I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.” (Ginott, 1993)

In this era of highly stressed and trauma-filled schools, mindfulness in the classroom finds itself on the rise. Mindful Schools, an organization based in Oakland which offers online and in-person courses and programs throughout the United States, notes that youth benefit from learning mindfulness in terms of improved cognitive outcomes, social-emotional skills, and well-being. (Mindful Schools, 2017). Mindfulness is not only vogue in schools; it’s finding a special niche in popular culture with mindful Apps trending on many platforms. (Tlalka, 2017) But why is mindfulness resonating with so many people and what is the connection between the ascent of modern mindful practices and traditional Asian meditative practices, such as Yoga, Tantra, Taoism, Sikhism, Buddhism , Daoism and Confucianism?

David Siegel in his book, Mindsight, The New Science of Personal Transformation, defines mindfulness as “a form of mental activity that trains the mind to become aware of awareness itself and to pay attention to one’s own intention…”(Siegel, 2011 ) This curriculum unit seeks to explore ways to leverage the bite-sized essence of the modern mindfulness wave with traditional Asian traditions. 

I intermittently practiced vinyasa yoga during my days as an MBA student. I liked the feeling of stretching and pushing myself to try challenging poses. Once my business went bankrupt and I became a full time teacher, I started a regular routine of doing yoga once or twice a week. I valued the challenges of the yoga flow and poses but appreciated more the focus on the breath. The awareness of the breath and synchronizing my breath and movements centered me and helped me sustain my health and wellness in my stressful job as an educator.

I am a Founding Humanities teacher at the U School where I teach my students to read, write and make sense of the world. The school is an open enrollment, non-selective high school of the Innovative Network in the School District of Philadelphia. (U School, 2017) The U School is a fledgling competency-based public school in its 3rd year of operation. In addition to the mastery-based learning approach it adopts, some other key elements of the school include: personalized learning, design thinking principles, youth development and restorative practices. It’s an exciting place to teach and work, But it’s also super challenging and stressful for both students and teachers.

The current pupil population is 240 ( 9th, 10th and 11 grade only). The student body is 80% African American 13% Latino, and 4% Caucasian. The balance of other students is bi-racially mixed or from other ethnic backgrounds. We have a sizable portion (28%) of students with disabilities and individualized learning plans. Many of the students come from working class families and over 95% of the student body qualifies for free or subsidized lunch. Most of all my students come from underfunded schools and trauma filled communities. However, despite this context most of my students are resilient and exhibit multiple talents and intelligences. (Gardner, 2017)

Our advisory groups are called Posse “short for Possibility.” Posse’s are the core spaces that bring students and mentor educators together to design and foster an ethic of care that supports goal-setting, college and career planning, and strong engagement with families.

In year one at the U School, Posse’s Leaders (Teacher-Advisors) provided choice activities for students for alternative learning experiences. During the traditional morning advisory schedule, I ran an activity called Cafe of the Mind; once or twice a week, I led a 20 minute vinyasa yoga flow for 15-20 students. Another educator ran a mindfulness group. We combined efforts at times, and co-lead yoga and mindfulness workshops. This was my first introduction to formal mindfulness practices and I saw first-hand the benefit of mindfulness in school settings.

In year two, my colleague who led the mindfulness student group, transferred to another school. However, during some professional development time, we had some outside organizations lead mindfulness workshops with the hopes that teachers would benefit from practicing mindfulness and in-turn share the practice with students. At that time I did not feel comfortable implementing formal mindfulness practices or routines in my classroom.

Fortunately, I joined a Teacher Action Group ItAG (Inquiry into Action Group, 2016) Mindfulness group. The group met each Monday during February 2016 – April 2016 . Through collaborating with this group I gained resources, and developed confidence in my own mindfulness practices and started implementing Mindfulness Monday’s with my students.

