I have to admit that I hit a wall a while back. I was mindful of the wall, but it was there nonetheless.<\/p>\n
I started my journey to bring mindfulness to my students earlier this year with a sense of urgency and vigour. I knew that what I had to share was not only worthwhile, but also vitally important for the wellbeing of my students. I took two online courses about mindfulness in education, bought some books, followed the tweets of the guru’s, practiced on my own, and taught the lessons to my students.<\/p>\n
And then came the wall.<\/p>\n
It\u00a0appeared\u00a0almost out of nowhere. Of course it had always been there, but now it was\u00a0messing with my mindfulness. It was a big, messy, towering giant of a wall. It was made of stress and ticking clocks and looming report cards and coaching responsibilities and piles of marking and other unidentifiable detritus. It caused\u00a0my enthusiasm\u00a0to deflate and it made my brain hurt.<\/p>\n
“But that’s exactly the moment in time that you actually need mindfulness the most!” said all the experts.<\/p>\n
Easier said than done.<\/p>\n
But they’re right.<\/p>\n
A couple of weeks ago, one of my students was having a really difficult day. When chatting with him, he asked me if he could just stop and take a few mindful breaths. Now, admittedly, this came after quite a lengthy hiatus from the mindfulness lessons I’d been teaching. But he still remembered the techniques, applied them on his own, and was able to turn his day around.<\/p>\n
My revised\u00a0plan is to bring one moment of mindfulness to my classroom\u00a0each day.\u00a0It might be during a discussion with a\u00a0student. It might be a whole class lesson or example. It might just be me taking a few deep, mindful breaths and feeling grateful for the gift of teaching such an incredible group of students. However it happens, mindfulness has taken root and can only continue to grow.<\/p>\n
And as for the wall…<\/p>\n
My student have me a gift that day. He didn’t shatter the wall or make it disappear or punch an enormous hole in it. He simply gave me a ladder. The wall is still there. It will likely grow and shrink with time, but now I can climb it whenever I please. You should see it some day…the view from the top is breathtaking. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
I have to admit that I hit a wall a while back. I was mindful of the wall, but it was there nonetheless. I started my journey to bring mindfulness to my students earlier this year with a sense of … Continue reading ![\"IMG_1829\"](\"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/dannyneville\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/68\/files\/2015\/03\/IMG_1829.jpg\")
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