It’s been a few weeks after our intense 3-day “Black Belt” Operation.
The first week offered up a huge challenge to come back to mindfulness.
From being inundated with 90 rockets in our small immediate area, we were suddenly expected to be calm and ready to resume a more usual sense of constant alert. How might the 12 year olds react to being invited to lie still and scan their bodies in a state of rest? That first week I discovered that it was to be almost impossible.
The normally pleasant suggestion was acceptable intellectually. The kids agreed to get comfortable and agreed to having lights out, but allowing themselves to be still was a completely separate set of commands that they found beyond their abilities. Any bustle, rustle or hiccup set off nervous energy. The line between one person’s space and another’s was blurred into nonexistence.
Over the week, each class had reacted a little differently, depending on the children present in the room, the time of day and the degree of dissonance or frustration experienced till that point. I found sessions welcomed as a break from normal school, but that the “welcome” manifested either as a wish to nap or as a giggling roller coaster ride.
I used bean bags to offer outlets for energy – whether as tactile aids for breathing meditation or as tools for creating exercises for mimicking.
In general, my task was to hold some form of structure to offer a safe framework for energies that needed to be expressed.
The second week after the war was a little different. The first classes were quite hyperactive – engaging in jokes that placed me in a position of needing to step aside. I suddenly experienced my own PTSD in the form of a stone within my chest. I felt a contraction and needed to step aside mentally in order to observe myself.
I sat there silently for 10 minutes, while the pupils slowly noticed and tried to hush themselves into readiness to learn.
Eventually I asked in teacher-like fashion if they valued the lessons. They said yes, so I asked why.
One girl spoke of how they helped her learn how to relax, how to calm herself. Another said they helped her be quiet inside when things were hard in her environment.
More of the same and I knew that they knew the right answers. Therefore, with a little lighter feeling, I guided them through the qigong exercise called “Shake the tree” in which limbs are shook, chest and back shake, head shakes and then slowly we come back to standing still to notice our sensations. We took 3 breaths, ending with a serious self-hug and a verbal reassurance “There’s nobody like me”. Slow disengagement from the hug and then we bid ourselves goodbye.
To end with self-love is to end well. I felt better. They felt better as life, whatever that may be, invited them to collect their backpacks, put on their shoes and exit from our room.
If you’re a teacher, or if you’ve ever sat in a classroom, then perhaps this post is for you.
Has a teacher ever used such a command with a pupil? First may come “just relax” and then, perhaps, “It’ll all be okay”. And thinking s/he’s done her best to handle the pupil’s current lack of relaxation, will move on to the next restless pupil, and offer the same piece of advice, and then continue on to yet another pupil with super-sensitivity to the actions or voices of others, and who seems to be losing any chance of coping, again the magic words (or so it’s believed): “Just relax”.
Nope, no good. Surely we’ve noticed. “Just relax” works just as poorly on a child as it does on us, ourselves, if someone with all the best intention uses a voice that radiates anything but calmness to suggest that we “just relax.” No! The order does not magically induce the condition.
Looking into the trend of Mindfulness, the teacher might try, “Just breathe” and without offering a model of what that entails, again will move on to the next pupil.
And so it goes. Our hopeful teacher moves from one node of noise to the next, hoping to soothe the general atmosphere sufficiently to be able to carry on with instructions for the classroom task scheduled for that lesson.
The truth is, however, that “Just relax!” and “Just breathe!” offer abstract commands, representing skills that haven’t been taught to most of the pupils in the room. Therefore, the words aren’t effective in transforming a nervous child into one more calm and ready to listen.
So, let’s all just stop.
A good intention needs a better method
What, then, instead? What can we do when pupils occupying the space that we’re calling our classroom are unable to stop talking, stop fidgeting, stop yelling at their neighbour to stop whistling, blowing, tapping their desk, etc.
What can we, as teachers, realistically do to orchestrate a lovely few seconds of silence?