This had a rocky start. But students noticed the impact of practice. Once, we had a major physical confrontation between two students, and some students reflected that the fight happened right before our normal 5-minute mindfulness practices. They noted that the fight could have been avoided if we had did our mindfulness routine that day.

Mindfulness Mondays is now a staple in my weekly routine with my students. This curriculum unit’s essential question is how can mindfulness and traditional Asian contemplative practices create safe spaces for inquiry and resilience for high school students.

I plan to implement my unit throughout the whole school year, using 5-10 minute mini-lessons and mindfulness practice sessions. Introducing traditional contemplative practices should enhance the connections my students make with modern mindfulness practices.

This unit will incorporate short journal prompts, readings, reflections, viewing, and responding to multi-media clips . This unit also seeks to improve students’ concentration and critical thinking skills Furthermore, this unit will require the use of a wide range of sensory details including visual, taste, touch, smell, and sound. Special guests, Mindfulness Apps and other resources could also be incorporated.

As a culminating activity, students will create their own mindfulness blogs or journal entries to demonstrate the connections between popular mindfulness and traditional Asian contemplative practices. This project will allow students to synthesize what they learned about themselves and what it means to be mindful in highly stressful school settings.

The main objectives for this unit are described below:

• Students will practice mindful activities using all the senses.
• Students will reflect on the personal and class-wide benefits of mindful practices
• Students will lead or share their own inquiry about the connections between modern mindful practices with some traditional Asian contemplative practices.

Because mindfulness does not formally fit into competency based (reading and writing) and history framework, I will implement my curriculum over a course of the whole school year in bite size Monday Mindful sessions. The activities of this unit will provide a sample menu of mindfulness strategies . However, some of the inquiry and reflections of our classroom mindful practices may find their way into our writing and reading skills. Alternatively, these activities could be incorporated in an advisory or restorative circle routines. Some of the meditative and spiritual lessons could also be embedded across the reading, writing and social studies curriculum.

The text, In Mindfulness A Teacher’s Guide, suggests that we often ask students to “pay attention” but we typically do not provide models or simple methods for paying attention to the internal and external world.( Saltzman & Willard, 2017) Some bite size strategies follow below: 

Mindful Breathing

The breath is essential in mindfulness practices. According to Harry Buck in Spiritual Disciples in Hinduism, Buddhism and the west, “when we inhale, the air comes into the inner world and when we exhale the air goes out the outer world. Mindfulness Mondays provides opportunities for students to focus their attention on the breath through inhaling and exhaling. 

I typically use the One Minute Meditation Youtube video by Marty Boroson to help model simple breathing and meditation techniques. (Boroson, 2017) . I use guided videos so that I can participate along with my students as well as manage behavior if necessary. I encourage students to open and close their eyes, which ever, they find easier and safer to help them focus.

If you are looking for more structure, you can use the guided meditation, produced by UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC, 2017). Mindfulness breathing uses the breath as an object of concentration. Before, and after of breathing practice, I explain to my students that by focusing on the breathe they are developing the discipline to concentration and focus that they will need to reach their academic,

personal and professional goals. I typically do not do explicit counting during our breathing practice with students. However, it is a good practice that I encourage student to do at home or on their own.

The counting and breathing meditation has four progressive stages:

1. In the first stage you use counting to stay focused on the breath. After the out-breath you count one, then you breathe in and out and count two, and so on up to ten, and then you start again at one.
2. In the second stage you subtly shift where you breathe, counting before the in-breath, anticipating the breath that is coming, but still counting from one to ten, and then starting again at one.
3. In the third stage you drop the counting and just watch the breath as it comes in and goes out.
4. In the final stage the focus of concentration narrows and sharpens, so you pay attention to the subtle sensation on the tip of the nose where the breath first enters and last leaves the body. ( The Buddhist Centre , 2017)

Deep breathing exercise is also good for the heart and soul. Dr. Ken Ginsberg, a running leader from Students Run Philly Style says “If I had to teach kids only one thing, it would be deep breathing exercises.”. Breathing exercises can be used during Mindfulness Monday practices, or incorporated throughout other routines during the school day or week.

