Many adults who learn to meditate realize that it is a shame that they weren’t given the tools and benefits of mindfulness meditation at a much younger age. Fortunately, there is a shift occurring and many schools North America-wide are adopting formal meditation programs and/or simple mindfulness exercises during the school day. Children from kindergarten through to the end of high school are all able to be involved and learn various skills that help them to become more focused, calmer and, best of all, much more satisfied with being in their own skins.
It is heart wrenching to hear news reports of bullying and suicide among our youth. There are no instant fixes, but there are certainly positive options available to us as adults and decision-makers for our children, and the implementation of mindfulness training programs is proving to be of great benefit, even in some of the most disadvantaged schools worldwide.
In an interview with The Star, actress and philanthropist, Goldie Hawn discusses some of the success that her foundation has had with the introduction of mindfulness meditation in classrooms on Canada’s west coast. In a study of 15 Vancouver schools participating in mindfulness meditation programs, the optimism and positive personal relationships between students measurably increased, and aggression and “acting out” decreased dramatically. These results are not uncommon.
Another interview with Susan Kaiser Greenland, author of The Mindful Child: How to Help Your Kid Manage Stress and Become Happier, Kinder and More Compassionate, discusses what parents and teachers can do to support children in their efforts to manage stress and become more compassionate towards themselves and others.
Many options and opportunities are available for assisting our children, from the implementation of after-school clubs, to daily mindfulness exercises that help ground and calm our students, led by either schoolteachers or a Mindfulness Training Toronto teacher. Please contact us at info@MindfulnessTrainingToronto.com to discuss how we can help you help our youth.