Well, this teacher of mindfulness for kids, has a few ideas. Guaranteed, no matter what? I cannot promise 100% success, but I can offer you something pro-active to do instead of turning your back on the class, examining the wall or whiteboard and thinking non-politically correct thoughts, or even letting tears of frustration fall.
So, let’s get started.
Listen to the Room.
Get their attention for a second – either by turning on and off the lights, or using a short whistle, or a Tibetan Singing Bowl if you’ve got one, or Tibetan gongs (easy to buy online and very lightweight to carry). After that second of silence, go into action. Tell them to “listen to the room”. After 30 seconds or so, make the sound or lights on/off again and announce “End of the exercise”. Ask them, “Who was able to hear sounds in the room? Put up your hand if you could.” Then acknowledge that they could hear or not, both responses are perfectly fine. Tell them you’re doing it again – and this time, they might want to close their eyes. Give them the signal and tell them to “Listen to the room.” After 45 seconds, signal the end of the exercise and ask again who was able to hear the room. Usually more pupils have been able to hear things (voices, air conditioner, breathing, whatever – it’s all good. ) If you like, if you want to, teacher dears, you may try it for a 3rd time. When I do, I say, “We’re going to do it for a 3rd time, but this time, I’m going to give you an added instruction.” I give the signal and suggest that they can close their eyes or not. “Listen to the room”. After about 30 seconds, I invite them to notice how their shoulders feel, if there’s any tension. Then to notice their hands and their backs. I signal the end of the exercise. And ask them to raise their hands if they want to share something about the exercise. One at a time, and maximum 5 or 6 – after that, the attention goes down. Upside: You’ve had a few consecutive seconds of quiet in the room – you’ve enjoyed it, and maybe others have as well. The memory of that quiet is something you can build upon! Downside: Actually, I haven’t found a downside – those few quiet seconds are always an ‘up’ for me.
2. Offer a guided meditation
If the pupils experience it once, they will ask for it again. I have some on the Class Relax site here. The shortest is The White Horse (adapted from the marvellous Prof. Elliot Eisner who always advocated the inclusion of art in the classroom, may his memory be blessed), but I also have Guided Imagery Golden Light (taken from Osho) and Guided Imagery in Nature with soothing background music.
Guided imagery is an invitation to leave the current situation, put their heads down on their desks or just to close their eyes and follow the voice. For a few minutes, they can allow their imaginations to take hold and help them take a short trip into a quiet space, a restful space.
Upside: a few minutes quiet. If you’re guiding them yourself, allow yourself to travel with your own voice, have a script ready. If you’re allowing yourself the privilege of joining them while listening to my voice (or another voice if you find a favourite), enjoy. Teacher, enjoy, rest, take this delicious break. Even if you’re the only one in the room to let yourself be guided, you will benefit and therefore, the pupils will benefit.
3. Sensory Delight
Lavender eye cushions, or little bags of scented lavender. Pass out these scented little bags (easily made or available for order online) and instruct your pupils to sense the weight in their hands, to feel the size of the cushion/pouch – how large, how small. Then to smell it and allow themselves to close their eyes and enjoy the fragrance.
That’s it – a fragrant moment in life. No strings, no tests, no tension. Simple, delicious fragrance. Why lavender? It seems to be mostly universal in its delight. You are welcome to try other scents like mint, or jasmine, or lemongrass.
I wish you luck, dear teachers, in using these suggestions to offer you a path towards hosting a ‘Relaxing” moment in your classroom. Wishing for relaxation is the first step, but here are things you can do to make your wish come true! You can offer a simple task to ease your pupils into a more relaxed space, internally.
And once there is internal quiet, your pupils just might enjoy the experience sufficiently to want to repeat it.
I hope you can use these suggestions. Please write me if you have questions.
Right, so you want to enjoy the benefits of taking a mindful pause to de-stress, to re-fuel, to calm the atmosphere in your classroom and in your mind.