Mindful Body Scan

Body Scan offers an opportunity to use mindfulness practices that relax the body and focus the mind. Because our typical mindfulness Monday practice is between 3-5 minutes, incorporating short body scan activities is a perfect fit. A body scan is different from from a progressive muscle relaxation. With progressive relaxation you tense and relax your muscles while you scan your body. During a typical body scan you mentally “scan” your muscles looking for areas of tension. I will normally asked students to relax their forehead, jaws, shoulders and work down to the feet.

The steps for a guided body scan meditation designed to be done while sitting can be found on of this three-minute guided meditation, produced by UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC, 2017)

Mindfulness Sound / Listening

In the anthology Mindful Revolution. authors Rome and Martin, talk about the importance of listening. They note that the world needs less shouting and more listening- open, empathetic, deep listening. They believe that focusing on everyday sounds not only creates a space for calm focus but helps us listen to our inner self. (Martin & Rome, 2011)

On Mindfulness Mondays students can mediate to the sounds of a gong, ocean drums or rainsticks. I typically use a 5-minute guided meditation with bells sounds I found on Youtube (Five Minute Mindfulness Bell, 2017). You can also use an App on your phone. Using bell sounds is a good way to start and end a meditation session. Sound is not just a timer. It reminds us that mindfulness is about creating space for silence and for listening. I encourage students to mindfully follow the initial and fading away of the chime of the bell. I find the the sound of the bells relaxes students and helps them transition into routines for learning for the day.

Mindful Taste / Eating

Taking moment to eat and taste food mindfully can really enhance being in the moment. According to the Mindful Buddhist learning to practice mindful eating brings us back into the present moment… It is a technique that requires us to be completely aware of the movements and sensations we experience when we eat or drink. (Mindful Eating, 2017)

One of’ the favorite Monday Mindfulness exercises for my students is eating Chocolate. I use a guided Chocolate Eating mediation found on Youtube and participate in this exercise alongside of my students. This exercise forces us to slow down and savor the multiple senses in eating a simple Hersey Kisses Drop. This full sensory activity, encourages us to stay focused and in the moment. Instead of using the Guided video, teachers could use the “Eating Mindful “tips below from the James Madison University, Counseling Center:

• Pick up your wrapped chocolate and notice the colors and shapes on the package.
• Feel the weight of it in your hand and Pretend like you have never seen a wrapped chocolate bar before and examine it closely.
• Touch the packaging with your fingers and feel the texture. Pay attention to any sound the wrapper makes.
• Examine the wrapper noticing all of the colors. Look at the different sides of the chocolate wrapper and notice any place that the light reflects off the package, any shadows.
• Now begin to slowly open the wrapper. Listen for the sounds of the wrapper tearing. Notice the movement of your hand, fingers, and arm muscles as you open the chocolate.
• You may hear other people or other noises in the room. Notice the sounds and bring your attention back to the chocolate.
• Raise the chocolate to your nose and smell the chocolate. Slowly breathe in several times and focus on the different smells.
• Does smelling the chocolate trigger anything else in your body? Is your mouth watering? Are you having any thoughts,” Hurry up and let me eat the chocolate!” “What’s taking so long?” If so, notice them and bring your attention back to smelling the chocolate.
• Now slowly take a small bite of the chocolate, but do not chew it or swallow it. Notice the feeling and taste of the chocolate in your mouth. How does it feel as it melts?
• Notice the taste and sensations of the chocolate on your tongue. Move the chocolate around in your mouth.
• Try to notice the moment where you feel like you want to swallow.
• Slowly swallow the chocolate, focusing on the sensations. Notice any lingering tastes or sensations (JMU Counseling Center, 2017)

Having students reflect and discuss what it is like to mindfully eat a piece of chocolate is great enhancement. Students should be able to describe what is like to focus their attention, understand their intentions and describe the pleasures of eating a piece of chocolate.

