How to incorporate mindfulness into a time-squeezed school day

When implementing wellness, it’s important to remember that wellness does not have to be a standalone entity, but an aspect of life which can be nicely woven into your teaching. If you see wellness as simply the act of practicing daily healthy habits for better health outcomes, you’ll begin to see that there are multiple opportunities to integrate aspects into your school day. Wellness practices such as meditation, movement activities, breathwork and mental goal planning can be offered throughout different parts of the school day. Understanding these practices and how they can be matched with specific parts of the school day, can really ensure you offer valuable wellness experiences when your students need it the most. Below are three parts of your typical school day, paired with a different type of wellness experience. These experiences are short and easy to implement while providing support for your students mental, emotional and intellectual wellness.

Morning – Goal setting

The morning time is the perfect opportunity to offer your students an intention setting experience, or, a daily goal meditation. Doing this first thing in the morning allows your students to choose what they want to achieve; visualize it and then mentally prepare themselves to reach those goals. This method is used with many athletes, professionals, and performers. It is often referred to as visualization.

Allow your students to stay seated upright and ask them to gently close their eyes. Move into a body scan, where students scan their body from head to toe, checking in with any sensations that may be with them this morning. Encourage students to remain calm, relaxed and to follow a slow and gentle breath.

Following on, ask your students to picture in their mind what they want to achieve today. Provide examples, such as what do they hope to learn today, how do they want to behave today or how do they choose to interact with others. Gradually, give your students some space (quiet time) to think of their own intentions and goals for the day. Once they have chosen their intentions and goals simply ask them “what feeling will you feel when you have achieved this”. Taking in and noticing their surroundings while visualizing their goal. Other suggestions to share with your students are “What room or space are you in, what actions are you doing, and who is around you when you are doing that?” Again, offer quiet time for students to connect deeper with their mind. Finally ask your students to connect with their feelings as they imagine themselves achieving their goals. What emotions or feelings do they feel? Feel free to offer suggestions to prompt your students, such as “Are you feeling happy, excited, thrilled”. As the meditation ends, gently bring the students back into the present, ask them to carefully check in with their bodies and when they are ready, they can open their eyes.

Encourage your students to check in with their intention and goal throughout the day and remind them that they have the ability and strength to achieve what they set their mind to. This experience can run for as little as three minutes and can have a profoundly positive impact on the start of everyone’s day. I recommend playing some soft and upbeat music that will inspire students during this practice.

This practice is very supportive for students' mental and emotional health. It helps students to connect with their purpose, and it can help students become more mindful of how they want to behave. Students can set their own goals and feel a sense of achievement which is vital for self-esteem and confidence.