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Mindfulness in Education For Admin

Creating a Mindful Breathing School Culture

ASHLEY BAER, Facilitator of Mindfulness Instruction

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Stolen Focus

Teens on task 65 seconds at a time.

Median amount of time they can sustain attention 19 seconds on one thing

Adults- 3 minutes

Society is “pouring acid” on attention

Mindfulness helps us connect to the present moment, to ourselves so we can authentically connect with others. This is why this training is experiential in nature. You must experience it in order to teach it. You cannot pick up a script as we do a textbook and deliver it. Mindfulness is having conscious awareness of the present moment. The nature of the mind is turbulent. When we meditate we see the mind and thoughts and begin to understand that our thoughts are often not based in reality. We cannot fix what we are not aware of. When you take a mindful breath you come home to yourself- we begin again with each moment- moment to moment awareness- meditation is like a recalibration of your brain and all your systems! When we get stuck in busyness, phones, to do lists, our breath shows us what is true and real-we let go of distraction. We begin to notice when our mind has left the present moment. Mindfulness won’t cure every problem, but it will help you lead a calmer less anxious life. Mindfulness can help you develop greater emotional wellbeing. Mindfulness comes from a sanskrit word that means to remember. TCis training is teaching you to systematically train your mind by creating new neural pathways. Your breath is the greatest teach of mindfulness.

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Why it Matters

We can’t achieve without attention

If interrupted from a task- 23 minutes to focus again

We have a fracturing of our attention, and because of it we can’t focus to solve big problems in the world.

If we can’t understand it we can’t change it.

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Cause 1: Increase in speed, filtering, switching

Constant switching trains the brain not to focus.

Technological distraction lowers IQ Study of tests/phones Carnegie Mellon University 20% less.

When we switch tasks less memory of either,, we are slower, we make more mistakes, less creativity, and we won’t remember what we are working on. If one thing, we remember.

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Cause 2: Crippling of the Flow State

The Flow: Enjoying the process. The flow state is we are so absorbed in the process we are doing, we lose sense of self. Painting, dancing, playing music, writing, moving,

Flow is a distinct mental state. Flow unlocks focus. Do you want to be a pigeon or painting something that matters.

B.F. SKinner-pigeon experiment control with small rewards. Basis of instagram.

Feeds narcissism and turns a habit of selfies with fast rewards- hearts, likes. It is corruption of attention.

Focus on things that make life worth living, is the path out of distraction.

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Cause 3: Rise & Fall of Mental Exhaustion

No sleep- we lose focus-Performance deteriorates.

40% of Americans sleep less than 7 hours. 9 million use sleep aids.

The effects are terrible for children-affects attention-manic

The cost: We switch into sympathetic nervous system, damages memory and our ability to think deeply.

With sleep, energy is restored, and replenished.

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Collapse of Sustained Reading

Flow experienced in Reading- become deeply immersed

Now people Scan & Scim,

Attention atrophies- move from books to social media

Message from Social Media-

Twitter: don’t focus on one thing, under 280 characters, what matters most is what people agree with

Facebook-life on display, what matters most is who likes, friends are who engages

Instagram- How you look, how you look, how you look

Message of Books: life is complex, to understand takes time, value in narrowing attention to one thing, worth thinking about how other people live and how their minds work- self to others.

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Cause 5:Disruption of Mind Wandering

Meandering not distraction

More creative

Improved ability to think and focus

time to ponder

Mental space to roam is essential

Make new connections

Examples: Going for a walk, no devices,

Society is not focusing and not mind wandering

One caveat: Mind wandering can lead to rumination

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Cause 6: Rise of Technology

Psychological profile: Cambridge Analytics- Screen time not life time is a business model

Destroys kids ability to focus

1 text send every 6 minutes

On technology from birth to death spent strolling screens instead of family time or strengthening bonds,

People scrambling to meditate

Trains minds for rewards- likes- pigeon

Pushes you to switch tasks, fracks you, makes you angry, makes you feel surrounded by others angry- setting society on fire

Humans are downgraded: Less rational, less intelligent less focused

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Cause 7 Rise of Cruel Optimism