Mindful Restorative Practice

A Restorative Circle is central to the U School’s approach for building and celebrating youth culture, addressing grief, trauma and repairing harm. Our restorative circle normally takes more than time the 5-7 minutes of our typical Mindfulness Monday activities. Restorative Circles are more suitable during an advisory period. However, there are cases where a restorative circle may be timely for an extended Mindful Monday activity. If you are aware of some harm or trauma, that may have students feeling unsafe, using a restorative circle could be more useful their carrying on a routine content or skills-based lesson. Using one of the five minute, breathing, listening or one of the other aforementioned Guided Monday Mindfulness activities, could proceed an extended restorative circle.

Ignoring the harm and being punitive often creates more harm. Mindfulness helps to distance oneself from punitive responses and provide the space to reflect on a healthier response. This is particularly important for teachers who work with traumatized students. According the International Institutes of Restorative Practices, the fundamental premise of restorative practices is that people are happier, more cooperative and productive, and more likely to make positive changes when those in positions of authority do things with them, rather than to them or for them (International Institutes of Restorative Practices, 2017). This guiding principle should undergird our day to day interaction with students not just on Mindfulness Mondays, but everyday of the week.

The Youtube video of Sujatha Baliga, Director, Restorative Justice Project, and Senior Program Specialist, National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) provides insights on how Mindfulness and Restorative practices fits with her Buddhist Meditation practice. (Baliga, 2017)

Mindfulness Inquiry / Journaling

Reflecting on our mindful practice and journaling about it , is an area that I plan to expand in our Mindfulness Monday’s practice. According to Jaclyn Desforges of MindBodyGreen, mindfulness can strengthen creativity, while creativity can strengthen mindfulness practices. Furthermore, studies have shown that journaling about memories can have huge health benefits, including pain reduction, better sleep, and even strengthened immune systems. (Desforges, 2017)

A sample of journal and reflection prompts adapted from MindfulLivingNetwork and PsychCentral are provided below:

• The happiest (or saddest) moment today was…
• My life is blessed because
• I aspire to…
• Writing an encouraging letter to yourself
• My favorite way to spend the day is…
• If I could talk to my teenage self, the one thing I would say is…
• Make a list of 30 things that make you smile.
• “Write about a moment experienced through your body. Leave out thought and emotion, and let all information be conveyed through the body and senses.”
• The words I’d like to live by are…
• I couldn’t imagine living without…
• When I’m in pain — physical or emotional — the kindest thing I can do for myself is… (Tartakovsky, 2017)

To capture the aforementioned Mindfulness strategies at a glance, I have included a quick reference, in Appendix 1, Mindfulness Bite Size Menu Guide.

The Teacher Action Groups’ Mindfulness in the Classroom ITAG provided the foundation of resources and ideas for my Mindfulness Monday practices. The ITAG Mindfulness Blog provides an archive of resources and strategies gleamed from the ITAG sessions. (Teacher Action Group, 2017)

The Shambhala Meditation Center of Philadelphia represents a local resource available for teachers and students. Shambhala is a spiritual place, a place of study and meditation center that helps work with our minds, as well as a path of serving others and engaging with our world. (Shambhala Center, 2017)

Parents serve as another vital resource for this unit. Letters can be sent to parents informing them about the nature of the mindfulness practices and to solicit their support. The letter could provide the option for parents to exclude their child from participating in any perceived spiritual practices that may not be aligned with their own religious practices or values. Lastly parents could be called upon to attend special field trips and serve as primary resources when students are conducting inquiry, journaling, or extending their mindful practices outside of school.

Materials such as videos, books and magazine subscriptions or funds for field trips or journal books could be funded by Teaching Tolerance, DonorChoose.Org or other local or regional grant funding organizations.

