - it actually builds a student’s brain.

Meditation’s effects are so extensive that it could help students unlock their full potential. 

So, what is the link between meditation and mindfulness?

As you might have inferred, mindfulness is a specific form of meditation with a focus on being in the present moment with an open heart and curious mind.

When practising mindfulness, students learn to be still and observe their feelings and thoughts without judgement. As a result, they can better understand and direct what goes on in their mind.

It turns out that it is easier to practice mindfulness than you might think.

Contemporary psychologists and scientists view mindfulness as a structured process consisting of three basic steps:

1. Focusing student attention on something specific, such as breathing

2. Helping students to notice when their mind wanders

3. Teaching them how to refocus

When students practice mindfulness, they get to tune their minds to what’s happening in real-time. In other words, they became aware of the flow of their thoughts and feelings.

Over time students can become aware of their emotional patterns and have more awareness of others.

For most kids, keeping their focus on one particular thing could be tricky at first. It may skip from one thing to the next. But with practice, students can find a way to slow their mind and harness their mental capacity to control their feelings and thoughts.

Ultimately, mindfulness can help them realise that their thoughts are separate from themselves. And as they get good at it, they can learn to fixate on the thoughts worthy of their attention. Including focusing on your lessons!

Mindfulness Also Helps at Home

The good news is, the beneficial effects of mindfulness are not limited to school life. A mindful parent or carer can affect their children positively.

In general, the more mindful parents are, the more mindful their children will be.

Why?

A parent’s mindfulness creates a coping loop for their children with which they can begin to understand the mechanism for overcoming challenging emotions.

Mindful parents are models for handling stressors and interpersonal conflicts. That means you can help your children learn to be less reactive and more focused on what’s important.

For example, the child could be facing a significant challenge that overwhelms them with negative emotions, perhaps learning from home during lockdown. A mindful parent can ask them questions that help pinpoint their negative-bias thoughts.

As a teacher you can encourage parents to use the following questions and statements:

●      “What is the story that’s in your head right now.”

●      “Why don’t we take a quick break?”

●      “Are your thoughts helpful?”

●      “Are your thoughts accurate?”

●      “If your heart could talk, what would it say?”

Of course, these are just examples. You have the license to shape your questions to a particular situation.

The goal is to bring the children closer to their thoughts and feelings.

Ease them into adopting mindfulness as a powerful tool that they can use to understand and figure out what to do with those thoughts and feelings, even when you’re not there to help

 Mindfulness to the Rescue

Mindfulness proves to be one of the best ways to help students take control of their thoughts and emotions.

When practised regularly, mindfulness can weed out impulsive behaviour and negative self talk in children and enables them to handle stress better. It can also improve their cognitive skills by calming their busy mind and improving their focus.

This is particularly important today when teachers and parents find themselves with kids and teens who have problems focusing and keeping calm in the face of the global pandemic. A great thing about mindfulness is that it is a tool we can teach our students now during the global pandemic but it is one that they can continue to use long after this crisis is over.

Mindfulness is a key strategy used in the Visible Wellbeing (VWB) approach for schools where we have resources for teachers and parents. Find out how successful you are at implementing wellbeing in your teaching practice with this quiz www.leawaters.com/teacher-vwb-quiz.