Parents looking at phones instead of fully present

childhood is small moments of connecting between parent and child

Message: Phone is most important thing: more than you

Change yourself: Change others: Mindfulness

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Cause 8: Surge in Stress

Trauma

Stress

ACE

More Likely ADHD behavior

To Pay attention you have to feel safe

Inability to focus creates stress hormones

Stress alters attention

Work hours longer

Covid

School Shootings/Violence World

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Causes 9, 10, Diet and Pollution and 11: ADHD

Spikes and Energy Crashes

Deprived of Nutrients;No fresh food-Processed food

Chemical Additives -act like drugs on brain

DIet and pollution affect focus

Pollution affects focus- breathing in chemicals-lesions on brain

Solution-plant more trees to soak up pollution

Rise of ADHD-stress, nutrition, TRAUMA, pollution

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Cause 12 Confinement of Children Physically & Psychology

No recess

No play

No outside- kids wandered and roamed

Lack of exercise- which boosts attention

supports self-regulation, executive functioning (MOVEMENT)

Deprivation of Play- no games, trees, creativity, imagination, social bonds

Kids on house arrest- staring at screens

Rise in anxiety- grow up unable to cope, attention suffers

Play helps you develop coping and problem solving

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Confinement of Children continued

Kids don’t have intrinsic motivation- we learn focus by doing something important and kids are told what is important from wake to sleep, no time to find meaning overscheduled

“Go play” free play, exploration time, freedom, independence,

less exercise-less focus, more anxiety, frenzy of tests

IT IS NOT A FLAW IN KIDS THEY CANT PAY ATTENTION- BUT A FLAW IN THE WORLD WE BUILT

What were your happiest moments in Childhood?

GIve them the thing we loved most.

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HOW TO IMPROVE FOCUS

Stop switching tasks:

Stop blaming self

Get off social media

Mind wandering

Sleep

Free play for kids

Cut out processed foods

Meditate

Yoga

Take time off

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Do We Value Focus and Attention?

If we do, we must fight for it.

Attention Rebellion: Focus Together

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One of the biggest predictors of success is not a child’s education or socioeconomic status, but his or her ability to FOCUS.

Mindfulness is explicit attention building, and mental training or a gym for the brain.

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MINDFULNESS DEVELOPS OUR BRAINS

1. The amygdala is activated when detecting and reacting to emotions including difficult or strong emotions such as fear. Following sessions of mindfulness training, this part of the brain may be less activated.

2. The hippocampus is critical to learning and memory and helps regulate the amygdala. The hippocampus is more activated, and produces more gray matter density following mindfulness training.

3. The prefrontal cortex is most associated with maturity, including regulating emotions and behaviors and making wise decisions. This part of the brain is more activated and developed following mindfulness training.

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YOUR BRAIN

1-Amygdala

Emotions

Fight, Flight, Freeze

2-Hippocampus

Memory

Learning�

3-Prefrontal Cortex

Personality

Self-Control

Empathy

Compassion

Cortisol

Stress Hormone

Endorphins

“Feel Good” Chemical

40% Gray Matter

Houses your Neurons

60% White Matter

Controls the Speed of Signals through the brain

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BRAIN WAVES�NEURONS TALK USING ELECTRICITY WHICH CAN BE MEASURED �WE EACH HAVE A UNIQUE “BRAINWAVE PATTERN”

BETA BRAINWAVES: Alert, Fearful, Worry

ALPHA BRAINWAVES: Relaxed, Focused, Aware

THETA BRAINWAVES: Meditation

DELTA BRAINWAVES: Deep Sleep

Alpha is ‘the power of now’, being here, in the present. Alpha is the resting state for the brain. Alpha waves aid overall mental coordination, calmness, alertness, mind/body integration and learning.

Bring out your emotional intelligence, allow access to your ultra powerful deep mind, make you feel inspired, deepen your intuition, make you feel more open and connected, and much more.

Magnify your awareness, slow aging, boost longevity, give you great sleep, restore your health, tap into your deepest level of consciousness, and much more.