A list of resources including websites, videos, magazines and materials

Assessments will include an evaluation of students blogs and journals report as well the Habits of Success Competencies that the U School uses to monitor students’ growth and development. The Habits of Success (HOS) curriculum supports student competency in the following areas: Growth Mindset, Self-Regulation, Decision Making and Time Management, Social Skill Awareness. (U School, 2017)

As a competency based high school, our competency aligned to the Common Core Standards in Reading and Writing Informational and Argumentative text. The literacy standards supported by this unit are as follows:

CC.1.2.11–12.G – Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.

CC.1.2.11–12.I – Analyze foundational U.S. and world documents of historical, political, and literary significance for their themes, purposes, and rhetorical features.

CC.1.5.11–12.A – Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions on grade-level topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Title: Mindfulness Mondays with Bells

Grade Range and Subjects: K-12th Grade Large Group (20 – 33 students)

Duration of Mini Lesson: 5 -7 Minutes

Goal(s): Students will become familiar with the concept of Mindfulness and some basic practices of breathing and listening closely to Bell

Mini Lesson: Students listen to the sound of the meditation bell until they can no longer hear it. They raise their hands when they believe it is no longer ringing. Although they must sit quietly and participate, students don’t have to sit in a particular way.

Activities: Students will be introduced to Mindful Listening and discuss benefits of mindfulness, including feeling happier and better about yourself, enjoying life more, feeling calmer, increased courage to be who you really are, healthier, better memory, stronger focus. Teacher is encouraged to share her/his experiences.

Classroom Activities / Mindfulness Lesson (Bite Size)

Sample Lesson Plan 2

Title: Mindfulness Mondays Body Scan

Grade Range and Subjects: 9-12th Grade Large Group (20 – 33 students)

Duration of Mini Lesson: 5 -7 Minutes

Goal(s) : Students will become familiar with the concept of stress and tension and some basic practices of body scanning techniques.

Mini Lesson: Mindfulness for stress reduction (gazelle v. lion/humans don’t let go of stress). Describe how mindfulness helps you learn to express your authentic self without fear or stress.

Activities: Pulse check- Introduction to Mindful Body Scan (http://marc.ucla.edu/workfiles/BodyScanMeditation_Transcript.pdf).

What is it? How it differs from progressive muscle relaxation. Our minds and bodies are walking mindfulness laboratories. Let’s try to sit for 10 second, paying attention only to how it feels just to sit. Students share out responses of the experience. No right or wrong way to feel.

Classroom Activities / Mindfulness Lesson (Bite Size)

Sample Lesson Plan 3

Title: Mindfulness Mondays Breathing

Grade Range and Subjects: 9-12th Grade Large Group (20 – 33 students)

Duration of Mini Lesson: 5 -7 Minutes

Goal(s) : Students will become familiar with the concept of meditation by focus their attention on their breath.

Mini Lesson: Describe what was it like to sit still and pay attention? Popcorn out one or two words.

Activities: Using the Counting Meditation and Breathing video as guide. Students will learn to count and breath while focusing their attention on their breath. (https://youtu.be/ppaZpkBenmQ)

Students are then asked to raise their hands if anyone has actually taught them to pay attention. Is it fair to expect people to pay attention if you haven’t shown them how? Students will describe what is was like to pay attention their breathing. :

Classroom Activities / Mindfulness Lesson (Bite Size)

Sample Lesson Plan 4

Title: Mindfulness Mondays Chocolate

Grade Range and Subjects: 9-12th Grade Large Group (20 – 33 students)

Duration of Mini Lesson: 5 -7 Minutes

Goal(s) : Students will become familiar with the concept of sensory observations by mindfully eating a piece of Hershey chocolate kisses

Mini Lesson: Using the Chocolate Guided Meditation video as model, students will mindfully focus and slow down the pleasure of eating a piece of chocolate. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d984L-IZhIw&t=12s)

Describe what are sensory details? What is like to sensually eat a piece of chocolate.