Excellent. If you’ve looked at Part 1 of How to use Class Relax, then you’ll see that you have a key role in the success of Class Relax. Your confidence that Class Relax helps you, as an individual, makes all the difference to your students and their willingness to participate. To make your Class Relax life easier, here’s a list of 10 Tips.
Teacher, set your own mind – Breathe calmly in and out – equally. Try breathing in for a count of 4, holding for 2, and breathing out to a count of 4. A few breaths in this manner and you’ll calm mind and body, preparing yourself to begin.
In Classroom – Set the mood – you need to turn off the lights, draw the curtains if daylight offsets the quality of your screen viewing. Set your tone of voice to calm mode. Remind students to place cellphones on ‘silent’ and if they hear a cellphone ring, to simply go back to the meditation.
Smile and radiate positivity. When you feel delight in offering a mindful break, when you indicate that this is a welcome activity, you will be a beacon of positive energy. Your presence counts for more than you know.
Get their attention. Stand mindfully at the front of the room. You can use your voice to welcome them. If you are in possession of a Tibetan Singing Bowl, you might want to stand quietly and then ring it once, twice, three times. Wait for quiet.
Remind them to refrain from talking and if they feel they cannot participate in the mindfulness exercise, to channel their energy into drawing or some other silent activity.
After beginning the meditation with your students, quietly walk around the room to encourage their participation
Student Behaviour – a) A shy student – you can stand beside him or her and smile. That’s all. No pressure whatsoever b) Student pulls out a cellphone – place a gentle hand on his/her shoulder to remind them to put it away.
Interruptions: a) Someone knocks on the door – if possible, ignore it and carry on. If you must, deal with the doorknocker and come right back to the meditation. b) Cellphone ring – best to deal with this before you begin as mentioned in tip 2 – reminding students to turn off their phones, and if by chance they hear a phone ring, to simply carry on. During the meditation, do not break the mood by addressing the ring. (Next time, you can mention how we can continue our meditation even if there’s a ring of a phone)
After the meditation exercise, stretch along with the stretches you’ll see on most of the clips. This offers a physical transition in order to be ready to learn. If you’ve chosen a clip without stretches, offer them yourself, shaking out the body and then settling down to notice the sensations.
Post-meditation: Encourage your students to see if the meditation makes a difference in their day. This engenders a sense of personal responsibility while stimulating a curiousity to investigate.
Other tips? If you can think of more, please write me.
Pi Day. A good day to think of limitless potential
This week I felt ‘ripples’ from practising the Lovingkindness meditation.
In 4 sessions of Class Relax, I brought the meditation of Lovingkindness. Each time I felt a change in atmosphere from that in the previous week. Pupils knew what was going to happen and so it was all less bizarre.
We went over the process:
Wishing kindness for myself using the phrases: “May I be safe, be healthy, be happy and live in peace”.
Repeating the phrases with the help of the Class Relax clip, they are shown the words, and are eased along into transition to think of someone else (a child, an adult, an animal) who makes them smile. Pupils imagine this ‘other’ and wish them the phrases.
“May you be safe, be healthy, be happy, live in peace.”
The background music is gentle, the images are visual accompaniment, no more.
If there’s someone in their life who’s going through a rough time, then the next step is to visualize them and offer them the phrases.
This is our short practice. It went well, I felt enriched.
The final day of the week, Thursday, was my day to enter grade 7. This is the grade level in which I’d done introductory meditation workshops for Health Week. All the grade 7 pupils had participated, but, alas, I only have one morning per week for Grade 7 and I’m sticking to one class in order to observe and adapt Class Relax to their needs.
This particular morning, there was a knock on the door. Three pupils from another class: ‘Can we come in and do ‘yoga’?” (They call it yoga being that’s where they first learned relaxation techniques).
‘Ask your homeroom teacher’, said M, the teacher of the class I was in.
Knock, knock. ‘Now can we come in?’ they asked again.
