Friends, I am so excited to share with you this week's mindfulness. My favorite mindfulness is called Metta, or Loving Kindness.
World Kindness Day is just around the corner, November 13. (Let's make Friday the 13th kind...not scary!)
I encourage you to take some time to look between my office and Sandy's office. I have created a Kindness Tree. The idea is that you and your students take a leaf from the tree and GIVE it to someone else. Share the kindness.
The idea of sharing kindness connects to our mindfulness this week. Metta or Loving Kindness mindfulness is a form of meditation that sends positive wishes to ourselves and others.
The best way to start this kind of mindfulness is to teach our students to send loving kindness to themselves. Ask your students to close their eyes (if comfortable) and take a deep breathe in. As they breath in ask them to bring to mind a wish for themselves.
EX: Today I wish for myself a day filled with calm. Today I wish for myself a productive and focused day.
Encourage them to hold this thought in their heads as they hold their breath. Then as they breathe out they release the wish, sending it to themselves.
I encourage you to do this the first day you introduce this mindfulness. Next is introducing loving kindness for those we love and care for.
This is a good to send a loving kind thought to those we love. Again, asking your students to close their eyes (always if they are comfortable, or have them look down and find one focus point). As they breathe in they can pick the person they want to send kindness too. Then as they hold their breath they can think of the kind wish they want to send. Lastly, they will release their breath and send the wish out to the person they picked.
The next step to learning Metta Mindfulness is the most challenging...for us all. I encourage YOU to take time to practice this step BEFORE you ask your students to practice.
The final step in Metta is sending loving kindness to those that challenge us, those we do not get along with, those that bother us, those we may not like, and those we do not want to send kindness too.
This can be a challenge....BUT.... once you do it, it feels freeing. I love this practice for this very reason.
As I mentioned last week, over the summer we ran into some housing road blocks. We had some family land being given to us...and then taken back due to a conflict in ideas. We had one family member placing demands on another and we were caught in the middle. The family member who placed the demands has been very cold and distant with us since this all came about. Deep down I want to be cold and distant. Deep down I want to give them a piece of my mind.
This summer at the same time the housing issues arose, I was taking my Science of Well-Being class. One week our homework was to meditate. I tried a few meditations...and felt so unfocused. Then I found Metta on the app called Waking Up. It was what I needed at the moment. It was difficult. It was freeing.
I took time to really practice, to follow the steps, and to let go and send positive wishes.
The family member continues to be cold and distant. I continue to take a deep breath and send loving kindness. I feel at peace.
A few weeks ago during one of my 3-5 google meets we practiced Metta. The students shared that it was not easy but that it felt good to send positive wishes to others.
What if every morning you took time to send a positive wish to every student you work with? You would begin feeling a sense of peace toward those students. This would show in how you interact with the students, especially your most challenging.
What if you taught your students to send loving kindness every morning? The more you practice the more you will see the students soften toward each other.
As you teach your students Metta Mindfulness, I encourage you to take a field trip to the kindness tree.
Remember November is Gratitude month...If you receive a leaf say, Thanks!
Thank you for taking the time to read and practice mindfulness with me! You're doing great!
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