Activities: Students will be asked to journal about what is was like to slow down while eating a piece of chocolate. What was is like to feel and listen to the wrapping? What was it like to smell the chocolate, what was it like to savor taste?

Ardizzone, Leonisa. Listening to Youth Voices: Activism and Critical Pedagogy Useful Theory Making Critical Education Practical ed. Rebecca Goldstein. New York. Peter Lang Publishing, 2006.

This contributions provides a scholarly and practical analysis of critical pedagogy for public educators.

“American School Counsellors Association( ASCA) National Standards for Students – Standards Aligned System. http://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/asca_ national_standards_for_studentspdf. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017.

ASCA standards provide a framework for school counseling and programs that meet National Standards and establishes guidelines for the social and emotional well-being of students.

Buck, Harry Merwyn. Spiritual discipline in Hinduism, Buddhism, and the West. Chambersburg, PA: Anima, 1981.

This text provides critical insights and focuses on Hinduism and Buddhism and how these practices connect to western thoughts and philosophy.

Desforges, Jaclyn . Mindbodygreen. Accessed 25 June 2017. https://www.mindbodygreen.com/wc/jaclyn-desforges .

This article and the author provides a series of mindful writing and journaling exercises.

Eifring, Halvor. Asian Traditions of Meditation Introduction, Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 2016.

This book is easily accessible, written by scholars from several fields, and provides insights on the connections between modern practices like Yoga with traditional eastern religious practices.

“Free Guided Meditations.” UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center. http://marc.ucla.edu/mindful-meditations Accessed 25 June 2017.

This source provides a commercial free introduction to mindfulness meditation that you can practice on your own, or use to guide students.

“Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences.” http://www.tecweb.org/styles/gardner.html. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017.

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence provides applied research and documents the extent to which students possess different kinds of minds and therefore learn, remember, perform, and understand in different ways.

Ginott, Haim G. Teacher and child: a book for parents and teachers. New York: Collier, 1993.

This text humanizes the work of both parents and teachers. It provides practical tips of how to be mindful willing dealing with students and parents.

International Institute of Restorative Practices.” IIRP. Accessed 25 June 2017. http://www.iirp.edu/.

IIRP is the go-to source for Restorative Mindful practices. IIRP offers workshops, graduate courses and materials to support class wide and school wide restorative practices.

Martin, Hope and Rome, David. Are You Listening?

The mindfulness revolution: leading psychologists, scientists, artists, and meditation teachers on the power of mindfulness in daily life. Boston: Shambhala, 2011. Martin and Rome are mindfulness gurus and they offer critical insights on how to use sound and listening to improve students’ focus and concentration.

“Mindful Eating.” James Madison University – Mindful Eating. Accessed 25 June 2017. https://www.jmu.edu/counselingctr/resources/self-help/eating_issues/mindful_eating.shtml

Provide tips on how to guide the mindful eating of chocolate or other foods.

“Mindful Eating: A Taste of Mindfulness.” The Enthusiastic Buddhist. Accessed 25 June 2017. https://www.enthusiasticbuddhist.com/mindful-eating-taste-mindfulness/ .

This site provides easy to understand teaching of Buddhism and how this practice can be used to foster mindful and tasteful eating.

“Mindful Schools” http://www.mindfulschools.org/about-mindfulness/ mindfulness-in -education/ Accessed 18 Feb. 2017.

This website provides a resources and tips for implementing mindfulness practices and classrooms and schools. Teachers could use this site to help administrators understand why mindfulness is needed in schools.

“Shambhala Vision.” Shambhala Meditation Center of Philadelphia. Accessed 25 June 2017. <https://philadelphia.shambhala.org/shambhala/shambhala-vision/>.

This site is rooted in the Shambhala vision provides resources and ways teachers can practices and participate this their many wellness offerings provided at the Philadelphia center city location.

Siegel, Daniel J. Mindsight: the new science of personal transformation. New York: Bantam Trade Paperbacks, 2011.

