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ADHD is sometimes impossible to miss - and other times far too easy to overlook. The children who exhibit stereotypical symptoms (i.e. hyperactivity or impulsivity) are often diagnosed, while those with not-so-obvious signs (i.e. emotional dysregulation or sleeplessness) may be misdiagnosed into adulthood - or entirely. Here are the ADHD signs most likely to hide in plain sight.

Though it manifests in disparate and dichotomous ways, ADHD is often associated with only a handful of stereotypical behaviors and presentations. So when not-so-obvious ADHD symptoms show up in broad daylight, they may go ignored or misdiagnosed.

Then, when subtle-but-lifelong symptoms of ADHD explode (as they are likely to do) under unique and stressful circumstances, they suddenly become unmanageable. And it's only then that many adults get the help they need.

Here are commonly overlooked signs of ADHD, including unexpected symptoms and even those that seem contrary to the diagnosis.

Signs That Point to ADHD

1. Your lifelong difficulties with focus, restlessness, and impatience did not affect your work or family - until life drastically changed.

You can still have ADHD even if you were not diagnosed as a child. Commonly, symptoms of poor focus, hyperactivity, and impulsivity remain manageable thanks to well-honed coping mechanisms that fall apart with a major life event - like obtaining your first job, getting married, or starting a family. Perhaps, for example, your symptoms remained under control until you found yourself amid the global pandemic.

2. You are not hyperactive or impulsive, but instead have periods of little motivation and choice paralysis.

ADHD exists on a spectrum and presents with multiple symptom variations. The DSM-V classifies ADHD into three subtypes: predominantly inattentive type, predominantly hyperactive type, and combined type. Girls present with inattention more often than do boys, who are more commonly hyperactive and impulsive.
[Click to Read: 3 Defining Features of ADHD That Everyone Overlooks]
A disruptive little boy is more likely to trigger the concerned attention that leads to an ADHD diagnosis than is an unfocused yet non-disruptive little girl who forgets her homework assignments. When young girls do present with hyperactivity, it is usually the more benign and less disruptive form of excessive talkativeness. These "invisible" symptoms are seldom associated with ADHD in girls.

In addition, overt hyperactive and impulsive behaviors sometimes subside or morph earlier in girls, who commonly become more sensitive to others' perceptions than do most boys. However, their hyperactivity does not disappear; it transforms into an internal restlessness and a noisy brain, which looks like difficulty making decisions and a seeming lack of motivation.

3. You can focus, sometimes to a fault.

"ADHD" is a misnomer. It is not so much a disorder of inattention, but rather a disorder of inconsistent attention. Attention fluctuates depending on a person's level of interest in an activity. Hyperfocus, or intense interest, is on one extreme, but still tied to the dopamine deficiencies that also contribute to inattention.

ADHD is often missed in adults who hyperfocus more than they struggle with inattention. Hyperfocusing, in some ways, can be seen as a positive and helpful symptom. But it does have its cons - transitioning out of intense focus can be difficult, which can interfere with daily activities.
[Read: ADHD Hyperfocus Is a Blessing and a Curse]
4. You lack a history of difficulties at school - in stark contrast to your peers with academic problems that led to their earlier ADHD diagnosis.

ADHD is NOT related to your intelligence, school performance, or level of success. You can be a good student, highly knowledgeable and successful, and still have a diagnosis of ADHD.

Individuals with a high IQ are often overlooked for ADHD, as they may still function above average or at an adequate level despite their deficits. Often masking their "normal" functioning is the time and effort it takes to compensate for ADHD symptoms.

5. You are organized and meticulous, not disorganized and careless.

It is common for individuals with ADHD to develop somewhat obsessive and compulsive behaviors to manage their symptoms. You may, for example:

Over-prepare for an exam to manage anticipated problems with time management, concentration, and planning that may impact your grade.

Become obsessed with tidiness and have a fascination with decluttering techniques and gadgets. For you, it's a must in order to compensate for your overconsumption and organizational difficulties.

Engage in near-compulsive checking behaviors to manage chronic forgetfulness and the misplacing of items.

These ADHD coping strategies can mimic Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ( OCD), but the two disorders are distinct.

6. You struggle to manage your feelings, fluctuate between excess emotions and lack thereof.

Whether diagnosed as a child or late in life, a person with ADHD is more likely to hear negative comments about their symptoms and behaviors. They may hear from parents, friends, and others about their underachievements, and be accused of laziness, immaturity, and selfishness. These lifelong criticisms can lead to feelings of guilt and shame, and they exacerbate problems with emotional regulation.

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, a phenomenon referring to intense negative feelings from perceived or actual criticism, is also part of emotional dysregulation as a major part of the ADHD experience for adults.

7. You already have a mood disorder and/or anxiety.

Unless you are directly assessed for ADHD, a more apparent mood or anxiety disorder may be diagnosed first - or misdiagnosed instead. A misdiagnosis, especially, may lead to multiple failures with medications before receiving a correct diagnosis.

Most psychiatrists are not as familiar with adult ADHD as they are with mood and anxiety diagnoses. It's only in recent years that adult ADHD has been taught in psychiatry residency training programs.

ADHD symptoms can be confused for other conditions during an initial psychiatric assessment. Your clinician may inaccurately label your "overwhelmed and excitable" emotions as anxiety. You may even suspect you have a mood disorder because you feel "bored and unmotivated." In fact, a study conducted in 2016 by Sternat found that 34% of patients referred for a treatment-resistant mood disorder met the criteria for ADHD.

8. You struggle with sleepless nights.

Historically, poor sleep had been considered a separate issue from ADHD. However, researchers have recently hypothesized that ADHD is also associated with a dysregulated sleep-wake cycle. It is estimated that 75% of children and adults with ADHD have a sleep problem. ( European College of Neuropsychopharmacology)

Adults with ADHD often encounter several sleep problems. They find it difficult to fall asleep due to a brain that won't turn off, and struggle to stay asleep due to physical restlessness. They also have problems waking, as they tend not to enter the deepest sleep stage until early morning.

9. You struggle with substance abuse and eating disorders.

The lack of sufficient dopamine in your brain can lead to boredom and impulsive behaviors such as misuse of illicit substances and even disordered eating, especially if ADHD goes undiagnosed.

When individuals finally seek help, they can be misdiagnosed, or diagnosed with only a mood and or anxiety disorder, leading to an ineffective medication regimen and more despair and hopelessness, perpetuating the cycle of substance misuse, self-medication, and disordered eating patterns.

10. You have trouble with all kinds of relationships.

It is harder to be mindful and emotionally attuned to others when distractibility is a problem. ADHD may affect your ability to communicate and naturally connect with a wide range of people. Your relationships may suffer, and you may ultimately feel disconnected from your partner, family, and friends.

You may easily lose touch with others because of ADHD symptoms like forgetfulness and disorganization. Unfortunately, it can cause others to label you as self-centered and selfish.

ADHD can also disrupt your emotional and physical intimacy with your partner, and possibly prevent you from forming romantic relationships in the first place.

ADHD Signs: Next Steps

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Updated on March 26, 2021

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ADHD is sometimes impossible to miss - and other times far too easy to overlook. The children who exhibit stereotypical symptoms (i.e. hyperactivity or impulsivity) are often diagnosed, while those with not-so-obvious signs (i.e. emotional dysregulation or sleeplessness) may be misdiagnosed into adulthood - or entirely.

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How do stimulants work in the ADHD brain?

Stimulation is an easily measured feature of the first-line stimulant medications, but it is not clear that stimulation is how and why they work for attention deficit disorder ( ADHD or ADD). There are 43 medications currently available that stimulate in the same way that amphetamine and methylphenidate do, but only three of those medications make ADHD better. The rest make it worse. Just being a stimulant is not enough to make a medication work in an ADHD brain.

A PET scan study was done monitoring a specially prepared solution of methylphenidate to see where it wound up in the human brain. Everyone expected that it would go to somewhere in the fronto-parietal cortex, or to some area that was rich in adrenaline or dopamine nerves. It didn't. Instead it was actively pulled out of the blood and concentrated in only one area at the exact center of the brain called the corpus striatum.

The striatum has no adrenaline or dopamine activity. The striatum is your executive assistant. It scans all of your thoughts, feelings, and experiences and sends the one most important thing up to your cortex for you to think about. Everything else is handled behind the scenes.

The current theory of ADHD is that the striatum works 99 percent as well as it does in neurotypical brains. Rather than sending only one important thing to the frontal cortex, it sends five or six things, with no particular significance attached to any one of them. This is what it is like to have untreated ADHD - five things rumbling about in your head for no apparent reason. The ADHD medications help the striatum work the way it was meant to. -William Dodson, M.D.

Are stimulants safe for the ADHD brain?

Many years ago, people had unfounded fears about the long-term effects on the brain of taking stimulant-class medications every day for a lifetime. We know the answer. The first data come from the use of stimulants for the treatment of a sleep disorder called narcolepsy. Reviews of people who have taken the same medications that are used to treat ADHD every day for 40 to 50 years did not find a single long-term problem. The longest study of ADHD is the Milwaukee Study, now about 28 years old. Thus far, all of the risk of ADHD has been associated with not treating the condition with medication, not with medication treatment itself. -William Dodson, M.D.
[Free Resource: The Ultimate Guide to ADHD Medication]
Why don't methylphenidate or amphetamine work for me or my child?

Through the years, it has been recognized that the right molecule at the right dose for the unique individual child or adult should have dramatic benefits, with essentially no side effects. However, many parents found that their child did not tolerate or benefit from taking the two stimulant medications, methylphenidate ( Ritalin, Concerta, and so on) and amphetamine ( Adderall, Vyvanse, and so on). We now know why.

It turns out that the dosage ranges approved by the FDA for the first-line stimulant medications work for only about half of patients. Between six to eight percent of people get their optimal response at doses lower than the lowest doses manufactured. If these patients start at the very lowest dose available, they are already overdosed and experience the Zombie syndrome (emotional blunting, lethargy) or the Starbuck's syndrome (being too revved up, having a rapid heart rate, becoming irritable). The patients do fine when they take lower doses.

Conversely, about 40 percent of people get their optimal response at doses higher than the highest strengths approved by the FDA. They try medication, but they don't get to a dose that gives them dramatic benefits. The recognition of a wider range of optimal doses has resulted in better medication response for up to half of patients. -William Dodson, M.D.

Why does the ADHD brain lose interest in tasks?

PET imaging studies of brains in people diagnosed with ADHD demonstrate that chemicals that activate reward-recognizing circuits in the brain tend to bind on significantly fewer receptor sites in people with ADHD than do those in a healthy comparison group. These and other imaging studies may help explain why people with ADHD tend to be less able than their peers to anticipate pleasure or register satisfaction with tasks for which the payoff is delayed. An important effect is that they have great difficulty in activating themselves to get started on tasks that are not especially interesting to them and in sustaining motivation to complete tasks for which the rewards are not imminently available. -Thomas E. Brown, Ph.D., from his book Smart But Stuck
[How People with ADHD Are Wired Differently]
Why is the ADHD brain often swamped by emotion?

There are two primary ways in which emotions play a critical role in the chronic difficulties of people with ADHD. Both are related to working memory impairments-the person's limited capacity to keep in mind and use multiple bits of emotion-laden information at the same time. Sometimes the working memory impairments of the ADHD brain allow a momentary emotion to become too strong; the person is flooded with one emotion and unable to attend to other emotions, facts, and memories relevant to that memory.

At other times, the working memory impairments of ADHD leave the person with insufficient sensitivity to the importance of a particular emotion because he or she hasn't kept other relevant information sufficiently in mind, or factored it into his or her assessment of the situation. -Thomas. E. Brown, Ph.D., from his book Smart But Stuck

Why doesn't the ADHD brain always make the connection?

The networks that carry information related to emotion and other aspects of brain functioning tend to be somewhat more limited in individuals with ADHD compared to most others. Years ago, most scientists thought that impairments of ADHD were due primarily to problems within specific regions of the brain, particularly the prefrontal cortex. New technologies, however, have shown that some of the impairments of people with ADHD may be more related to networks of fibers that support interactive communication between various regions of the brain. One type of communication between brain regions occurs via connections referred to as "white matter." Imaging studies have shown abnormalities in the structure of white matter in brains of children, adolescents, and adults with ADHD.