Highly complex thought, integrating new experiences, high anxiety, or excitement. Continual high frequency processing is not a very efficient way to run the brain, as it takes a tremendous amount of energy.

Most time spent here

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Over Active Amygdala

BETA Waves & Cortisol

Loss of Gray Matter in Hippocampus AND Prefrontal Cortex

Cognitive Outcomes

Less Focus
Less Learning

Social-emotional Skills

Can’t Control Emotions
Lack of Empathy
Lack of Social-skills

Well Being

Test anxiety
Stress
Mental Health Struggles

Why do we need Mindfulness?

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Shrinks the Amygdala

Move to ALPHA Waves & Lower Cortisol/ Higher Endorphins

Grows Gray Matter in Hippocampus AND Prefrontal Cortex

Social-emotional Skills

Respond instead of React
increased compassion and kindness
Improve Social-skills

Well Being

Less anxiety
Less Stress
Improved Sleep
More Happiness

What Mindfulness Does to Your Brain?

Cognitive Outcomes

Improve Attention and Focus
Improve Learning
better problem solving

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TERMS TO KNOW

Mindfulness (Awareness) Neuroplasticity -ability for brain to change

Secular (No religion/doctrine)

Monkey Mind (Distracted Mind)

Amygdala (part of brain causes reaction/FFF response)

Embodied- Being fully in the body

Mindfulness Training (Mental Training, Mental Education)

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Forsyth County Schools Mindfulness Pilot

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FCS MINDFULNESS PILOT

2 SCHOOLS EACH SEMESTER
FALL: LAKESIDE AND CENTRAL, SPRING: DENMARK AND COAL MOUNTAIN
10 STUDENTS PER CLASS
CRITERIA: VOLUNTEER, PARENT PERMISSION, COUNSELOR REFERRALS
PARTNERING WITH GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY FOR DATA COLLECTION
FORMAL AND INFORMAL DATA (FORMAL MEASURES, JOURNALS, TEACHER FEEDBACK)

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SDQ Results - Every student who reported themselves with Difficulties reduced in 4 months.

August 2019 December 2019

Student 1 Very High Close to Average

Student 2 Very High Close to Average

Student 3 Very High Slightly Raised

Student 4 Very High High

Student 5 Close to Average Close to Average

Student 6 Close to Average Close to Average

Student 7 High Close to Average

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Forsyth County Mindfulness Pilot

I AM MUCH MORE MINDFUL NOW
I AM ABLE TO CONTROL MY EMOTIONS BETTER
THIS HELPS MAKE ME A BETTER STUDENT
I’M A BETTER PERSON
I SLEEP MUCH BETTER AT NIGHT
I AM ABLE TO FOCUS BETTER
I AM ABLE TO LET THINGS GO
I CAN REGULATE MY EMOTIONS
IT HELPS ME TO DEAL WITH MY ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION

“Oh my gosh, she loves it so much! She has actually been teaching the rest of us in the house some of the skills she has been learning! As related to ADHD I definitely see a difference. She is using breathing techniques when she feels overstimulated and/or anxious. When she can't quiet her mind in the evenings/at bedtime she is using meditation - in the past she has had to take Melatonin to get to sleep and now she's using way less of that. I think it's a bunch of skills that absolutely should be taught in health classes as self care!

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Where do we start?

What Does It Look Like In a Class?

Mindful Breathing Principles:

1) Always available 2) Easy to Learn 3)Pay attention to your experience! 4) FREE

Breath is directly connected to our physiology, and is a behavior that expresses the state of the nervous system. When we consciously change our breath, we can change our internal system. It is simple, powerful and low to no cost.

Principles are few but the methods are many. If you integrate these principles you will have done so much already for students. Not everyone is ready . For most, this practice is restorative. For a few who have had trauma, stillness can be threatening so you need to be mindful of that, what that may look like and sound like in a student, we will talk more about this. Think of it as an ice cold pool. Some kids will be ready to dive in, while others will only dip a toe in all year, and let that be ok. There is no force to what we are doing. School systems spend money importing solutions, and that is great and well-intentioned But we can start small, with MINDFUL BREATHING/ No one will say, “ I left my breath at home or in the last class.” When teachers and students co-regulate together, it is powerful. Coming back to the idea of the person of influence in the room. We teach kids to build the muscle of attention.

