The Importance Of Mindfulness In The Classroom

“The opposite of mindlessness is mindfulness.

Mindfulness is a more expansive view of intelligence.” (Sherrezt p. 79)

The focus of this intervention is to help not only individual children or small groups of children with attention or impulse control issues but also to improve on the learning experience for all students and elevate the stage before disruptions to the class are caused, thus improving the learning experience of the entire classroom community. Kindergarten is an ideal setting for MBIs since it is the first learning experience for many students and can set the tone for a positive lifelong affinity for learning. For many children, it is the first time they are apart from their family unit and their first time trying to navigate social constructs, emotions and challenges on their own. This can be a scary and confusing time for young learners and mental health initiatives such as MBIs can help ease the transition into the classroom. Currently, there are no designated behavioral or mental health support processes or

Practices from Eastern traditions and Buddhist philosophy can channel mindfulness through many forms and help train the mind to focus on the present. Is is documented that mindfulness meditation goes as far back to Indian Yoga practices from 3000 BC (Navak and Shankar 2014). Techniques such as Yoga, tai chi, meditation, focused movement and centered breathing sound like they belong in a monastery, not a kindergarten, but in recent years many studies have been conducted that show the positive impact that Mindfulness Based Interventions can have on young learners. Current research suggests that executive functions, attention, self-regulation and mental processing as well as positive educational outcomes can improve due to the adoption of mindfulness training in the early stages of learning (Burke