Such abnormalities may explain some of the difficulties these individuals have - keeping one thing in mind while doing something else. One study has shown that methylphenidate, used to treat ADHD, can normalize the connectivity limitations in the motivation and reward networks of children with ADHD when they are performing some assigned tasks. -Thomas E. Brown, Ph.D., from his book Smart But Stuck
Thomas E. Brown, Ph.D. and William Dodson, M.D., are both members of ADDitude's ADHD Medical Review Panel. [OMG, So That's Why I Do That?]
SUPPORT ADDITUDE
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6 Things You Didn't Know About the ADHD Brain

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Stimulation is an easily measured feature of the first-line stimulant medications, but it is not clear that stimulation is how and why they work for attention deficit disorder ( ADHD or ADD). There are 43 medications currently available that stimulate in the same way that amphetamine and methylphenidate do, but only three of those medications make ADHD better.

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What are the best workout apps for finding online classes, tracking fitness and activity, and personalized coaching? Try out these ADHD-tested favorites recommended by ADDitude readers in the summer of 2020.

close up young asian man holding smartphone and choose list of music player for listening after finish exercise at gym, healthy lifestyle concept

Workout Apps and Activity Trackers

These apps and web sites were recommended by ADDitude readers in an August 2020 survey on surviving the pandemic with an ADHD brain. Add your favorites in the Comments section below!

Activity Tracking Apps and Wearables

Fitbit: Wearable activity tracker and companion app that motivates users to get moving and allows them to track sleep, calories, exercise, and more

Garmin: A selection of wearable smart devices and companion apps that track your physical exertion, heart rate, and overall health

Strava: Track your runs, bike rides, and swims and share them with your friends and neighbors via this app

My Fitness Pal: A free app that calculates calories burned from various exercises based on your personal profile

NikeRun: Use this free app with your Apple Watch, iPhone, or Android device to track your runs and share stats, listen to customized playlists, and go on guided runs

Samsung Health: This free app analyzes your daily activities and habits to create a balanced lifestyle pattern

Google Fit: This free app uses "heart points," coaching, and activity journaling to help users reach fitness goals

StepBet: "Bet" on yourself to meet personalized step goals, and win money if you do

Online Fitness Classes

Peloton: Used in conjunction with a Peloton bike or treadmill, this app delivers workouts streamed online and on-demand with a free trial

cure.fit: This Android app and subscription service unlocks online workout classes and telehealth, including therapy and primary care, at different prices depending on the service

Body Barre: Purchase a day pass or monthly membership to access a library of virtual barre workout classes

Tracy Anderson Method: "Elite fitness classes" available online and on-demand with a free trial offer

Personal Training Apps and Resources

Fitness Blender: Join FB Plus for $80 a year to access workout videos and custom workouts for every fitness level. A free membership offers a smaller selection of workout videos, as well as daily progress tracking and community support

Yoga with Adrienne: Free weekly yoga videos and wellness resources available for free on YouTube

Couch to 10k: Download this free app to access a program designed to help exercise beginners train to run a 10k road race

FabYOUlous: Purchase a customized online fitness program for $99 a year or sign up for a variety of virtual classes

GMB Fitness: Online training programs designed to build mobility, core strength, motor control, and more. This program is targeted toward middle-aged men and offers free tutorials as well as a free trial week

Online Fitness Community

Blogilates: Touted as the "#1 female fitness channel on YouTube with over 500 million video views and 4 million subscribers," this community for women offers pilates-based workouts, fitness challenges, recipes, and more

Apptiv: Purchase access to hundreds of audio-based fitness workouts ranging from running to strength training to yoga and beyond

Nerd Fitness: For $100 a year, access workout plans, fitness guidance, nutrition training, recipes, and online coaching geared to normal people making healthy changes

More Great Apps for ADHD Brains

THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF ADDITUDE'S FREE PANDEMIC COVERAGE
To support our team as it pursues helpful and timely content throughout this pandemic, please join us as a subscriber. Your readership and support help make this possible. Thank you.

Updated on September 14, 2020

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The Best Workout Apps for Your ADHD Brain & Body

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What are the best workout apps for finding online classes, tracking fitness and activity, and personalized coaching? Try out these ADHD-tested favorites recommended by ADDitude readers in the summer of 2020. These apps and web sites were recommended by ADDitude readers in an August 2020 survey on surviving the pandemic with an ADHD brain.

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Why do so many people with ADHD struggle to find relief from their symptoms? From taking away interventions too soon to trying therapy before medication, here are six common obstacles to successful treatment - and how to avoid them.

The media generally portrays attention deficit disorder (ADHD or ADD) as a controversial diagnosis. Some doubters question whether it is a real disorder, despite the fact that ADHD has been acknowledged by medical researchers since 1902, and it was first found to be responsive to stimulants in 1936. It has been treated with medication by professionals ever since. Why, then, do so many with ADHD struggle to find relief from their symptoms? Here are six common obstacles to successful treatment:

1. Therapy Rarely Works Without ADHD Medication

Many of my patients ask, "Do I have to take medication? Can't we try counseling first?" When clients are initially diagnosed, many want to begin with a less invasive approach (coaching, counseling, or tutoring) before deploying the "big gun" of medication. It's a terrific idea, except that it is almost always wrong.

ADHD is a neurological disorder. It doesn't just go away, and it has strong genetic origins. Some people learn to cope better naturally over time, but medication is a powerful tool that can immediately reduce ADHD symptoms in most people. Counseling should begin after medication has been successfully introduced. Imagine being told to "try squinting for three months, before we take the step of writing you a prescription for eyeglasses." If you need glasses to see, why struggle and fail before receiving the tool you need?

If inattention and impulsivity are first reduced by medication, the individual with ADHD can better apply the coping skills she will learn from counseling. She will be able to slow down and problem-solve. Doing counseling first risks that the client will give up on it based on her inability to remember to use what she learns with the therapist. Sometimes, granting the client's wishes is not helpful.

2. Most Clinicians Don't Understand ADHD

Many patients say, "The doctor asked why I keep doing impulsive things. How would I know?" Imagine being asked to explain the behavior that sent you to the doctor in the first place. Those diagnosed with ADHD are impulsive for a reason; it is how they are wired. Repeating the painful experience of unsuccessfully explaining symptoms will not forge a therapeutic bond, but it might convince the patient that treatment is a waste of time.
[Take This Quiz: How Well Do YOU Really Know ADHD?]
Clinicians shouldn't ask a person with ADHD why he isn't more organized and better prepared. ADHD is not a choice.

3. Learned Helplessness Is a Real Psychological Phenomenon

"Why do I have to go to the tutor? Tutoring never really helps me." A client may erroneously conclude that tutoring isn't going to work, based on her failure to have benefited from it when her ADHD was unmedicated. Psychologist Martin Seligman, Ph.D., author of Learned Helplessness, studied the impact of repeated failure experiences on future coping efforts. He found that after enough trials in which an electric shock could not be successfully avoided, subjects stopped making efforts to avoid the shock altogether. Seligman concluded that when escape behaviors prove ineffective, the escape efforts disappear, a process he termed "learned helplessness."

Consider the experience of trying your hardest, only to repeatedly fail. Now pour on a generous helping of "Why don't you just try harder?" It is easy to see why a patient would just give up. Resist drawing the conclusion that trying won't help. Find a specialist with experience in treating ADHD to avoid being given useless advice.

4. Society Removes ADHD Interventions When the Patient Improves

"Why did they take the accommodation away, just when it started to help me?" In public schools, the short answer is money. Administrators, and some teachers, mistake tools vital to continued progress for training wheels on a bicycle: "You have brought your grades up significantly this semester, now that we have provided you with eyeglasses for your myopia. Now, let's see if you can manage without them and do just as well."
[Get This Free Resource: 3 Defining Features of ADHD That Everyone Overlooks]
Why people think you will "grow out of" a heritable neurological condition escapes me. Many people with ADHD learn to compensate for it over time. It does not just disappear. You learn how to psychologically "squint," if the ADHD symptoms are mild. As with nearsightedness, the need for eyeglasses persists. Success means that one should continue the intervention that brought the success.

5. Many People Stop Treatment Too Early

Many clients have told me: "Come to think of it, I did do better when I was medicated as a kid. I refused to take medication after I hit junior high. Do you think that has anything to do with why I keep flunking out of college; wrecking my car; drinking too much; making bad choices in relationships; performing inconsistently at work?"

I wish I had a dollar for every adult I treated for ADHD who had been diagnosed and successfully treated as a child, but who stopped taking his medication as a young adult. When they struggle and return for help as adults, they usually fail to connect the symptoms with their having prematurely stopped treatment.

6. Parents Fail to Recognize (and Treat) Their Own Symptoms

Many parents say: "We did try medication with our child, but it didn't work. Why do you think it will work now?" As an ADHD specialist, I routinely identified and treated the parent with ADHD, especially if he or she would be administering the medication to her child. Too many parents tell me, "We gave him the meds during the first two weeks, and things got a little better. After the third week, we forgot to give it sometimes, and the teacher started complaining that it wasn't working anymore. I called the doctor, who increased the dosage. Then a mom told me that my son looked like a zombie in class, so I took him off those terrible drugs. Did I make a mistake?"

Clinicians often fail to take into account that ADHD symptoms are likely to be inconsistent. If stimulants are not carefully titrated, under systematic observation, the optimal dosage may never be found. Even worse, if medication is given erratically, the optimal dosage may be overshot, particularly if medication is increased in big jumps.

A key reason to initially identify and treat parents with ADHD before treating their symptomatic children (even though this approach is almost universally rejected by parents) is to avoid reports of diminished effectiveness due to the fact that the parents with ADHD were inconsistent in administering their children's medication. A parent who prefers to begin treating the child before herself isn't making a wise choice.

The tendency to increase the dosage of a stimulant too quickly is often aggravated by the limits placed by managed care on both the amount of time spent by the prescribing doctor and the frequency of appointments. An overmedicated kid may look like a zombie, but the correct response is to lower the dosage, not to stop treatment. Clinicians need to dose stimulants smoothly and slowly up to an optimal, not just an improved, level of performance.
[Related Content: "Is ADHD Real?" Your Free Guide to Responding to Doubters] Steven Tenenbaum, Ph.D., is a former psychologist who ran the Attention Deficit Clinic in St. Louis for more than 20 years. He has been diagnosed with ADHD and raised two children with the disorder.
Updated on December 9, 2019

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Why do so many people with ADHD struggle to find relief from their symptoms? From taking away interventions too soon to trying therapy before medication, here are six common obstacles to successful treatment - and how to avoid them. The media generally portrays attention deficit disorder (ADHD or ADD) as a controversial diagnosis.

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Daily Calm | 10 Minute Mindfulness Meditation | Be Present

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University of California Television (UCTV)

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Mindfulness is the practice of paying purposeful, nonjudgmental attention to the present moment. It's a skill that can benefit students far beyond the classroom. Studies have shown the practice enhances focus, may reduce depression and anxiety, improves cognition, and promotes physical and emotional health.

Mindfulness is more relevant to educators today than ever with the growth of technology - and the increase of distractions that come with it. Incorporating mindfulness techniques in the classroom also assists educators with addressing the Digital Citizen Standard within the ISTE Standards

Here are three tech and three non-tech tools to help educators bring mindfulness to their classes:

Tech tools

1. Calm. Calm is a meditation and mindfulness app that provides a daily meditation and inspiration. It also provides "sleep stories" to help calm the brain when trying to sleep.

2. Forest. Forest gamifies focus and gives back to the world. Participants set goals for when and how they will use their personal devices, and Forest will plant a tree when they meet their goals. Since its creation, over 230,000 trees have been planted.

3. Buddhify. Buddhify is a meditation and mindfulness app recommended by Anna Decker Smyth, a mindfulness educator and practitioner in Salt Lake City, Utah. It offers guided meditations for traveling, handling intense emotions like grief and stress, going to sleep and even ways to practice mindfulness while using your phone

Non-tech tools

1. Breathing. Breathing is a common focus for gaining focus and calming the body down. One popular exercise is the 4-7-8 breath. After exhaling completely, close your mouth and inhale four seconds through your nose. Then, hold your breath for seven seconds, then exhale completely for eight seconds. Repeat as needed.