M repeated: ‘ You need permission’.
With that they left. (Later on we met up, by chance, and we spoke about why I hadn’t been visiting their class )
Though they had left, there was such positive focus in the room, that things changed even more. I felt loving (to say the least). We did the meditation. We offered lovingkindness to ourselves and to others and then came back to reality, stretched our limbs and shook out our hands and legs, feet. We slapped our knees, clapped our hands and wished ourselves a ‘Wonderful day’.
I don’t believe in miracles, but I do know that the presence of a person inspires response from others. Here had been a presence of a classroom of pupils inspiring response!
Dare I dream? Yes!
Please try Class Relax. Go to the ‘Lovingkindness meditation‘ and try it on yourself, first and then with others.
March 7, 2015
I walk into a classroom, turn on the computer, wait for the projector to turn on. (A minute or two before I can embark on Class Relax, first thing in the morning)
Meanwhile, I look at the students, see who’s animated, who’s sunk in drowsiness, or glued to their phone. Who’s looking at me, wondering what I’ve got up my sleeve.
Sometimes, the homeroom teacher is there cooperative and anticipating a short relaxation session. Sometimes, the homeroom teacher arrives sometime in the middle. Every time has its own flavour.
My intention is to bring lovingkindness into the classroom – to develop more attention to one another, to develop harmony and build relationships. But all this starts with the self.
To walk into a class and suggest that we be kind to ourselves, is to open the door to surprises. Some can’t hear. Some don’t hear. Some begin to hear.
For teachers and students, to be forgiving, accepting of ourselves is to do the unthinkable. We generally don’t think about it. We simply take the blame or toss the blame on others. But what blame? Why blame?
If we could only notice that we are bothered by something, that we are irritated and cranky, then that’s the beginning of a huge revolution!
Just notice. In the noticing, we are gaining some cognition and the possibility to step back for a second. We gain a chance to change our automatic behaviour.
It’s hard but that’s what we’re trying to do. It takes practice. You don’t even have to believe (but it helps to look at the statistics and realize that there are measurable results showing improved relationships and greater tolerance for ourselves and others)
Welcome to the pursuit of calm and clear-thinking in the classroom.
This how-to is divided into two parts. The first part offers basic instructions.
The second is “10 Tips for Teachers“, suggestions to make the experience pleasant and rewarding for you and for your students.
First, are you a teacher?
Do you have a classroom that allows you access to the net and frontal screening, with sound?
If so, this is a meditation application for you.
If any of your answers are no, we can talk about alternate usages (go to Contact me and write me about your classroom conditions), but for now, these instructions are geared towards net-based teacher/student experience in meditation before or during the lesson.
1. You’ve logged into the site. For now, it’s free – just click onto the URL.
2. Go to: Why Implement Meditation in the Classroom? Here you will find 10 reasons why students and teachers will benefit. Choose one reason and speak about it for a minute (or two). This gives context to the activity and reassurance that their valuable time will be well-spent!
3. Ask your students how they feel at that very moment by a show of hands. How many are tired? (hands up and then lowered) How many are energetic? How many are hungry? How many are nervous?
4. According to what most of the kids indicate, you select a suitable meditation. On page 1 – we have the Wonderful Waiter – an exercise that balances the brain and gives the body a wonderful focused work-out. They need to stand up beside their desks. It comes in two speeds – regular and slow for extra concentration.
This movement exercise is good for overly energetic kids – it channels their energy and for tired kids – it wakes them up by bringing blood flow into their limbs and brains!
Click onto Breathing meditations for students who are a mixed bunch. The clips have different music. I like to start with the one in front of the Rainbow Mountain.
Guided Imagery – there are two. The Golden Light is more advanced and longer. Go to The White Horse for a beginning taste of Guided Imagery. It’s short and a delightful way to refresh the mind. This is good for tired students, or students who seem to be ‘stuck’ and can’t move into a mind for studying. This will help!
