Why Mindfulness Important to Students.

 This morning when I googled "finding clam in the chaos" the first thing Google gave me was "Meditation."

The idea of meditation can feel too spiritual, too touchy-feely, too different. In stead of meditation some like to say, "centering thoughts" or " entering a calm space." 

Mindfulness is about finding that inner calm which will allow great attention to the present. As we start this new school year our hope is that each student will find the calm inner space to have the attention to learn.

Mindfulness is a way of self regulating emotions, the pleasant and unpleasant. If a student it too hyper they will not focus on a lesson. If a student is too tired they will struggle with focus and attention. When a feeling takes over the attention of the brain, the emotion center turns off the attention and memory centers of the brain.

As we start school our students learn about the brain and how it works. They learn that the Amygdala is their emotion center and it the part of the brain responsible for "fight, flight, freeze, or faint." They also learn that the memory part of the brain is the Hippocampus. When the Amygdala is firing, and a student is feeling a strong emotion, the Hippocampus is turned off. The brain will not activate the memory when emotions are in control. Students then learn that by taking deep breaths and practicing mindfulness they can wake up the Prefrontal Cortex. This part of the brain is responsible for wise choices. This part of the brain talks to the Hippocampus to help make wise choices and enact memory. When the Amygdala is activated the Prefrontal Cortex will not operate.

Mindfulness is key to helping all of us activate the parts of the brain which are needed for learning and memory.