2. Muscle meditation. In muscle meditation, also called body scan meditation, the focus is on the feelings in the body. Starting at the toes, the meditator will bring their attention to each part of their body, wiggling and tensing each part. Move from the toes all the way to the forehead, trying to keep the rest of the body "asleep." Repeat the exercise again, taking longer on each part of the body.

3. Coloring. Coloring, like with other forms of art therapy, has been found to reduce stress and improve focus. It takes attention away from the individual and focuses on the present moment. Coloring is effective for children and adults. It and can be incorporated into a classroom routines or when students need a mental break. Consider offering coloring books or pages during a classroom discussion on sensitive topics or a debate. The coloring can calm anxiety when discussing tough topics.

Educators don't need any tools or even formal training to incorporate mindfulness into their instruction. Classroom instruction can start with just a three-minute exercise at the beginning of class and go from there. "There are endless articles and books and videos on mindfulness, just as there are endless food blogs and cookbooks," Smyth said. But consuming media about food doesn't fill your belly. Similarly, the only way to really understand and benefit from mindfulness is to practice!"

Being balanced - making informed decisions about prioritizing your time on and off line - is one of the five competencies of the #DigCitCommit campaign. Watch the video below to learn how you can get involved in the movement.
Carrie Rogers-Whitehead is the CEO of Digital Respons-Ability, and teaches students, parents and educators about digital citizenship. Digital Respons-Ability incorporates practices like mindfulness and meditation in their digital citizenship programs. This is an updated version of a post that originally published on March 28, 2018.

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6 tech and nontech ways to easily bring mindfulness into the classroom

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Mindfulness is the practice of paying purposeful, nonjudgmental attention to the present moment. It's a skill that can benefit students far beyond the classroom. Studies have shown the practice enhances focus, may reduce depression and anxiety, improves cognition, and promotes physical and emotional health.

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by TeachThought Staff

The modern school day can be stressful, due in part to the pressure caused by standardized testing, social tension, and dwindling unstructured free time - all issues that affect teachers as well as students.

It's hard to cultivate a culture of curiosity and patience in an environment that's heavy on schedules and expectations, but the true objective of education is to enrich lives in a way that fosters lasting growth and an interest in knowledge, and that's unlikely to happen if the daily experience is filled with anxiety.

Although it's difficult to change the way the (school) system operates, it is possible to adjust how you operate within the system. Introducing meditation and mindfulness techniques in the classroom not only allows you to create a calmer environment, but the practice has also proven to have verifiable benefits on the human brain.

A Harvard study of MRI images showed a thickening in the cerebral cortex (an area responsible in part for attention and emotional integration) in meditation participants in as few as eight weeks. It's more than a good habit and some quiet time in the classroom-you may be helping the brains of your students develop even more than you realize.

Where do you even begin teaching meditation when you may not be familiar with the practice yourself? Although it seems like an incongruous match, this is yet another area where technology steps in to make learning convenient, and a variety of apps offer options for every age, ability, and amount of available time.

Obviously, you don't necessarily need an app if you have experience with meditation. Further, there are some decent YouTube videos available that you could also start with if you're unsure how meditation might fit in your classroom. However, apps are far more structured and offer features that videos can't.

With that in mind, here are a few to experiment with as you get started.
See also 10 Team-Building Games For A Friendlier Classroom 16 Meditation Apps For Children In The Classroom
Platforms: iOS, Google Play

Price: Free with paid support and curriculum

Developer Description: "Our app is a completely free, state-of-the-art technology platform that supports every member of the school community with hundreds of guided meditations and mindfulness activities that can be used in the classroom and at home."

Platforms: iOS, Google Play

Price: Free with In-App Purchases

This is a great place to learn the basics of mindfulness for beginners and is suitable for a wide range of ages. The included Headspace For Kids program focuses on breathing exercises, visualizations, and focus-based meditation in themes like calm, focus, kindness, sleep, wake up, and tailored for age groups 9-12, 6-8, and 5 and under, with regular Headspace being appropriate for older kids (and teachers who need a midday meditation break!)

Platforms: iOS, Google Play

Price: Free with In-App Purchases

Developer Description: Featuring recurring characters, "teach your kids the basics of mindfulness with guided meditations designed to help kids relax, reduce anxiety and manage negative thoughts."

Platforms: iOS, Google Play

Price: $4.99 with In-App Purchases

While not made specifically for children, Buddhify's simple and colorful interface and 80 plus custom meditations offer plenty of options, and the upfront price with no additional costs adds even more value.
5. Simple Habit
Platforms: iOS, Google Play

Price: Free with In-App Purchases

Developer Description: "Our wellness and sleep therapy sessions offer guided mindfulness & meditation, daily motivation, guided sleep sessions and coaching by world-renowned experts, personalized for the way you live your life. We'll help you feel less stressed, get better sleep and be your best self whether you have 5 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes during your commute or need to fall asleep quickly. Start your Simple Habit today and live better every day."

Platforms: iOS, Google Play

Price: Free for schools

Made just for kids, Dreamy kid offers meditations such as Body Scan, an ADD and ADHD session, ambient background noise, and more. General and issue-based meditations, guided visualizations and affirmations are added each month.
7. Ninja Focus: Kids' Mindfulness
Platforms: iOS, Google Play

Price: Free with In-App Purchases

Platforms: iOS, Google Play

Insight Timer is a well-rated and revised meditation app with different styles, teachers, and methods. Users can log cumulative meditation time, join the online community of meditators, or set a timer for some quiet.

Platforms: iOS, Web Browser

Price: Free with In-App Purchases

The title indicates what this app focuses on and all three are important life skills that are often under-taught. Best-suited for the 10 and up crowd and ideal for individual use, this app makes it easy to track progress and gain daily momentum with reward stickers, check-ins, and a lesson on how to meditate as well as a list of meditations to follow.

Platforms: iOS

Price: Free with In-App Purchases

This simple app geared towards the elementary crowd offers five meditations with kid-friendly art and tone, ranging in time from three to 14 minutes and working on sitting comfortably, visualization, and a gradual reorientation.

Platforms: iOS, Google Play

As part of the Calm Classroom Initiative, teachers can apply to receive Calm's paid subscription at no cost for access to the library of meditation and mindfulness exercises for age groups covering pre-k through high school.

Platforms: iOS, Google Play

Price: .99

While well-reviewed and focused on supporting meditation for children, this app no longer appears to be supported.

See also Supporting Wellness in Schools.

Whether you're interested in developing the whole child, carving out some quiet time, growing gray matter, or all of the above, incorporating meditation and mindfulness into your class's schedule can create a ripple effect into their daily lives, future, and the world beyond. The meditation apps listed below are not child, student, or school-centered but may prove useful in a classroom under the supervision of a teacher who has experience with meditation.
13. Ten Percent Happier Meditation 14. Balance 16. Mindfulness Coach 16 Meditation Apps For Children In The Classroom

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16 Meditation Apps For Children In The Classroom

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Where do you begin teaching meditation when you may not be familiar with the practice yourself? These meditation apps for children may help.

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There is nothing touchy-feely or New Age-y about Dan Harris, an ABC News correspondent and Nightline anchor who has covered mass shootings, natural disasters and the war in Iraq. But an on-camera panic attack 10 years ago led Harris to discover mindfulness. Specifically mindful meditation. And now he's a convert.

Harris wrote a book called 10% Happier. And in case that sounds too touchy-feely he subtitled it: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge and Found Self-Help That Really Works-a True Story. He now travels the globe extoling the virtues of mindfulness meditation. He says it changed his life and claims mindfulness can change your life and the lives of your kids, too.

Mindfulness as we know it-and it's being tried out by everyone from elite athletes to corporate executives-was conceived as a therapeutic practice over 30 years ago by a scientist named Jon Kabat-Zinn. He defines mindfulness simply as "paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally."

That's the short version. To expand on that just a little, mindfulness is a meditation practice that begins with paying attention to breathing in order to focus on the here and now-not what might have been or what you're worried could be. The ultimate goal is to give you enough distance from disturbing thoughts and emotions to be able to observe them without immediately reacting to them.

Harris has an appealingly pragmatic way of explaining mindfulness. "Mindfulness is the ability to see what's going in your head," Harris says, "combined with the ability to not get carried away with it."

In the last few years mindfulness has emerged as a way of treating children and adolescents with conditions ranging from ADHD to anxiety, autism spectrum disorders, depression and stress. Dr. Allison Baker, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, says that mindfulness can play a significant role in managing anxious or negative thoughts. "It helps you step back and look at that thought as just a thought, as opposed to a reality," she says. "That in turn allows you to have a little distance and not necessarily engage in that thought and get agitated about it, or have your sleep disrupted because of it."

Adolescents who practice mindfulness regularly develop that ability to self-regulate and put distance between the intensity of their emotions and the way in which they react to them-in particular how they engage in or react to negative, difficult or stressful thoughts. Acquiring that sense of self-control in itself is empowering, and it can help kids avoid unhealthy or dangerous responses.

Related: Managing Social Media Stress With Mindfulness

The word "meditation" describes a wide variety of activities, many of which have little in common. "It's kind of like the using the term "sports," says Harris. "Badminton and water polo have nothing to do with each other. Meditation describes a whole range of activities, some of which are designed to boost your mindfulness muscle and others are not."

Mindfulness involves paying close attention to whatever you are doing in the present moment-breathing, eating, brushing your teeth, feeling your feet on the ground and smelling the air if you're outside taking a walk. "Mindfulness," Harris says, can be achieved through meditation and it can be achieved by paying close attention to daily activities, "but in my opinion," he says, "meditation is the best way to get there."

Harris doesn't pretend that meditation is the magic bullet that will solve all your problems. But there's a lot it can help with and it doesn't require a huge time commitment.

In fact, Harris says, you can derive most of the benefits of mindfulness just by sitting quietly for even five to ten minutes a day, paying attention to your breathing and noticing the thoughts and feelings you experience. As your mind wanders-and you can expect your mind to wander constantly-you bring it back to the breath. That is what you're practicing. Mindfulness, Harris explains, "is mental exercise. You're trying to focus on one thing at a time-usually your breath. Then you get lost and you start over. And every time you start over, that is a bicep curl for your brain."

Dr. Baker has increasingly incorporated mindfulness into her clinical practice for kids and adolescents with a variety of psychiatric diagnoses. It gives kids and parents the opportunity to put time and space between their emotions and their thoughts-between feeling and reacting. Dr. Baker says mindfulness can be used for a whole host of challenges, including attention and impulsivity issues, anxiety, depression, and PTSD, among others.

The whole point of mindfulness is not to do away with particular thoughts, including negative ones, but to develop a different, non-judgmental relationship to them-to understand that they are feelings but they are not you. In Dr. Baker's experience, parents and kids who practice mindfulness derive benefits regardless of their diagnosis. " Over time," Dr. Baker says, "it means that they then have choices about how they want to engage with or react to that thought and that's very powerful clinically because they actually feel that they have control. It really has incredible benefits in terms of their happiness, their ability to get a better night's sleep, their ability to not sweat a test. It's really powerful."

Related: Mindful Parenting

Dr. Cameron Craddock, the Child Mind Institute's Director of Imaging, says studies on mindfulness have increased substantially in the last few years. "There's still a lot that we don't know about how it works, but what my research is showing is that there is a brain network, we call it the default network, that is constantly active when we have these ruminative or perseverative thoughts, thoughts that can be very deleterious."

Rumination means compulsively focusing on bad feelings and experiences. And perseveration means repeating the same response over and over. Both of them are common symptoms of depression and anxiety among other psychiatric diagnoses.

"This default network," Dr. Craddock notes, "is typically turned off when we are performing an external, goal-driven task. For example if you asked someone to do calculus, that network would turn off-hopefully. And what we've shown is that if that network doesn't stay off during the performance of that task you can't perform that task as well."

Dr. Craddock says that when they first began to see this phenomenon, they thought of it as an attentional deficit. "Initially," he says, "it showed up a lot in ADHD and was attributed to attention. Now we're seeing it in major depression, we're seeing it in anxiety, in social anxiety, with PTSD, over and over again."

It turns out that these intrusive, repetitive thoughts are looking more and more like an inability to regulate this default network in the brain. People who practice mindfulness regularly develop the ability to turn it off when they want to and turn it back on when they need to perform the tasks that require using it. "The key," he says, "is to be able to maintain the balance, and we're proving that mindfulness allows us to do that."