Tibetan Singing Bowl – this is a listening meditation. With every chord of the Singing Bowl, students need to remember to focus on their own breathing. They are not to change anything, just notice their breaths. They may choose to count their breaths or not, it’s up to them.
Important! A positive atmosphere is key to success with Class Relax. As a teacher, you gently remind them not to talk, no anger in the room. As a teacher, you need to feel the benefit of Class Relax, and if so, even if you are the only one in the room to enjoy the pause (and this has never been the case with me) then all the students will reap the benefit!
5. For your information, there are blog posts about using Class Relax in the classroom. Feel free to read and add your comments and suggestions.
We want to make Class Relax the best application possible and for that, your feedback is vital!
This past week hosted Simulated Matriculation exams (‘Matkonnot’ in Hebrew) and I was unable to appear in 2 of the 4 classes in which I regularly conduct Class Relax sessions.
(Note to self: Schedule Class Relax before the real Matriculation exam in May)
I was, however, able to show up in two Grade 9 classes to screen the latest Guided Imagery meditation. It offers a chance to clear the mind while listening to the sounds of a running brook accompanied by piano chords. The instructions are simply to notice one’s breaths. The inhale and exhale count as “1”, the next set is “2”. When thoughts appear and attention wanders, one is to notice and then come back to the count.
Guided Imagery in Nature
Observations: It’s very important that such a meditation be conducted in an atmosphere of community cooperation, in order to feel safe and truly free to let the imagination flow. I don’t count breaths for the students, I don’t impose my own rhythm of breathing. Therefore, they are on their own for a period of a few minutes. If there’s quiet in the room, when the mind wanders off, a word from Class Relax can lead focus back to the here and now. Everyone in the room supports everyone else. When it works, it’s wonderful!
As a facilitator, I’m still experimenting with this particular Guided Imagery. But I received good reports from other teachers using it.
In one class, the teacher placed the meditation mid-way between her double lesson, at the end of the school day.
She said that her students look forward to Class Relax and are happy to participate. They enjoy the opportunity to put their head down on their desks and allow themselves to be led to a beautiful place. Afterwards, they are back in stride, ready to learn,able to comprehend new material, and more attentive to the tasks assigned.
I brought this meditation to my 10th grade class English class. They had arrived late to school after a class trip the night before to Tel Aviv and were still somewhat sleepy. The Guided Imagery in nature gave them a chance to exercise focus, without undo demands. One girl asked me if it was okay that she had counted 39 breaths! Of course it was okay! How wonderful that she had maintained count for that long!
Along with Class Relax came the questions. How long have I been doing it? Does it get easier?
How long? I’ve been doing forms of meditation for over 40 years. I’ve been bringing meditation into classrooms for about 4 years. Does it get easier? Yes, it does! And what’s more, the practice shows up in different forms, and at various times.
As a teacher, I am grateful for all chances to do Class Relax and can see the benefits. If, for example, a student manages to say something annoying, as I walk towards the student, I only have to bring my attention to my feet on the floor, notice my breathing, and by the end of that brief walk, I’ll be more likely to say something more mindful, rather than just blast off a response!
This is what I’m hoping for: that they, too, will take that short break to breathe and re-set their focus before responding mindlessly!
Observations from the field, this February.
Have a good week
Judih
January 7, 2015 – Health Week
Nofei Habsor school in the Western Negev engaged in its annual Health Week. I was invited to bring Class Relax to the attention of six Grade 7 classes and their adult companions for the day.
From one session to the next, I experimented with the elements I wanted them to consider: How they felt at the moment, what made a difference in their present experience and how it was possible to change their attention and even their perception of themselves.
The ideals are lofty, but the techniques were simple.