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How do we Create a Mindful Breathing Culture

Start Class with a Breath
End Class with a Breath
Build Breath into 30 minute intervals
Transitions- add Breath
Begin and end Faculty meetings with a breath.

Mindful Breathing is a skill. Begin and end everything with a breath because it brings us back home to ourselves, and anchors the mind for focus and attention. All we have to do is build in opportunities. When teachers practice with students it deepens the practice, and the connections. Science is the foundation of mindfulness. Mindfulness is the foundation of learning. Think of one job that you do not need your brain present for? If you learn to regulate your breath, you will regulate your heartbeat, and your mind. The brain waves will shift. It is all connected. We can teach ourselves and kids to be at home in their own body, their own mind, their own life with this practice. Students will learn when the mind becomes scattered, use breath to come home to yourself, they can use mindfulness to calm themselves, reduce stress, maintain focus, and that using these skills repatterns our brain (neuroplasticity- we can change our brains ) to for improved mental, physical and emotional states. With this simple practice, students will be able to recognize when they are not present, how to keep the mind focused by using the breath as an anchor, use their breath to connect their body to the mind!

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We begin with Ourselves

“One of the major principles here is that Mindfulness needs to be incorporated into the life of the teacher before he or she can effectively bring into the classroom.” Jon Kabat-Zinn 2017

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Cultivating Mindfulness in our Students and Classrooms

As a teacher, walk the talk through Embodied calmness

Keep Mindfulness Invitational- no force.

Creating a Culture- Invite Teachers, Teach Staff

Create a Teacher Sangha (Community)

Is there any function we do that is more important than our breath? How many times have we

heard this phrase or been told, “Breathe” but what does that even mean? We are all breathing and luckily this is an unconscious process, or we might forget to breathe, and one of the things I noticed first was sometimes I did just that. I forgot to breathe- I was literally holding my breath. Breathing is a behavior. The way we breathe has DIRECT and Immediate impact on the state of our minds, emotions and nervous systems. I want to change your thinking around breathing to understand that breath is not only our life force but a tool. We can deliberately alter our breath to regulate our stress response. COnscious breathing is our anchor. Two MInute: Pay attention to the sensation of breathing. (Timer-hand on heart and belly) Check In: How was that? Visual finger tracing, then Calm circle

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Person of Influence

The teacher is the person of influence in the room who establishes and sets the tone and climate of the class.

You don’t just teach the lesson- You are the lesson.

Teachers will say, “I didn’t sign up for this. I signed up to teach math. It’s not our job to parent, or deal with mental health.”

But you are a human being, and so are your students.

How we are is more influential than what we say. We are a presence and the quality of that presence drives EVERYTHING in that space. If you can’t be calm, and not react, can you expect students to?

Ask yourself “Am I regulating presence? Can I be still and quiet for 5 minutes?”

Practice: 5 min sit in quiet.

Teachers are our first responders. We have to look deeply at what it means to educate and teachers need to be present and not mechanically teaching. We need to practice deep listening of children- not shutting them down. When mindfulness is not authentic- it doesn’t work. We don’t really need to make the argument for mindfulness (although I think the pilot data does) the proof is in the kids (ask stevie) Read page 19! Teach Breathe Learn-Teachers can transform their own lives through the energy of mindfulness and transform your classroom at the at the same time. Am I regulating presence? Alcohol brings our nervous system down, caffeine up, and are not skills- breath is a tool. Science says the brain changes from undoing, drives function in the brain, regions connect, regulates emotions, helps pay attention, why aren’t we teaching it?

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Why We Are Doing This Work?

What matters most? What is our goal as educators and leaders?

Envision any outcome that is worthwhile in education or in life that is separate from emotional well-being. Is there one? What is our goal as educators and leaders?

If our children don’t want to be here, do the academics matter?