Or as Dan Harris likes to put it, "Another way to think about it is getting out of your own way. It's hard to open a jar when every muscle in your arm is tight, and we are constantly doing the mental equivalent of that. We are constantly getting in our own way, tripping ourselves up with these thoughts."

With mindfulness, he says, "They're going to continue to come, but you can develop a different relationship to them."

Why practice mindfulness? Aside from the fact that if you're anxious or depressed, it's likely to make you less so, Harris says, "the reason to do it, for a beginner, is that most of the things that you're embarrassed by in your life are done out of mindlessness." Harris says mindlessness for him meant, "Going to war zones, coming home and getting depressed, not even knowing I was depressed, and then mindlessly self-medicating."

For other people it may be starting arguments without thinking, constantly checking your phone when you should be paying attention to your kid or eating while watching TV. "What mindfulness does is act as kind of kryptonite for these impulses," Harris says. "So most of the time we're unaware of this nonstop conversation we're having with ourselves. And as a consequence, we're yanked around by it. Mindfulness, is just the ability to see what's going on in your head without getting carried away by it."

[fbshare "Mindfulness teaches you how to respond wisely instead of reacting blindly."]Interestingly, Harris admits that mindfulness has also made him feel his feelings more acutely-even the negative ones. But he says that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"There's a reason that they call feelings, feelings," he says. And that includes his initial response to things like anger. "You might notice that your chest is buzzing, your ears are turning red or whatever. And so for me in those moments of annoyance or anger the initial moment of suffering is actually more acute because I'm right there with it. But it's a good early warning system. I'm aware of what's happening and therefor there's a buffer between the immediate stimulus and my blind reaction to it."

And that is the ultimate goal of mindfulness. To provide you with a psychological and emotional buffer where previously there was none. As always, Harris avoids getting too warm and fuzzy about the subject but he will say this: "Most mediation clichés make me want to put a pencil through my eye, but there is one cliché that I like, which is that mindfulness teaches you how to respond wisely instead of reacting blindly. That is a super power. It changes the whole game."

Read More:

The Power of Mindfulness
Mindfulness in the Classroom
How Mindfulness Can Help Caregivers

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The Art and Science of Mindfulness - Child Mind Institute

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There is nothing touchy-feely or New Age-y about Dan Harris, an ABC News correspondent and Nightline anchor who has covered mass shootings, natural disasters and the war in Iraq. But an on-camera panic attack 10 years ago led Harris to discover mindfulness. Specifically mindful meditation. And now he's a convert.

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Creating a safe place for our kids to learn might begin with creating some space for them to breathe.

By Caren Osten Gerszberg

On a cold March afternoon, the hallways were abuzz with chatter and giggles at Chatsworth Elementary School in Larchmont, New York. As the kindergarteners from Liz Slade's class ambled into their classroom from lunch and recess and put their jackets and lunch boxes into their cubbies, Slade asked, "Can today's mindful leader please come up front and begin?"

Isabella, a 6-year-old wearing a heart-clad gray shirt and polka-dot leggings, quietly took a cross-legged seat on the classroom rug facing her peers. With her palms facing up and resting on each knee, she began to tap her thumbs on each of her fingers, simultaneously repeating the words "I-am-calm-now" with each tap. Without hesitation, each of Isabella's classmates, along with their teacher, followed their mindful leader, tapping their thumbs and saying "I am calm now," gently lowering their voices after each repetition until the room grew quiet. Slade then asked her students to slowly make their way to their tables and take out their "feelings" journal.

"They are learning the experience of settling their body," said Slade. "What used to be a wild time now becomes a charming, sweet moment when we all take a pause and come back to being present."

Chatsworth is one of thousands of schools across the country that is bringing mindfulness into the classroom. Growing numbers of teachers, parents, and children are reaping the benefits that learning mindfulness-defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn as "the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally"-can bring, including reduced levels of stress and anxiety, increased focus and self-regulation, and improved academic performance and sleep, among others.

Children today are faced with an unprecedented amount of stress and anxiety-25% of 13- to 18-year-olds will experience an anxiety disorder according to the National Institutes of Mental Health.

With heightened academic pressure trickling down to kids as early as kindergarten, resulting in less time for play and the arts, children today are faced with an unprecedented amount of stress and anxiety-25% of 13- to 18-year-olds will experience an anxiety disorder according to the National Institutes of Mental Health. Such early stress levels can negatively impact learning, memory, behavior, and both physical and mental health, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Escalating stress and pressure continue into middle and high school- a survey of 22,000 high school students conducted by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence found that, on average, students reported feeling negative emotions, such as stress, fatigue, and boredom, 75% of the time. An antidote to all this stress has never been needed more. Enter mindfulness.

Case Study: Mindfulness translates into improved academics

The Research on Mindfulness in Schools

While the implementation of school-based mindfulness programs for children in grades K through 12-such as Inner Resilience, Mindful Schools, Learning to Breathe, and MindUp to name just a few-is becoming more popular, empirical research proving the benefits of mindfulness is only beginning to emerge and more rigorous research will be needed over the coming decades. "We know very little about which programs work and what works for whom and under what conditions," said Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, Ph.D., co-author with Robert Roeser of the recently published Handbook of Mindfulness in Education: Integrating Theory and Research into Practice, and a professor and researcher at the University of British Columbia. A 2015 study by Schonert-Reichl looked at the effectiveness of a 12-week social and emotional learning (SEL) program that included mindfulness training. Ninety-nine 4 th and 5 th graders were divided into two groups: one received MindUp's weekly SEL curriculum and the other a social responsibility program already used in Canadian public schools. After analyzing measures, which included behavioral assessments, cortisol levels, feedback from their peers regarding sociability, and academic scores of math grades, the results revealed dramatic differences. Compared to the students who learned the social responsibility program, those trained in mindfulness scored higher in math, had 24% more social behaviors, and were 20% less aggressive. The group trained in mindfulness excelled above the other group in the areas of attention, memory, emotional regulation, optimism, stress levels, mindfulness, and empathy.

Compared to the students who learned the social responsibility program, those trained in mindfulness scored higher in math, had 24% more social behaviors, and were 20% less aggressive.

Although in its early stages, research on the effects of school-based mindfulness programs is being fueled by three decades of studies on adults, which shows promise for its psychological and physiological benefits. Researchers are turning their focus to children and teens to figure out what, when, how much, and from whom the teaching of mindfulness works best. "We don't have conclusive evidence at this point about the benefits or impacts of mindfulness on youth," said Lisa Flook, Ph.D., associate scientist at the Center for Healthy Minds, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "We do see the promise of interventions and trainings on outcomes related to grades, wellbeing, and emotional regulation." In other words, the research looking at the benefits of mindfulness in education is pointing toward the positive.

"Mindfulness is a powerful tool that supports children in calming themselves, focusing their attention, and interacting effectively with others, all critical skills for functioning well in school and in life," said Amy Saltzman, M.D., director of the Association for Mindfulness in Education, and director of Still Quiet Place. "Incorporating mindfulness into education has been linked to improving academic and social and emotional learning. Also, mindfulness strengthens some underlying development processes-such as focus, resilience, and self-soothing-that will help kids in the long run."

This is What a Mindful Classroom Looks Like

No one sees the value of a child's impulse control and focused awareness as clearly as a teacher. Liz Slade, who's been integrating mindfulness into her classroom for the last eight years, once observed a student walk up to a tall structure of blocks being built by a few of her classmates. "I watched this little girl raise her foot to kick the blocks, take a breath and then walk away," she said. "The kids can learn to notice distraction, self-regulate, and ask themselves, 'What do I need?'"

Photo Credit: The Crim Fitness Foundation

Slade came to mindfulness on her own about 10 years ago, and after seeing the benefits in her own life, she started experimenting in the classroom with practices that used breathing and mindful listening. "As I became more knowledgeable, experimenting and seeing what was working, I was really impressed," she said. "The kids verbalized to me that they felt they had tools to use to handle stressful situations, which was very moving to me."

Recognizing the impact of her own practice and the positive effects in her classroom-and with the support of her school's principal, a critical component-Slade went on to apply for a grant for her school to bring in a formal training program called Inner Resilience, created by Linda Lantieri, who is also a founding member of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). From there, the support and enthusiasm spread throughout the Mamaroneck School District among teachers, parents, and the administration, with the Inner Resilience training program now offered to teachers and support staff at all six of its schools, which serve 5,200 students. "The best way to implement mindfulness is in an integrated way with social and emotional learning," said Lantieri. "If we are going to be in schools we need to make sure we are helping kids learn better, and if mindfulness can help with that, great."

"The best way to implement mindfulness is in an integrated way with social and emotional learning," says Linda Lantieri, a founding member of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)

Most experts feel that the best implementation of mindfulness involves a teacher having her own mindfulness practice or at least an understanding. "It is how they teach, not just what they teach, and if a teacher is mindful in a classroom, the kids learn to be mindful," said Tish Jennings, M.Ed., Ph.D., associate professor at the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, who started a program called CARE (Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education) for Teachers. "Teachers are really under a lot of stress and we know their stress affects our kids, so supporting them is a win-win," said Jennings. Her recent research found that teachers trained in the CARE for Teachers program felt less time urgency and were more positive and more sensitive. In addition, children were more engaged and productive.

For Rosalie Choniuk, a teacher at P.S. 94 in the Bronx, New York, learning mindfulness through the CARE for Teachers program has been life-changing. "I am a completely different person since learning mindfulness-mentally, physically and emotionally," said Choniuk. As an ENL (English as a New Language) teacher, Choniuk wears several hats in her school, often providing coverage for teachers when they need to be out of the classroom. Before developing her mindfulness practice, Choniuk grew anxious every time she was to report to a particular fifth-grade classroom, where kids were unruly and fights often broke out. "Now when I go, instead of having anxiety, I set an intention to be calm and deal with them in a positive manner," said Choniuk. "I see the changes in the kids, who are less reactive, and the changes in myself, and now I look forward to being in their class."

Create a Culture of Mindfulness in Schools

If a classroom teacher is not able to provide mindfulness lessons to their class, schools often bring instructors in from outside the school. But long-term mindfulness programs can be difficult to maintain in the classroom with this model. "With an outside person, programs can work insofar as they can train teachers to keep it up," said Trish Broderick, Ph.D., founder of the Learning to Breathe program and a research associate at the Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State University. "The advantage of bringing in a program to teach mindfulness is that it can be replicated and used effectively when taught by teachers or school staff who already have a relationship with the kids."

The Mindful Schools program prefers to call its approach an adoption-where mindfulness begins at the individual teacher level-versus a rollout, or top-down decision made by leadership to implement a new program. "We don't mandate this for all the teachers; we let it grow organically," said Camille Whitney, former head of research at Mindful Schools. "We encourage any number of people to take the course voluntarily, and encourage it as a group so they can practice and build a program together."

Photo Credit: The Crim Fitness Foundation

Integrating mindfulness into a health and wellness curriculum is another alternative for implementation. "Rather than adding on, a program can be supplemented into an existing program," said Broderick, whose Learning to Breathe program is often used as part of a middle or high school's health curriculum.

Last winter, Annie Ward, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the Mamaroneck Union Free School District, wandered into a high school health class during a school visit. Ward was struck to see the students sitting quietly with their eyes closed and feet on the floor, as they listened to a guided meditation the teacher was playing on a CD. "It was great to see this meditation happen with no fanfare, watching the kids settle right into it and seeing that it was clearly a ritual," said Ward.

Transform School Culture

When teaching mindfulness is accepted and embraced, it can change the tone and tenor of an entire school, or district. In 2008, the South Burlington, Vermont, school district began an effort to train teachers and students, using the Inner Resilience program for younger grades, and the Learning to Breathe program for older ones. For two years, almost 130 teachers volunteered to take the mindfulness training, and the program continued to grow and expand more deliberately to include cafeteria staff and bus drivers, totaling 170 trainees.

On top of the school-wide effort, they also invited parents to participate by offering evening mindfulness classes and lectures by local experts and visiting instructors, and in some cases, regular updates from teachers on mindfulness activities in the classroom. Training the teachers before the children and parental involvement were two components integral to the success of the South Burlington district's efforts, according to Marilyn Neagley, former director of Talk About Wellness, an initiative dedicated to funding and developing programs for youth and family wellness.

