The Sounds of Mindfulness

Simon and Garfunkel once sang to us about The Sound of Silence. In this song they stated "no one dared disturb the sound of silence." Can you say the same for your class?

Mindful listening can help us with mindful silence. It isn't simply to gain a calm and quiet class for the mere sake of quiet, but for the science behind why we need peace and calm in learning.

Over the years, dating as far back as 1972 , studies have explored the idea that sound has an effect on learning, memory, and cognition. 

Some of the original studies focused on children who lived near airports and children who were living on the main floor of apartment buildings. These studies found that the increase in sound, decreased reading skills and comprehension at school. With theses studies as the foundation more studies were conducted with similar results.

A 2006 study focusing on 3rd grade students found that when there was babble present in the learning environment students test scores decreased. 

In 2010 a study of 1st graders found that both verbal and non-verbal (ex: talking and slamming doors) had a negative impact on memory of material.

Children are less able to separate and ignore irrelevant sounds and are more susceptible to sound-induced disruptions. 

These studies have also found that children with attention concerns, such as ADHD and children who are non-native speakers, such as ELL, are even more at risk for educational deficits due to sound disruption. 

Is the volume in your class inhibiting learning and memory? Would you like to see higher test scores and better readers?

Have you taken time to include mindfulness in your day? Have you found a mindful way to reduce the sound without sound?

Shouting for your students to be quiet is not working. 

Mindfulness encourages us to take a moment and become silent. To slow down and observe. How can you utilize mindfulness to calm the babbles, the chatter, and the non-verbal sounds that disrupt learning?

Try a sound mindfulness practice. Studies show that nature sounds are calming, white noise is calming, and soothing music is calming.

Take your students on a mindful sound walk. Have them explore the school and investigate the sounds around them. Take a mindful sound walk for yourself. Explore the halls and listen to classes. Are there any in which you would thrive? The sounds studies show that while children are more greatly affected, sound does have a negative impact on adults as well. Are there any rooms in the school which might promote learning and increase attention? What can you learn from your mindful sound walk?

Using mindfulness and specifically sound mindfulness can be a good way to help students learn to focus attention. 

Some small studies with adults have also taught us that adults are easily distracted by simple sounds such as a ping of text message. Participants in a study of sound found that if they heard a text message ping during a message they enjoyed the experience less. Even as adults sounds can turn us from calm and joyful to irritated and unfocused. 

Try utilizing the sound practices on Inner Explorer. These are 1-2 minutes of sounds to help calm and focus the mind.