Mindfulness in the class is “designed to quiet and shift the habitual chatter of the mind to cultivate a capacity for deepened awareness, concentration, and insight.” - Psychologist Dr. Tobin Hart, University of Western Georgia
Several years ago I started exploring healthful living after I became a sick person for the first time in my life. And while it was a huge challenge for me, this event ushered in a years-long fascination with yoga, mindfulness, and meditation which found its way into my life in a myriad of ways, and then into my high school English class.
DURING the pandemic, kids would tune in and we'd do a few poses with me leading on camera, kids in class on the floor, and other kids at home following along.
We don't need a rocket launch. We need softer start.
WHEN we came back to in-person school, I started doing this once a week or so, and it would be successful sometimes. Then, some classes would remind me to start with meditation. Soon, I started curating different approaches for a three to five-minute "soft-start." It runs counter to decades-long tradition that from the second we start class, we must hit the ground running: bell ringers, "do-nows," whatever they're called; I came to rely on my intuition and know that we didn't need a rocket launch, we needed a softer start to the day.
ONCE I committed to soft-starts, I started curating a variety of mostly Youtube resources: rambunctious kittens wrestling, fields of wildflowers in bloom, New York Times Square's live feed, a guided-breathing and body scan video, classical music, ethereal soundscapes, even whales sounds, frogs croaking, birds chittering away.
SOMETIMES, we'd sit in complete darkness and quiet.
ALL of it was game for our soft-start. On some days, I replaced the moment with an informational video on the benefits of mindfulness and the brain science that informs the practice. I would take requests from kids, and now, we do not start class without a soft start. When I've made the mistake of skipping it because the day's too crazy, there is likely to be even more chaos.
You might not get there each day, but even if you only get to stage one of quiet and still for a moment, then it has still done you a lot of good.
NOW, into my ninth month of the year, nearly all of my soft-starts are marked with participation, quiet, no phones, and most kids trying to get to that place of relaxation and stillness. I tell kids, "There are three stages that should go in order, and if you only do the first one, it is still worth your time."
- Stage one is to get still and quiet.
- Stage two is breathing to achieve a feeling of relaxation and feeling as though you weigh a 1000 lbs.
- Then, if you can, try to get to stage three which is a feeling of gratitude, love for the world and for yourself.
YOU might not get there each day, but even if you only get to stage one of quiet and still for a moment, then it has still done you a lot of good.
As I end this uniquely challenging year, kids tell me privately that they enjoy our soft-starts. Kids' self-reported data shows dramatic increases in curiosity about mindfulness, meditation and mental health in general. One kid told me she has shared this practice with her family members. She said that it is going well with this person, too. Someone who isn't even in my class but has, through the power of her testimony, come to appreciate the practice.
There is no more important gift than that of time. Soft-starts help teachers like me embue that preciously short time with meaning, reflection, and maybe even joy.
English teacher Marci Matlock models a soft start to a typical day in her English class. Listen as she interviews a student who tells of how meditation has been transformative in her life and in the lives of those with whom she shares mindfulness practices.