Including parents when a program is introduced is a way to expose them to what mindfulness is and is not. And then there's the questionable connection to religion, which can, in some communities, be a hot topic. "One of the most important things we learned from public meetings with parents and the community was to be sure the training is completely secular with no religiosity at all," said Neagley. The teaching is based entirely on emerging neuroscience and keeping all references to Buddhism, and words commonly used during yoga, such as namaste, out of the school vernacular is critical. In some schools, the word yoga has been replaced with "mindful movement" so there is no confusion about the ways in which mindfulness is being taught. "What we are teaching is how to pay attention and be more aware, and how to implement that awareness in our lives," said Lantieri. "What we are teaching we teach in a secular context."

One of the most important things we learned from public meetings with parents and the community was to be sure the training is completely secular with no religiosity at all," says Marilyn Neagley, former director of Talk About Wellness.

For systemic change to take place in a district-as it did in South Burlington -administration and teachers need to figure out where mindfulness can fit, how it will work, and what is needed to bring it in. And there needs to be a point person who can move it forward. "Any district I'm working with has a superintendent or assistant superintendent who is thinking five years out, not just about one classroom," said Lantieri. "That's how SEL started, with one teacher who got excited."

After journaling time was over, Liz Slade's kindergarteners gathered again on the rug to do some imagination breaths. Going around the circle, each child paired a breath with a made-up hand movement and named it-a snowflake breath, a jellyfish breath, a clamshell breath-and the rest of the class mimicked the movement. After a while, when the kids got antsy, Slade asked them to get up and jump around. There were wiggles and tumbles and twists and then she said, "Now make a mindful statue." The children froze in place, and all you could hear was the sound of their breath.

Tips and Practices for Teachers and Parents

By Susan Kaiser Greenland

When children and teens practice appreciation painful thoughts and emotions sometimes show up. As parents we often want to ease our children's pain, but children can easily misinterpret guidance to be thankful as an indication that we're minimizing their challenges, even when that's not the case. So how should we help when painful emotions do come up? We should encourage kids to view how they feel through a wide lens, not to gloss over their feelings or push them aside. When kids acknowledge their hurt feelings and remember the good things in their lives, they embody an open mind. There's a practice I like to do called Three Good Things that gives children a chance to practice this holistic mind-set when they're upset and they need it the most.

Appreciation Practice: Three Good Things

When faced with a disappointment, we acknowledge our feelings, and then we think of three good things in our lives, too.

Leading the game:

1. Ask your child: "Do you ever feel disappointed by something or someone?"
Listen to children's stories.

2. Ask: "How did that make you feel? "
Acknowledge children's feelings and, if appropriate, talk about them.

3. Say something like: "I bet even when you're feeling disappointed there are good things happening in your life too. Let's name three good things together."

Tips for naming three good things:

1. Remind children that the point of this game isn't to pretend they're not upset when they feel upset. It's to remember that they can feel two things at once: they can feel grateful for good things while feeling sad, hurt, or disappointed by challenges.

2. If children or teens have trouble thinking of three good things on their own, brainstorm and help them discover some.

3. When kids understand that this game is not about sweeping their feelings under the rug, the phrase "three good things" can become a playful and humorous response to the minor gripes that show up in family life. For instance, if a young child spills a glass of apple juice and looks like he's going to cry, you can respond with something like, "Ahhh, that can be frustrating. Can you name Three Good Things while we wipe the counter?"

4. Parents can encourage kids to remind them to name Three Good Things when they're stuck on a trivial disappointment or minor annoyance, too.

5. To develop a habit of thankfulness, play Three Good Things around the dinner table, before bedtime, and at other times when the family is together (and no one is upset).

The more families carve out time to practice appreciation when life is good, the easier it is for parents and children to be thankful for the good things in life when times are hard.

At first, appreciation and thankfulness may feel like a mere intellectual exercise. Yet the more families carve out time to practice appreciation when life is good, the easier it is for parents and children to be thankful for the good things in life when times are hard. When that shift happens, appreciation becomes an integral part of a family's worldview and is no longer just an intellectual exercise.
This article was excerpted from Mindful Games © 2016 by Susan Kaiser Greenland. Illustrations © 2016 by Lindsay DuPont. Reprinted in arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boulder, CO.

A Guide To Bringing Mindfulness into Your School

What can you do to bring mindfulness into your child's school? What are the best strategies, practices, and resources to implement a mindfulness program? Implementing a school-wide mindfulness program can take several years, so create a well-thought-out plan that includes presenting programming to parents and faculty. Be patient-making changes in schools can be a lengthy process. Here are a few things to consider:

Why teach mindfulness?
1) Kids are stressed.

1 in 8 children in the United States suffers from Anxiety Disorders. (National Institutes of Health)

1 in 5 children suffers from a mental health or learning disorder, and 80% of chronic mental disorders begin in childhood. (Child Mind Institute)

2) Teachers are stressed.

According to research, most teachers experience job stress at least two to four times a day, with more than 75% of teachers' health problems attributed to stress. (National Education Association)

The Benefits of mindfulness

Studies show that the benefits of mindfulness may include:

Increased focus, attention, self-control, classroom participation, compassion

Improved academic performance, ability to resolve conflict, overall well-being

Decreased levels of stress, depression, anxiety, disruptive behavior

How to bring mindfulness into schools

Start with teachers. Teachers are the vehicle for integrating change into a school's culture. Is there a teacher who already has a mindfulness practice, and is willing to champion the effort to bring mindfulness into your child's school? If not, are there teachers willing to learn more about the benefits of mindfulness for themselves, as well as their students?

Know the science. The research on teaching mindfulness to children is only in its beginning stages, yet there are studies that show its impact on both the body and the brain. Scientific evidence is an important component for bringing administrators and faculty to embrace your plan.
A few key studies:

A 2016 study in Frontiers in Psychology measured emotional well-being of 7- to 9-year-olds and found that a school-based mindfulness program improves higher-order thinking, and helps students become more engaged, positive learners.

A randomized controlled study in the Journal of School Psychology on more than 100 6th grade students found those who completed classroom-based, teacher-implemented mindfulness meditation were significantly less likely to develop suicidal ideation or thoughts of self-harm than the control groups.

A study of 4th and 5th graders published in Developmental Psychology found that students who received mindfulness training improved their cognitive ability and stress physiology, reported greater empathy, perspective-taking, emotional control, and optimism, showed greater decreases in self-reported symptoms of depression and peer-rated aggression, and were more popular.

Engage faculty, administrators, and parents. Including parents and school staff-and ideally support staff, such as aides, bus drivers, and cafeteria workers-will provide the basis for the most effective implementation of a school-based mindfulness program. If there is hesitation or resistance to mindfulness, take the time to offer the facts, benefits, and science, and emphasize the importance of teaching mindfulness in school in an entirely secular way.

Look for developmentally appropriate practices. Mindfulness in schools comes in different shapes and sizes-just like the kids-so research the programs that fit specifically with the ages in your school. There are some designed for the youngest ages, which differ in style and content from those designed for older grades.

Which mindfulness program is right for your teachers?

There are a variety of programs you can consider recommending to teachers and administrators, or for your own training. Some are online, some use recordings, and some may require in-person training. Here are a few to consider:

4. Cheryl Brause
Mindfulness Instructor
Daniel Warren School * Rye Neck, New York

On a recent visit to the Daniel Warren School, where she's a visiting mindfulness instructor, Cheryl Brause entered a second-grade classroom, sat down, and made eye contact with the children who settled on the floor in front of her. "Instead of feeling the need to tell them what to do, I could simply acknowledge them one by one, silently welcoming them into our time together, and this let them know that I am here to listen and to be present with them as we explore mindfulness together," said Brause. As her own practice and knowledge deepened through a yearlong mindful educator certification that she completed this summer, Brause recognizes the changes in her experience. "I'm much less distracted while teaching, thinking less about what I need to accomplish, and more present and focused on the kids, allowing the lesson to flow from there."

Brause came to mindfulness as a means to slow down and be more present in her own life. It began with a yoga practice, and after trying a variety of types of meditation, it was an MBSR class that exposed her to mindfulness. "I realized how quickly mindfulness resonated with me and made a real difference in my everyday life," said Brause. "It made me realize how distracted I had been and how little time I spent being fully present."

10 Mindful Books for Adults

1. Mindfulness for Teachers: Simple Skills for Peace and Productivity in the Classroom, by Patricia A. Jennings.

2. Teach, Breathe, Learn: Mindfulness In and Out of the Classroom, by Meena Srinivasan.

3. The Mindful Child: How to Help Your Kid Manage Stress and Become Happier, Kinder, and More Compassionate, Susan Kaiser Greenland.

4. Learning to Breathe: A Mindfulness Curriculum for Adolescents to Cultivate Emotion Regulation, Attention, and Performance, by Patricia C. Broderick.

5. A Still Quiet Place: A Mindfulness Program for Teaching Children and Adolescents to Ease Stress and Difficult Emotions, by Amy Saltzman, MD

6. Growing Up Mindful: Essential Practices to Help Children, Teens, and Families Find Balance, Calm, and Resilience, by Christopher Willard, Psy D

7. The Stress Reduction Workbook for Teens: Mindfulness Skills to Help You Deal with Stress by Gina M. Biegel

8. Mindfulness for the Next Generation: Helping Emerging Adults Manage Stress and Lead Healthier Lives by Holly Rogers, MD, and Margaret Maytan, MD

9. Teaching Mindfulness Skills to Kids and Teens Hardcover by Christopher Willard PsyD and Amy Saltzman MD

10. Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain Hardcover , by Daniel J.Siegel, MD

8 Mindful Books for Children & Teens

1. Visiting Feelings, by Lauren Rubenstein

2. Peaceful Piggy Meditation by Kerry Lee Maclean

3. Sitting Still Like a Frog: Mindfulness Exercises for Kids (and Their Parents), by Eline Snel.

4. Take the Time: Mindfulness for Kids, by Maud Roegiers

5. Have You Filled a Bucket Today? By Carol McCloud

6. Lemonade Hurricane, by Licia Morelli and Jennifer Morris

7. What does it mean to be Present? By Rana DiOrio and Eliza Wheeler

8. Anh's Anger, by Gail Silver

Read More

So much of communication is actually not about what we say. It's about how we come across, the tone of our voice, our body language, and all of that is an expression of our internal state. So this is one of the reasons why mindfulness is such an essential and... Read More

If you're trying to bring this into a school, or into an organization, you find the person most likely who's going to be open to it, and you start there. Maybe, you just start in that one classroom. Find a Mindfulness Ally I have a friend, she's a nutritionist and... Read More

Join the Mindful Educators Community: A free resource for teachers, students and communities

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Best Practices for Bringing Mindfulness into Schools Creating a safe place for our kids to learn might begin with creating some space for them to breathe.

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I am the mother of a child with special needs. My daughter is 11 and was born with her brain's prefrontal lobe not fully developed. The condition is called pachygyria. If you Google it (which is the first thing I did when we were given our official diagnosis), you will be presented with a stifling litany of sites professing the medical challenges and potentially dire possibilities.

The current reality for my daughter: She is physically agile but has fairly extensive learning delays and mood highs/lows... and, at this point, we are seizure-free.

Now, on the other side of my life, I am a long-term practitioner and teacher of meditation and mindfulness. With all of the challenges presented with my daughter, I can honestly say that this practice has been my saving grace. I've had periods of anger and deep frustration but never to the point of sheer depression or hopelessness. Every time I felt like I was at a point of no return, it always pulled me forward with new direction, hope and perspective.

That is why I am writing this today and why one of my missions is to show parents who have kids on the autism spectrum, with learning disabilities (ADD, dyslexia, etc.), with hearing/sight challenges, with emotional or other physical challenges, how amazingly important and altering this practice can be. I know -- I live it every day. So, from my personal perspective:

1. Mindfulness helps parents of children with special needs gracefully maneuver stress.

Having children is stressful. I have a typically-developing child and a non-typical. They both carry their own variety of challenges, but I have to say that having a non-typical child is profoundly different. There are so many more unknowns. For example, with my typical kid it is pretty easy to assume that she will go to college, live on her own, support herself. I don't know any of that with my other... get my drift.

