The month of
October is Bullying Awareness Month.
School based
anti-bullying programs help reduce bullying by 25%
Mindfulness
programs such as Inner Explore help reduce disruptive class behaviors by an
average of 60%,
What if we utilize
mindfulness to help support our bullying education?
This month is a
great time to use mindfulness to teacher compassion, kindness, and empathy. As
a school we are focusing on Standing Together Against Bullying. You may have
noticed some posters around the building that say things such as, “I will fight
for you”, “ I will reach out for you”, and “I will hold on to you”. The idea is
to talk about bullying in a way that encourages the kindness while teaching students what bullying looks like. Often times we highlight only the things not to do and
we forget to instill the things to do.
In mindfulness
training we start with our focus, we add in our breathing, and then we need to
work on our heartfulness. Heartfulness can help teach our students to show
compassion to themselves and then to others.
Heartfulness Beginner
Level: Wishing yourself positive kindness and compassion. “Today I wish for
myself to have a day filled with learning, success, and kindness.”
Heartfulness Master
Level: Wishing a friend the same kind of positive kindness and compassion.
“Today I wish for my friend to have a day filled with learning, success, and
kindness.”
Heartfulness Expert
Level: Wishing someone we don’t like or don’t get along with the same kind of
positive kindness and compassion. “Today I wish for the student I don’t get
along with to have a day filled with learning, success, and kindness.”
To get to the
expert level we can also learn to use the statement “Just Like Me...” This
statement teaches us that, just like me others want and deserve love,
happiness, and a chance to better themselves. “Just like me, that student I do
not get along with, is hoping for a good day today. Just like that student
deserves to have a peaceful and productive day.”
As we begin to
explore what is and what is not bullying try including some heartfulness to
your day. Maybe simply practice on your own the first day. Before your students
come to class take some time to walk by each desk and make a “Just like me” and
“Today I wish” statement. Try the expert level of heartfulness. See how it
feels. Is it difficult for you as an adult to walk past the “trouble” student’s
desk and wish them well for the day? If it is difficult for you, and you have a
fully developed prefrontal cortex, just imagine a student being able to wish
someone else well when their brain isn’t done developing.
Expressing
heartfulness toward another, without that person knowing, isn’t for them, it’s
for you. It is your mindfulness practice. It is helping you pay attention to
your own thoughts and feelings. Heartfulness helps open you up toward a greater
complicity for compassion and understanding.
Teaching our
students to practice heartfulness can help your classroom become a more
peaceful and caring environment. Just imagine a student who has never been told
“Today I wish for you to have a great day.” This student perhaps hears
something more negative before they are sent off to school. Our students may be
carrying backpacks full of disappointment, resentment, hurt, and anger. Our
students need our compassion to teach them to be compassionate. When you express
heartfulness toward your students and teach them to express heartfulness, you
are helping to unpack their backpack of pain. You lighten their load and give
them the relief they need to thrive in your classroom.
Take some time
this week to instill compassion through heartful mindfulness. My challenge is;
October 1st you silently express heartfulness toward each student in
your class as they enter. October 2nd express heartfulness aloud to
your students. October 3rd teach your students heartfulness. October
4th have your students write out a heartfulness statement for
someone else in the building and either deliver the message or post it outside
of you class.
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