Learning to Understand "Mindful" Thinking

Week 2

This week we reviewed the parts of the brain: amygdala, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus.  Then the kids closed their eyes for 30 seconds and we listened to the sounds around us.  After they opened their eyes we made a list of items that we heard.  We talked about how we had to quiet our brains down to pay attention to the sounds around us.  We processed the sounds by using our prefrontal cortex and then remembered what we experienced and used our hippocampus.  We were being ‘mindful’.

Then we discussed what ‘mindful’ is:
1. Being in the here and now.  2. Nonjudgmental.

We then had each child choose a paper with an example of someone being mindful or unmindful.  All the kids seemed to understand the concept.  An example of being unmindful would be something like, “Not trying a new food because it looks funny.”  An example of ‘mindful’ would be “Listening to directions given by your teacher even if you think you know how to do the problem on the page.” 

After that, I read the book, “Simon's Hook; A Story About Teases and Put-downs” http://www.amazon.com/Simons-Story-About-Teases-Put-downs/dp/0966853016/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top/189-5975299-6035352.   This is an incredible book about ways to deal with teasing.  The kids love this book!  I highly recommend it.  It is full of strategies to deal with teasing that the kids grasp really fast.  We talked about what people were doing in the book and if it was ‘mindful’ or not ‘mindful’.  Next week we will play a game so kids can practice the strategies on how to handle teasing… thus learning to be more mindful.  We will also discuss listening with mindfulness.