My non-typical child also has drastic challenges with temper. From moment to moment you might get the incredibly cherubic child or the intense spitting, kicking, frustrated one.

So, on the daily spectrum, mindfulness gives me space to breathe. When my daughter is having a frustrated moment, it allows me the bandwidth to step out of my own frustration, to calm it, and to be with her in a connected, balanced way. Basically, it helps me to not get caught up in the drama and to focus on that strong part within myself. Now, I am SO PROUD to say I am even able to laugh when the stomping/yelling occurs -- a huge step for me. And, as a result, the whole situation lightens within seconds.

2. Mindfulness helps parents accept situations and allows them to work through them with more ease and confidence.

(a) Mindfulness has given me the freedom to not worry about what other people think when I am in a tough situation outside the home with my daughter. My daughter looks typical, so when she acts "different" it causes heads to turn. Through my practice I have learned that my daughter's actions aren't a reflection of me or of my mothering skills -- they just are what they are. And my practice has also opened me up to much more frankness and honesty. If I know that there is a possibility that she may get upset, I give folks around me the heads up. I find that most people want to understand and can quickly exude great compassion.

(b) I also have learned to accept what is happening in front of me without attaching labels or if xx happens today, it means xx for the future. I have learned to take a dose of reality but not to let it dictate my life or my daughter's life.

3. Mindfulness gives parents of children with special needs the opportunity to see the bigger picture.

I can't tell you how many times I have wished/hoped that this situation was not mine. However, over time my mindfulness practice has shown me the beauty of my daughter's situation. Yes, I can easily express how much of a pain in the ass it has been, but if I really look deeply, I can give you 100 times more amazing things that it has brought to my life. One of the big ones: Her issue led me to one of my most amazing and helpful teachers. I also see how her situation was so necessary in my life to help me work on some of my big challenges (my control issues, learning to be more flexible and trusting, learning to lighten up, etc.). I also see how she has pushed me to better myself and that girl won't let me slack off. In my case, she reflects back to me what it is I need to work on. Talk about an awesome challenge. And, if she didn't think I could handle it, she wouldn't be here today. I know my daughter ultimately trusted that we would both bring out the best in each other. That is an awesome wonderful thing to feel and trust.

My daughter has been the biggest source of pain/fear, the biggest love of my life, the biggest challenge, the biggest success... she is the fullest expression of everything that life has to offer. If I hadn't been doing meditation/mindfulness, chances are I would have missed big pieces of that.

And, as a final word, I wish all of you could see how she and I were together five years ago compared to now. Our journey together is now so much more gentle, accepting and peaceful. My daughter also practices, which is tremendous... but that is another story!

For more by Eden Kozlowski, click here.

For more on emotional wellness, click here.

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Why More Parents Should Consider A Mindfulness Practice

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I am the mother of a child with special needs. My daughter is 11 and was born with her brain's prefrontal lobe not fully developed. The condition is called pachygyria. If you Google it (which is the first thing I did when we were given our official diagnosis), you will be presented with a stifling litany of sites professing the medical challenges and potentially dire possibilities.

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Social and Emotional Learning

Research shows that taking some time each day to practice mindfulness as a class helps students prepare themselves for learning.

This video is part of our How Learning Happens series, which explores teaching practices grounded in the science of learning and human development.

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Social and Emotional Learning Research shows that taking some time each day to practice mindfulness as a class helps students prepare themselves for learning. This video is part of our How Learning Happens series, which explores teaching practices grounded in the science of learning and human development.

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Applying Mindfulness to Mundane Classroom Tasks

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By adding a fun, creative element of focus and stillness to a classroom routine, you can help your students learn to appreciate and practice self-regulation.

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Mindfulness is not only a popular topic for researchers and academics; it's also becoming quite the mainstream phenomenon.

One of the reasons for the popularity of mindfulness is its simplicity. It is easy (relatively, anyway), inexpensive, and can be practiced by anyone at any time.

Although it might sound like madness trying to teach mindfulness concepts to young children, it's actually perfectly suited for educational settings-and those settings in which it is most difficult to implement mindfulness are generally the ones that need it the most!

Read on to learn more about mindfulness in education, why it's a good thing, how it can be effectively incorporated into the curriculum, and what kinds of training and learning opportunities exist for you.

Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our 3 Mindfulness Exercises for free. These science-based, comprehensive exercises will not only help you cultivate a sense of inner peace throughout your daily life but will also give you the tools to enhance the mindfulness of your students, clients or employees.

What is Mindfulness Education?

"Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally."

Jon Kabat-Zinn (1994)

Mindfulness education is exactly what it sounds like: the purposeful inclusion of mindfulness and mindful meditation principles, theories, and practices into education. (See the definition of mindfulness.)

The goals of mindfulness education are to help students learn:

Self-awareness

Techniques to calm and focus the mind

Mindful communication

Applying mindfulness skills to everyday life (iBme, n.d.)

If you do a quick Google search on "mindfulness education" or "mindfulness in education", our trusty search engine will turn up millions of results. Many of these results will take you to pages about specific training programs or curricula on incorporating mindfulness into education.

Some focus on teaching mindfulness to students. Some focus on teaching educators how to teach mindfulness to students. Others might focus on teaching the administrative staff, parents, or the community as a whole. While their targeted audience may differ, the end results are usually the same: positive outcomes.

The Research on Teaching Mindfulness in Schools

Mindfulness as a subject and guiding principle in school has been a popular topic of research in recent decades, which means we have a lot of information on how mindfulness is best applied in schools and how this benefits students, teachers, and the community at large.

How to Teach and Apply Mindfulness

Researcher Erica Baxter (n.d.) from Surya Chandra Healing Yoga has some helpful suggestions for those looking to implement mindfulness programs in their school:

1. Ensure that support comes from the top down.

2. Teachers and staff should have training to help them reinforce any lessons taught by professional mindfulness instructors.

3. Teachers should show full support for the mindfulness program to encourage their students.

4. Parents should be involved and incorporate some aspects of mindfulness practice at home; a separate course for parents may be a best practice.

Richard Burnett (2009) echoes some of Baxter's sentiments but gets a bit more specific as well. According to him, it's vital for teachers and instructors of mindfulness to:

Strike a balance between variety and structure in mindful activity; there must be some repetition to allow students to build up their practice, but too much and you will find them disengaged.

Offer a long-term, "drip feed" approach to mindfulness when possible; students may learn better with this method rather than the intense, all-at-once method that adults are subjected to.

Be flexible! Some exercises and lessons simply won't work with space and resources available to you in the classroom, and you need to be ready for that.

If you've decided to start incorporating mindfulness into your classroom, this evidence-based introductory lesson from the Mindful Schools organization can help you get started. It includes an exercise on mindful listening, a quick wrap-up, and a short journal entry to engage your students in mindfulness practice.

For more information and other ideas on how to get your students into mindfulness, check out the Activities and Teaching Resources page at the Mindful Teachers website-it's got a bunch of good suggestions!

25 Benefits of Incorporating Mindfulness in the Classroom

The Mindful Schools organization lists ten major areas in which studies have shown mindfulness can have a positive impact, including:

Attention and focus

Better grades

More effective emotion regulation

Better behavior in school

Greater empathy and perspective-taking

Better social skills

Reduced test anxiety

Less stress

Decreased frequency/severity of posttraumatic symptoms

Lower rates/severity of depression

These findings are indeed backed up by research; a 2015 study on mindfulness education in schools found that:

1. Mindfulness helps students and staff manage their stress more effectively and work through it more quickly.

2. Frequent mindfulness practice-even micro-sessions of a few minutes or less-imparts health benefits.

3. Research suggests that mindfulness programs can improve cognitive performance as well as resilience to stress.

4. Mindfulness programs are easily developed and adapted for specific ages and contexts.

5. It is relatively easy to incorporate mindfulness into schools, provided there is sensitivity to the developmental stages and needs of the students (Bostic et al., 2015).

Further, a review by Erica Baxter (n.d.) found that mindfulness has proven to help children and adolescents with:

Reducing their anxiety.

Helping them reduce and/or manage their stress.

Improving their attention and ability to focus.

Managing their emotion reactivity.

Increasing their self-awareness and self-regulation.

Helping them find peace.

Encouraging their ability to calm themselves and regulate their emotions.

Improving their executive function and higher-order abilities (i.e., planning, strategic thinking).

Decreasing their test anxiety through enhancing memory and concentration, and reducing mind-wandering/daydreaming.

Mitigating or reducing ADHD symptoms.

What Does a Mindfulness Curriculum Include?

A mindfulness curriculum generally includes mindfulness content delivered in short weekly (or more frequent) sessions that involves both the principles of mindfulness and the practice of mindfulness.

Depending on the specific school and the program they choose, the curriculum may include information on important concepts and definitions (e.g., awareness, acceptance, mindfulness, meditation), exercises (e.g., the body scan, mindful breathing, mindful awareness of the senses), and other mindfulness content that can be used by students in class or at home (e.g., guided meditations, relaxation imagery, written instructions, videos).

For specific ideas on what to include in a mindfulness curriculum, check out the resources and activities listed below.

31 Resources and Activities to Implement Mindfulness

We'll start with the youngest group and work our way to adults. So first up-teaching mindfulness to toddlers and preschoolers!

Using Mindfulness in Early Childhood Education and Preschool

This great piece from Cassie Nguyen (2017) at TeachStarter describes 18 quick mindfulness activities you can use to promote mindfulness in your classroom.

You could implement the quick Mindful Breathing exercise:

Students can stand or sit for this activity.

sk students to put both hands on their belly.

Students should close their eyes, or look down to their hands.

Guide students in taking three slow deep breaths in and out to see if they can feel their hands being moved.

You may like to count "1, 2, 3" for each breath in and "1, 2, 3" for each breath out, pausing slightly at the end of each exhale.

Encourage students to think about how the breath feels, answering the following questions silently, in their mind.
o What is moving your hands? Is it the air filling your lungs?
o Can you feel the air moving in through your nose?
o Can you feel it moving out through your nose?
o Does the air feel a little colder on the way in and warmer on the way out?
o Can you hear your breath?
o What does it sound like?

Or, you might want to try the Body Scan exercise for children:

Students lay on the floor, with their eyes closed if they are comfortable (or they may prefer to look at the ceiling).

Encourage students to pay attention to their feet for 5 or 10 seconds.

Questions to ask during a body scan:
o How does this body part feel?
o Is it cold or warm?
o Does it feel tight or relaxed?
o Is all or part of that body part touching the floor?
o Or clothing?
o What does that feel like?

Move on to their toes, then ankles, then calves and knees. Continue body part by body part until you reach the head.

Question how each part of the body feels to bring students' awareness to their body in the moment.

If there is tightness or stress, imagine breathing the stress out of that part of the body with each exhale.

You could also try the Mindful Steps exercise:

This activity is best completed outdoors and if suitable, students may like to walk barefoot.

Give students a clear boundary for where they can walk during this activity.

Each student selects a small area where they can walk in a line for about 5 or 6 steps and back then back to where they started without getting into another person's way.

Begin this practice with three deep breaths, or the Shark Fin activity (#4 above).

Take 5 or 6 steps in one direction, turn slowly and then take 5 or 6 steps back to where you started.

While walking, students bring their awareness to their breath and their body.
o What does the ground feel like under your feet?
o Which part of your foot touches the ground first when you take a step?
o Does your body feel heavy or light today?
o Are you slouching when you walk?
o Or, is your back up quite straight?
o Try not to change the way you walk, but instead just notice how your body naturally moves.

If none of these catch your attention, perhaps you would like students to find the rhythm of their Heartbeat:

You might like to begin this practice with three deep breaths, or the Shark Fin activity (#4 above).

Students place their fingers or hands over the part of their body where they can best feel their pulse:
o On the side of their neck, under their jaw,
o Inside their wrist, or
o Over their heart.

Ask students to close their eyes and notice how quickly or slowly their heart is beating.

Encourage them to think about their current state of emotion and consider if this might be connected to how quickly or slowly their heart is beating.

Direct students to stand and jump up and down on the spot ten times.

Students return to sitting and feel their heartbeat again, noticing any changes.

Students may like to close their eyes and focus on their heartbeat until it slows back down.

Mindfulness Education for Elementary and Primary School

While many of the exercises above will work for older children as well, there are some exercises and activities specifically designed for children in elementary/primary school.

