When leading students through a mindfulness exercise – I would usually emphasize the idea of clearing their minds of thoughts, worries, fears, and distractions – kind of a “let go and let God” approach – stop thinking and just breath! But JC’s talk focused on mindfulness as present moment awareness – learning to pay attention to everything on purpose – without judgement. Breath – yes! AND be aware of your thoughts and feelings without wishing them away. Now I focus on helping students welcome all they are experiencing – the good, the bad, and the ugly – the joy and the pain. It’s like this poem by Rumi:
as an unexpected visitor.
Also – practicing mindfulness rewires the brain. It decreases brain activity based in the amygdala (our primitive fight or flight fear-based reactions) and the medial prefrontal cortex – and increases activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex – the region of the brain that manages problem solving/goal setting. The way JC put it – “the neurons of the brain that fire together, wire together”. So I’m trying to talk more with students about ALL the benefits of mindfulness: spiritual, socio-emotional, psychological, and physiological. If they know about the science-based evidence that proves mindfulness can help them respond more consistently with empathy, openness and confidence – they’ll see the long term as well as the short term value in it.
And – when something goes awry or amiss with a student throughout the course of the day/week/year, the approach I’ve been used to taking is to “lean-in”, which works for students who are centered, stable, well rested and adjusted. It doesn’t work for students who are stressed, afraid, or agitated. They are operating out of their amygdala – not their lateral prefrontal cortex and me “leaning-in” might just trigger them further. So I’ve learned to back off and wait until a student is operating out of a calm and grounded place where growth and learning can happen.
Like so many classes here at Carondelet, our Frosh Wellness MBS course includes prayer and mindfulness every day. It’s awesome that we are giving students the opportunity to create and strengthen the neural pathways that cause more calm, confident, compassionate, and centered responses. Mindfulness (“strategically living in the here and now” -JC) is a golden ticket that will help them/me/all of us navigate life’s challenges!