Mindfulness and Meditation

by Mr Woods,
Student Teacher of R.E.

It’s just ‘a Moment of Mindfulness’!

Calm… Reflective… Creative… Focussed…

The attributes of the perfect class, right?

Students entered the darkened room to the sound of meditation music to find intricate colouring sheets on their desks, with the simple instructions, ‘Silently colour in your picture. Focus only on your picture.’ 

While some classes took longer than others to manage their concentration, the music eventually sent all students into a state of focus and relaxation. This set the scene for the rest of the lesson. Students then turned their concentration to make key notes on the following areas during discussion:

• - The purpose of meditation
• - Why meditation is an important part of Buddhism, reflecting on the Buddha and his enlightenment
• - Secular (non-religious) meditation, and its scientifically proven health and wellbeing benefits

Students were then given the opportunity to try out a stilling exercise (an example of secular meditation), where they listened to my guided meditation, following all instructions, with the meditation music continuing in the background. After completion, students were then asked to reflect on their experience of the lesson and of the stilling exercise itself. It was surprising to find that lower ability classes on the whole felt the lesson to be most valuable, and those who normally struggle to sit still, concentrate, and participate in lesson activities found themselves fully engaged for the whole hour. To say I was impressed would be an understatement! Since this lesson, the students have been asking to have another go every lesson, so it clearly had the desired impact. Many of the students asked where they could go to find further guided meditation! I tried this out with the whole ability range in Year 7, and all classes responded positively.

Mindfulness has been shown to affect students’ concentration in lessons, as well as behaviour, awareness of the learning environment, and stress and anxiety during the exam period. There are plenty of online resources that can be used across the curriculum and wider school life, and you don’t need any experience of guided meditation to teach it! Of course, it’s not only good for students; teachers and support staff may benefit from some time for reflection and stress relief. There are also a number of well-produced apps to help with the basics of learning to focus the mind and body. Try it out!

Happy meditating!