We began with what they knew. I wanted to find out if they knew anything about meditation. Some did, and many were curious. I asked them to extend their arms with closed fists. How did that feel? Some said ‘Tight!’ , ‘closed’ ‘fine’! Some said it hurt! I then asked them to release their palms, open to the ceiling. How did that feel? Some said: ‘Open!’, ‘free!’. Then I asked them to open their arms to the sides, palms upward. How did that feel? ‘Good!’ ‘Relaxed’ ‘ Ready’.
A very important phase is the shake-out element – to get the blood flowing in arms and feet. And it’s fun to stop and shake!
Tibetan Singing Bowl
I brought out my Tibetan Singing Bowl. Did they know what it was? Some did! I struck it and then told them to just listen to the sound and to raise their finger when they couldn’t hear it any longer.
When some kids spoke, there were those who told them to be quiet to let them listen till the end.
Everyone was still as they listened to the vibrations and at which moment they could no longer hear them.
I then took a survey of the room. Who felt tired? (show of hands) Who felt hungry? Who felt energetic?
I assessed the situation and chose a meditation from Class Relax. Sometimes, the breathing meditations were best, sometimes the Wonderful Waiter and sometimes the listening meditation.
The Wonderful Waiter was used to direct excess energies or to wake up the sleepy.
After six sessions of careful listening to the tones, of counting breaths, of engaging in the Wonderful Waiter, I felt great. They also liked it! I had lots of good feedback, coming up to me, asking to come back even if their class was busy at another workshop.
The Wonderful Waiter hang drum/harp
January 22
I was invited by teacher Dana to bring Class Relax to her English class. She teaches 9th grade from 12:15 – 13:45. This is a difficult time for most kids. It’s just before lunch break and by then, they are tired of sitting.
I arrived at 13:00. I introduced myself and asked if they had heard anything about meditation. Some people said it is ‘quiet’! (I liked that). One said ‘Vipassana’ and others knew that it was a 10-day experience.
I took a survey of the room. How did they feel? They were tired and felt a little hungry. We did the Wonderful Waiter. Then I brought them back to a state of learning and was ready to leave, when they asked their teacher for more. Dana gave the nod and I decided that The White Horse, a short guided imagery session would probably do the trick. We did it. They came out of the session, I wished them a wonderful day and I left the room.
Later, Dana told me that one girl who never participates at that time of day was fully on task as they studied adjectives! Other kids were also ready and focused.
As she shared that with me, another teacher told me that her grade 7 class had asked her to do Class Relax for them.
Okay, I say! Onward.
Usability Study
I’m looking for teachers to do a usability study for a month. Would you like to participate? Do you know others who would?
Please, add comments. Come be part of the effort to help our teachers and students to become more focused!
As teachers we get ready everyday for the challenges that await us.
We shower, pack a lunch, drink coffee, check our to do lists, do them and then pause…’before I leave the house, am I ready?’
How can we truly prepare for the million surprises that will come our way?
I’ve found a way. I’m Judih, a teacher for over 25 years, involved in meditation for more than 40.
I know that if I sit quietly and concentrate on my body, my breath and my mind, even for a few minutes, I feel ready to face the outside world.
This practice is called ‘mindfulness’ and it has been proven to provide many benefits which I’ll talk about in this blog.
Teachers, we can do this for a few minutes in the morning.
A mindfulness practising teacher can offer a more sympathetic ear to her colleagues, her students and most importantly to herself.
What is Class Relax?
Class Relax is a site which offers short meditation video clips to be used in the classroom. You don’t have to study mindfulness in order to use it. After logging into the site, the teacher and students watch and listen to the instructions. Together, they practice mindfulness for a few minutes and doing so make themselves ready for the lesson.
The site can be used privately, of course. There are choices of short meditation clips according to your needs, whether you need stimulation or calm, movement or sitting still. There are different types of music to suit your preferences.
Welcome to Class Relax, an experience to refresh the mind.
This site is about life and bringing up babies 3 kilometers from the Gazan/Israeli border. There will be Kabbalah lessons and voices from the other side of the border. Hear and share
Class Relax 