Kaia Roman (2015) from Mind Body Green offers 7 fun ways to teach mindfulness to children of this age, including the Bell Listening Exercise:

Ring a bell and ask the kids to listen closely to the vibration of the ringing sound.

Tell them to remain silent and raise their hands when they no longer hear the sound of the bell.

Then tell them to remain silent for one minute and pay close attention to the other sounds they hear once the ringing has stopped.

After, go around in a circle and ask the kids to tell you every sound they noticed during that minute. This exercise is not only fun and gets the kids excited about sharing their experiences with others, but really helps them connect to the present moment and the sensitivity of their perceptions.

You could also try Roman's Breathing Buddies exercise:

Hand out a stuffed animal to each child (or another small object). If room allows, have the children lie down on the floor and place the stuffed animals on their bellies.

Tell them to breathe in silence for one minute and notice how their Breathing Buddy moves up and down, and any other sensations that they notice. Tell them to imagine that the thoughts that come into their minds turn into bubbles and float away.

The presence of the Breathing Buddy makes the meditation a little friendlier and allows the kids to see how a playful activity doesn't necessarily have to be rowdy.

If you really want to engage the students' senses in their mindfulness practice, try the Smell & Tell exercise:

Pass something fragrant out to each child, such as a piece of fresh orange peel, a sprig of lavender or a jasmine flower.

Ask them to close their eyes and breathe in the scent, focusing all of their attention only on the smell of that object. Scent can really be a powerful tool for anxiety-relief (among other things!).

Another sense-focused exercise is called The Art of Touch:

Give each child an object to touch, such as a ball, a feather, a soft toy, a stone, etc.

Ask them to close their eyes and describe what the object feels like to a partner.

Then, have the partners trade places. Both this exercise and the previous one are simple, but compelling, ways to teach the kids the practice of isolating their senses from one another, and tuning into distinct experiences.

Click here to see the other mindfulness exercises for young students.

1. The Mindful Jar

This exercise by Karen Young (2015) at Hey Sigmund is a great tool you can use as an educator or a parent to introduce your charges to mindfulness.

Follow Young's instructions to create a mindful jar:

Start with a jar and fill it almost to the top with water. Into the water, add a few big dollops of glitter glue (or school glue and dry glitter). Pop on the lid and give the jar a shake.

Here are some words:
'Imagine that the glitter is like your thoughts when you're stressed, mad or upset. See how they whirl around and make it really hard to see clearly? That's why it's so easy to make silly decisions when you're upset - because you're not thinking clearly. Don't worry this is normal and it happens in all of us (yep, grownups too). [Now put the jar down in front of them.] Now watch what happens when you're still for a couple of moments. Keep watching. See how the glitter starts to settle and the water clears? Your mind works the same way. When you're calm for a little while, your thoughts start to settle and you start to see things much clearer.'

The beautiful part of this exercise is that while they are learning about their emotional selves, they are also engaging in an act of mindfulness as they watch the glitter fall to the bottom of the jar.

2. The Mindful Snack

If it's around snack time, you might find this activity from Young (2015) to be even more engaging.

Here's how you do it.

Next time you have a bite to eat together, try mindful eating for a few minutes. Use a script like this to guide your children through the exercise:

'Let's try something called mindful eating. It's where you slow things down when you eat so you can notice things you don't usually notice. What does your food feel like to touch? What about the smell? What if you squish it a little - what does that feel like? Now take a bite but chew very slowly. Really notice your mouth moving up and down. Can you feel the food against your tongue and between your teeth. What does it taste like? What does it feel like? Keep chewing for a little while (20 to 30 seconds). When you're ready, notice what the food feels like as it moves down your throat and towards your belly.'

Mindfulness Education for High School Students

The tack you'll want to take with older students (those in junior high and high school) is a bit different-rather than focusing on being silly and having fun, they may appreciate a simple break from the grind and some good information on how mindfulness can help them.

1. A Mindful Moment

Start with a quick exercise that's simple yet effective, like beginning class with a mindful moment.

Here are the instructions from Sarah Beach at Left Brain Buddha (n.d.):

For middle and high school students, the school day is pretty busy! Science to math to history to PE to English to Spanish, punctuated by the crazy state-fair midway chaos known as "passing time." Even in elementary school, kids spend a lot of their day taking in information, responding to the environment, interacting with others, and otherwise just being "ON." We rarely give them a moment to pause, settle their nervous system, and refocus their attention and energy on a new task.

At the beginning of class, or after a transition, you can take a mindful moment: invite kids to close their eyes (if they're comfortable doing so), and take a few deep breaths. They can pay attention to breathing - what does it feel like when they breathe in and out? Or they can notice their thoughts - is their mind really busy or quiet right now?

2. A Mindful Break

This clever exercise comes from a middle school teacher at the 2015 Education Minnesota conference and can be a fun and engaging way for older students to practice mindfulness (and get a sense of autonomy and responsibility to boot!).

This is how to do it:

1. At the beginning of each class, assign a bell to one student. Pick a different student each class. During that day's lesson, the student is instructed to ring the bell when he or she feels the class needed a break (you may want to set some limits here, such as no more than two breaks during a 50-minute class).

2. When the student rings the bell, even if the teacher is mid-sentence, the class will stop. In silence, everyone will stand up and stretch, and then sit down for 30 seconds or so of mindful breathing. Then, the student who rang the bell will prompt students to silently think of something they are grateful for.

3. After this brief interruption (it should only take a minute or two), the class will resume where it stopped.

4. This is a quick practice that gives both students and teachers a well-deserved and often much-needed break. Giving students ownership over the break and mindfulness exercise enhances their engagement in the practice, and it can also give the teacher valuable information about when students' attention is waning.

3. Check in With Your Attention

If giving a student free reign with a bell doesn't sound like it will work in your classroom, try the attention check exercise instead.

In this exercise, you (the teacher) will keep control of the schedule and you can introduce it when you see fit. You can have students practice this exercise at any point in the class, even during the middle of a lesson if you think students really need it.

To implement it, all you need to do is stop whatever the class is doing and tell the students to hit pause and check in with their attention. Ask them:

Is your attention here, in class?

Was your mind wandering?

If so, where did your attention go?

At this point, you should be sure to tell them that a little mind-wandering is totally normal and healthy, but emphasize that they ultimately have control over their mind; they can catch their wandering brain in the act and gently guide it back to the present if they so desire!

Encourage them to take a moment to notice what their mind is doing and remind them that they have a choice about where to direct their attention.

4. End with a Mindful Moment

To bookend your mindfulness lesson (or your class in general), try this exercise. It's a good way to give "closure" to the lesson in a way that is likely more mindful, calm, and peaceful way than usual!

Here's what you do:

1. At the end of class, give students around 3 to 5 minutes to focus on their breathing. Instruct them to close their eyes if that feels comfortable, and simply focus on their breath-coming in, and going out.

2. Tell the students to think about what they have learned and accomplished in class today.

3. Give them a few quiet minutes to settle and bring themselves back into balance.

4. End with a positive statement; this can be about how much you care about them, how much you believe in them, or how hard they worked today.

This simple activity can act as an excellent closing activity for your lesson.

To see these exercises from Sarah Rudell Beach in more detail, read about them here.

Mindfulness Education for Continuing and Higher Education

If you work with college students, graduate students, or continuing professionals (or if you belong to one of those groups yourself), never fear-there are mindfulness opportunities and resources for you too!

Not only can most of the activities and exercises above be adapted for use with young adults, and not only do most of the mindfulness-based stress reduction ( MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy exercises (MBCT) also apply for college students, there are many organizations that specifically target this audience in both mindfulness research and application.

If you're interested in making mindfulness a central component of your education-related career, you should definitely get familiar with the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education (ACMHE). This organization is described as:

"a multidisciplinary academic association with an international membership of educators, administrators, staff, students, researchers, and other professionals committed to the transformation of higher education through the recovery and development of the contemplative dimensions of teaching, learning, and knowing" ( ACMHE).

You might also be interested in the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Mindfulness for Educators program, a program designed to help educators teach, manage stress, and balance their work and life more effectively. Learn more by clicking here.

If you're a college student or if you work directly with college students, you should know about Koru Mindfulness. Koru Mindfulness is:

"an evidence-based curriculum specifically designed for teaching mindfulness, meditation, and stress management to college students and other young adults."

It consists of three core components:

1. Koru Basic - an introduction to mindfulness and meditation, taught as a weekly, 75-minute class over four weeks by a trained and certified Koru Teacher.

2. Koru 2.0 - an "advanced" class for students who have completed Koru Basic and are eager for more mindfulness; this course also consists of weekly, 75-minute classes taught over four weeks.

3. Koru Retreat - a half-day silent mindfulness retreat for students wanting to try a more intense mindfulness experience.

Koru Mindfulness also offers training for teachers to deliver the mindfulness curriculum. Click here to learn more about all of Koru's offerings.

An online offering that is accessible no matter where you are located, is the Mindfulness X Masterclass. This is a fully comprehensive, ready to go program helping you to deliver science-based mindfulness training. This class will ensure more people can experience the powerful effects of mindfulness.

If you are an educator or counselor, the course is highly recommended by healthcare practitioners and trainers who have already completed the course.

Mindfulness Education in the UK and Ireland

If you're based in the UK or Ireland and you're interested in learning more about mindfulness education (as either a student/participant or as a teacher or administrator), you have several options available to you. Check out the organizations and links below to learn more.

The Mindfulness Initiative Training for Kids (UK, link)

Oxford Mindfulness Centre MBCT Teacher Training Pathway (UK, link)

Professional Training in the Applied Use of Mindfulness for Children from the British Mindfulness Institute (UK, link)

Mindfulness Centre Professional Training (Ireland, link)

Irish Mindfulness Institute, Mindfulness Courses (Ireland, link)

Irish Mindfulness Academy Courses for Individuals, Professionals, Diploma in Mindfulness and Positive Psychology, Mindfulness for Wellbeing in Schools (Ireland, link)

Being Mindful Online Mindfulness Training (online, but based in Ireland)

The Mindfulness in Schools Project (Training)

The Mindfulness in Schools Project is perhaps the most well-known and influential mindfulness in education training program in the UK, and they offer tons of helpful resources, classes, and full-length trainings that you may find helpful.

Check out the links below to see for yourself:

For other resources and UK-based training programs on parent and teacher mindfulness, check out this link.

Mindfulness Education in Australia and NZ

There are also a few different options in Australia and New Zealand, including a couple that have really taken off. Check out the links and organizations in this list to learn more:

Mindfulness for Primary School Classroom Teachers One-Day Training (Lismore Area, Northern NSW) (Website)

Mindfulness Skills for Teacher Well-Being (Australia) (Website)

Whole of School Mindfulness Programs (customized to the school; in Australia) (Website)

Kids Matter AU Upcoming Sessions (Australia) (Website)

Mindfulness Meditation Australia Courses (Australia) (Website)

Pause, Breath, Smile Educator Training from the Mindfulness Education Group (New Zealand) (Website)

Mindful Parenting and Teacher Training Programmes from Mindful NZ Schools (New Zealand) (Website)

The Mindfulness in Education Network Conference

The Mindfulness in Education Network (or MiEN) is an organization that was established by students, colleagues, and peers of Zen Master and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh. This group came together in 2001 to affirm that mindfulness can act as a treatment and prevention measure to the increasing stress, conflict, and confusion in both educational settings and in the world overall.

Each year since 2008, the MiEN organizes a conference to host mindfulness researchers, educators, instructors, and anyone interested in the benefits of mindfulness in education.

To learn more about upcoming conferences, visit the official website or take a look at our dedicated post detailing a range of upcoming positive psychology events.