Siegel provides insights on brain science the role mindfulness can have in transforming the way we teach.

Teacher Action Group “Itag Mindfulness.” Itag Mindfulness Blog . https://itagmindfulness.wordpress.com/ Accessed . 25 June 2017.

This blog is collaborations with emerging teacher experts in mindfulness who share resources and practices with people who work with youth.

Teacher Action Group “Itag Mindfulness Presentation Deck.” Itag Mindfulness Deck https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1g5tSJpx-dDrBYuQ179-KapRy3EWS_KrAoBvffCS17U0/edit?usp=sharing

This Google Slide deck was presented at the 2016 Teacher Action Group Education and Liberation Conference.

The Mindfulness of Breathing | The Buddhist Centre. Accessed 25 June 2017. https://thebuddhistcentre.com/text/mindfulness-breathing.

This resource from the Buddhist Centre provides practical tips for guiding mindful breathing techniques.

The U School. Accessed . 25 June 2017. http://www.uschool.org/ .

Visit this site to learn more about the U School and it’s innovative approach to teaching and learning.

Tlalka, Stephany. Mindfulness Apps Worthy of Your Attention – Mindful.org.” 5 Sep. 2015, http://www.mindful.org/free-mindfulness-apps-worthy-of-your-attention/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2017.

Mindful Apps are trending in schools and communities. This brief articles profiles several free mindful Apps available on iOS and Androids.

Saltzman Amy and Willard, Christopher . Teaching mindfulness skills to kids and teens. New York: The Guilford Press, 2017. This text offers useful tips for bringing mindfulness into the classroom,

Student’s Web and Media Resources

Barason Marty One-Moment Meditation: “How to Meditate in a Moment“. YouTube , 02 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6eFFCi12v8 Accessed . 25 June 2017.

An useful guide to practicing one minute mindfulness.

Body Scan Meditation.” UCLA Mindfulness Awareness Research Center. Accessed . 25 June 2017. http://www.bing.com/cr?IG=8634B8278A8B45D0A317BE8E21B8AB37&CID=2C5EA52872046BB90E83AF8473026A17&rd=1&h=MmwNBFS2TT3Lx5r7wnhTzpRZUBEfoVfELITVnt0DOTo&v=1&r=http%3a%2f%2fmarc.ucla.edu%2fworkfiles%2fBodyScanMeditation_Transcript.pdf&p=DevEx,5052.1 .

Written Transcript of oral guide to doing body scan.

“Counting Meditation – Simple Breathing Meditation – Day 2.” YouTube. Accessed 25 June 2017. https://youtu.be/ppaZpkBenmQ .

An animated video of counting and breathing.

Five Minute Guided Meditation. YouTube, 10 May 2011. Web. 25 June 2017. Accessed . 25 June 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGFog-OuFDM%29 . A guide to breathing and meditating using the sound of a bell.

Start a Mindful Journal. Mindful Living Network. Accessed . 25 June 2017. http://www.mindfullivingnetwork.com/start-a-mindful-journaling/

Easy to follow tips to using journaling to promote mindful thinking and being.

“Sujatha Baliga: Mindfulness and Restorative Justice.” YouTube, Accessed 25 June 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmwwpFfLiUg .

A workshop presentation discussing the role of meditation plays in developing restorative justice practices.

Tartakovsky, Margarita , M.S. . “30 Journaling Prompts for Self-Reflection and Self-Discovery.” World of Psychology. Accessed June 2017. https://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/09/27/30-journaling-prompts-for-self-reflection-and-self-discovery/ .

Additional journal prompts for promoting creative and mindful thinking.

“Teaching Tolerance – Diversity, Equity and Justice.” Teaching Tolerance – Diversity, Equity and Justice. Accessed 25 June 2017. http://www.tolerance.org/.

Teaching Tolerance offers resources and grant opportunities that promote restorative practices, mindfulness and tolerance.