Recommended Books and Handbooks

As a hot topic in psychology and in pop culture lately, it's no surprise that there are a ton of books on mindfulness out there. If you're interested in learning more, check out our recommendations here:

Mindfulness for Teachers: Simple Skills for Peace and Productivity in the Classroom by Patricia A. Jennings (Amazon)

The Way of Mindful Education: Cultivating Well-Being in Teachers and Students by Daniel Rechtschaffen (Amazon)

Happy Teachers Change the World: A Guide for Cultivating Mindfulness in Education by Thich Nhat Hanh & Katherine Weare (Amazon)

Cultivating Mindfulness in the Classroom by Jeanie M. Iberlin and Mike Ruyle (Amazon)

The Mindful Education Workbook: Lessons for Teaching Mindfulness to Students by Daniel Rechtschaffen (Amazon)

Handbook of Mindfulness in Education: Integrating Theory and Research into Practice by Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl and Robert W. Roeser (Amazon)

Everybody Present: Mindfulness in Education by Nikolaj Rotne and Diddle Flor Rotne (Amazon)

Important TED Talks

If TED Talks are more your "style" than books, you're in luck! There are five great TED Talks on mindfulness, specifically mindfulness in education, that you can watch whenever you find the time:

Mindfulness in Schools by Richard Burnett

Mindfulness in Education, Learning from the Inside Out by Amy Burke

Why Aren't We Teaching You Mindfulness? By AnneMarie Rossi

All it Takes is 10 Mindful Minutes by Andy Puddicombe

Mindfulness and Neural Integration by Daniel Siegel

A Take-Home Message

I hope this piece has sparked your interest in learning more about incorporating mindfulness in education, or-better yet-sparked your interest in actually doing it!

The research behind mindfulness in education is not completely unanimous in its positive findings, and there may be some as-yet-unknown factors that impact outcomes, but it's pretty clear that practicing mindfulness doesn't do any harm!

If this piece captured your attention and you want to dive deeper into the possibilities presented by incorporating mindfulness into education, please refer to the links above and the references to learn more.

Do you have any experience incorporating mindfulness into the classroom? Have you encountered it as a student, as a teacher/instructor, or both? What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments section!

Thanks for reading, and may you stay present and grateful for each moment!

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don't forget to download our 3 Mindfulness Exercises for free.

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Mindfulness in Education: 31+ Ways of Teaching Mindfulness in Schools

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Mindfulness is not only a popular topic for researchers and academics; it's also becoming quite the mainstream phenomenon. One of the reasons for the popularity of mindfulness is its simplicity. It is easy (relatively, anyway), inexpensive, and can be practiced by anyone at any time.

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Our true home is not in the past. Our true home is not in the future. Our true home is in the here and the now. Life is available only in the here and the now, and it is our true home.

Mindfulness is the energy that helps us recognize the conditions of happiness that are already present in our lives. You don't have to wait ten years to experience this happiness. It is present in every moment of your daily life. There are those of us who are alive but don't know it. But when you breathe in, and you are aware of your in-breath, you touch the miracle of being alive. That is why mindfulness is a source of happiness and joy.

Most people are forgetful; they are not really there a lot of the time. Their mind is caught in their worries, their fears, their anger, and their regrets, and they are not mindful of being there. That state of being is called forgetfulness-you are there but you are not there. You are caught in the past or in the future. You are not there in the present moment, living your life deeply. That is forgetfulness.

The opposite of forgetfulness is mindfulness. Mindfulness is when you are truly there, mind and body together. You breathe in and out mindfully, you bring your mind back to your body, and you are there. When your mind is there with your body, you are established in the present moment. Then you can recognize the many conditions of happiness that are in you and around you, and happiness just comes naturally.

Mindfulness practice should be enjoyable, not work or effort. Do you have to make an effort to breath in? You don't need to make an effort. To breathe in, you just breathe in. Suppose you are with a group of people contemplating a beautiful sunset. Do you have to make an effort to enjoy the beautiful sunset? No, you don't have to make any effort. You just enjoy it.

The same thing is true with your breath. Allow your breath to take place. Become aware of it and enjoy it. Effortlessness. Enjoyment. The same thing is true with walking mindfully. Every step you take is enjoyable. Every step helps you to touch the wonders of life, in yourself and around you. Every step is peace. Every step is joy. That is possible.

During the time you are practicing mindfulness, you stop talking-not only the talking outside, but the talking inside. The talking inside is the thinking, the mental discourse that goes on and on and on inside. Real silence is the cessation of talking-of both the mouth and of the mind. This is not the kind of silence that oppresses us. It is a very elegant kind of silence, a very powerful kind of silence. It is the silence that heals and nourishes us.

Mindfulness gives birth to joy and happiness. Another source of happiness is concentration. The energy of mindfulness carries within it the energy of concentration. When you are aware of something, such as a flower, and can maintain that awareness, we say that you are concentrated on the flower. When your mindfulness becomes powerful, your concentration becomes powerful, and when you are fully concentrated, you have a chance to make a breakthrough, to achieve insight. If you meditate on a cloud, you can get insight into the nature of the cloud. Or you can meditate on a pebble, and if you have enough mindfulness and concentration, you can see into the nature of the pebble. You can meditate on a person, and if you have enough mindfulness and concentration, you can make a breakthrough and understand the nature of that person. You can meditate on yourself, or your anger, or your fear, or your joy, or your peace.

When your mindfulness becomes powerful, your concentration becomes powerful, and when you are fully concentrated, you have a chance to make a breakthrough, to achieve insight.

Anything can be the object of your meditation, and with the powerful energy of concentration, you can make a breakthrough and develop insight. It's like a magnifying glass concentrating the light of the sun. If you put the point of concentrated light on a piece of paper, it will burn. Similarly, when your mindfulness and concentration are powerful, your insight will liberate you from fear, anger, and despair, and bring you true joy, true peace, and true happiness.

When you contemplate the big, full sunrise, the more mindful and concentrated you are, the more the beauty of the sunrise is revealed to you. Suppose you are offered a cup of tea, very fragrant, very good tea. If your mind is distracted, you cannot really enjoy the tea. You have to be mindful of the tea, you have to be concentrated on it, so the tea can reveal its fragrance and wonder to you. That is why mindfulness and concentration are such sources of happiness. That's why a good practitioner knows how to create a moment of joy, a feeling of happiness, at any time of the day.

The first exercise is very simple, but the power, the result, can be very great. The exercise is simply to identify the in-breath as in-breath and the out-breath as out-breath. When you breathe in, you know that this is your in-breath. When you breathe out, you are mindful that this is your out-breath.

Just recognize: this is an in-breath, this is an out-breath. Very simple, very easy. In order to recognize your in-breath as in-breath, you have to bring your mind home to yourself. What is recognizing your in-breath is your mind, and the object of your mind-the object of your mindfulness-is the in-breath. Mindfulness is always mindful of something. When you drink your tea mindfully, it's called mindfulness of drinking. When you walk mindfully, it's called mindfulness of walking. And when you breathe mindfully, that is mindfulness of breathing.

So the object of your mindfulness is your breath, and you just focus your attention on it. Breathing in, this is my in-breath. Breathing out, this is my out-breath. When you do that, the mental discourse will stop. You don't think anymore. You don't have to make an effort to stop your thinking; you bring your attention to your in-breath and the mental discourse just stops. That is the miracle of the practice. You don't think of the past anymore. You don't think of the future. You don't think of your projects, because you are focusing your attention, your mindfulness, on your breath.

Mindfulness is always mindful of something. When you drink your tea mindfully, it's called mindfulness of drinking. When you walk mindfully, it's called mindfulness of walking. And when you breathe mindfully, that is mindfulness of breathing.

It gets even better. You can enjoy your in-breath. The practice can be pleasant, joyful. Someone who is dead cannot take any more in-breaths. But you are alive. You are breathing in, and while breathing in, you know that you are alive. The in-breath can be a celebration of the fact that you are alive, so it can be very joyful. When you are joyful and happy, you don't feel that you have to make any effort at all. I am alive; I am breathing in. To be still alive is a miracle. The greatest of all miracles is to be alive, and when you breathe in, you touch that miracle. Therefore, your breathing can be a celebration of life.

An in-breath may take three, four, five seconds, it depends. That's time to be alive, time to enjoy your breath. You don't have to interfere with your breathing. If your in-breath is short, allow it to be short. If your out-breath is long, let it be long. Don't try to force it. The practice is simple recognition of the in-breath and the out-breath. That is good enough. It will have a powerful effect.

The second exercise is that while you breathe in, you follow your in-breath from the beginning to the end. If your in-breath lasts three or four seconds, then your mindfulness also lasts three or four seconds. Breathing in, I follow my in-breath all the way through. Breathing out, I follow my out-breath all the way through. From the beginning of my out-breath to the end of my out-breath, my mind is always with it. Therefore, mindfulness becomes uninterrupted, and the quality of your concentration is improved.

So the second exercise is to follow your in-breath and your out-breath all the way through. Whether they are short or long, it doesn't matter. What is important is that you follow your in-breath from the beginning to the end. Your awareness is sustained. There is no interruption. Suppose you are breathing in, and then you think, "Oh, I forgot to turn off the light in my room." There is an interruption. Just stick to your in-breath all the way through. Then you cultivate your mindfulness and your concentration. You become your in-breath. You become your out-breath. If you continue like that, your breathing will naturally become deeper and slower, more harmonious and peaceful. You don't have to make any effort-it happens naturally.

The third exercise is to become aware of your body as you are breathing. "Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body." This takes it one step further.

In the first exercise, you became aware of your in-breath and your out-breath. Because you have now generated the energy of mindfulness through mindful breathing, you can use that energy to recognize your body.

"Breathing in, I am aware of my body. Breathing out, I am aware of my body." I know my body is there. This brings the mind wholly back to the body. Mind and body become one reality. When your mind is with your body, you are well-established in the here and the now. You are fully alive. You can be in touch with the wonders of life that are available in yourself and around you.

When your mind is with your body, you are well-established in the here and the now. You are fully alive.

This exercise is simple, but the effect of the oneness of body and mind is very great. In our daily lives, we are seldom in that situation. Our body is there but our mind is elsewhere. Our mind may be caught in the past or in the future, in regrets, sorrow, fear, or uncertainty, and so our mind is not there. Someone may be present in the house, but he's not really there, his mind is not there. His mind is with the future, with his projects, and he's not there for his children or his spouse. Maybe you could say to him, "Anybody home?" and help him bring his mind back to his body.

So the third exercise is to become aware of your body. "Breathing in, I'm aware of my body." When you practice mindful breathing, the quality of your in-breath and out-breath will be improved. There is more peace and harmony in your breathing, and if you continue to practice like that, the peace and the harmony will penetrate into the body, and the body will profit.

The next exercise is to release the tension in the body. When you are truly aware of your body, you notice there is some tension and pain in your body, some stress. The tension and pain have been accumulating for a long time and our bodies suffer, but our mind is not there to help release it. Therefore, it is very important to learn how to release the tension in the body.

The tension and pain have been accumulating for a long time and our bodies suffer, but our mind is not there to help release it.

In a sitting, lying, or standing position, it's always possible to release the tension. You can practice total relaxation, deep relaxation, in a sitting or lying position. While you are driving your car, you might notice the tension in your body. You are eager to arrive and you don't enjoy the time you spend driving. When you come to a red light, you are eager for the red light to become a green light so that you can continue. But the red light can be a signal. It can be a reminder that there is tension in you, the stress of wanting to arrive as quickly as possible. If you recognize that, you can make use of the red light. You can sit back and relax-take the ten seconds the light is red to practice mindful breathing and release the tension in the body.

So next time you're stopped at a red light, you might like to sit back and practice the fourth exercise: "Breathing in, I'm aware of my body. Breathing out, I release the tension in my body." Peace is possible at that moment, and it can be practiced many times a day-in the workplace, while you are driving, while you are cooking, while you are doing the dishes, while you are watering the vegetable garden. It is always possible to practice releasing the tension in yourself.

When you practice mindful breathing you simply allow your in breath to take place. You become aware of it and enjoy it. Effortlessness. The same thing is true with mindful walking. Every step is enjoyable. Every step helps you touch the wonders of life. Every step is joy. That is possible.

When you practice mindful breathing you simply allow your in breath to take place. You become aware of it and enjoy it. Effortlessness.

You don't have to make any effort during walking meditation, because it is enjoyable. You are there, body and mind together. You are fully alive, fully present in the here and the now. With every step, you touch the wonders of life that are in you and around you. When you walk like that, every step brings healing. Every step brings peace and joy, because every step is a miracle.

The real miracle is not to fly or walk on fire. The real miracle is to walk on the Earth, and you can perform that miracle at any time. Just bring your mind home to your body, become alive, and perform the miracle of walking on Earth.

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Our true home is not in the past. Our true home is not in the future. Our true home is in the here and the now. Life is available only in the here and the now, and it is our true home.