Mindfulness in the Elementary Music Classroom


This article explores ways to enhance teach- ing and learning in the elementary classroom through the use of mindfulness. “Mindfulness is awareness, cultivated by paying attention in a sustained and particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.”1


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Cynthia Page-Bogen


will discuss the value of mindfulness for both the teacher and student and look at how it assists in classroom management. I will describe some very authentic and deep connections between teacher and students and discuss how develop- ing self-awareness in ourselves and encouraging it in our students fosters a supportive, positive classroom climate which helps focus attention, lower stress, and engage the whole child.


Mindfulness focuses on breathing and being present with your whole self, feeling from the inside out, and trusting that change is possible. Music, as one of the affective arts, is based on feeling.


Mindfulness enriches the awareness


of feeling and helps us take a deeper dive into the rich sensory world that music offers. The practice of mindfulness encourages us to notice from the ‘inside out’ and opens up opportunity for presence and joy in moments that otherwise might go unnoticed, for example, when students feel honored by a teacher’s genuine expres- sion of awe at the beauty and soulful sincerity of their performance or when the kindergarten class lined up at the door spontaneously listens with intense stillness to the ring of the chime tree. Getting down deeper into this ‘feeling lev- el’, which is such a beautiful part of the music- making experience, enriched the emotional pal- ette of my class and provided more latitude for what was accepted and valued. It was a joyful experience for both my students and me and I believe it is an approach whose time has come.


Beginning Steps to Incorporate Mindful Activities


Breath and awareness of the feelings in your body are the driving forces guiding mindful- ness. I found that working intensively with the breath tractions more attentive listening, assists


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You don’t have to be an expert to start explor- ing mindfulness—you just have to be curious and open.


Integrating mindful activities into your classroom can begin with the small step of heightening an experience by pairing it with self-awareness in the present moment. For ex- ample, when students enter my room we sing a song that begins, “Hello and welcome and breathe…. And breathe….” (See figure 1). We flex the timing on the word ‘breathe’ and take deep, conscious breaths. At the end of the song I ring a singing bowl and students listen, focus- ing on their breathing while the sound fades. I knew that the singing bowl had value because of my students’ unsolicited responses. One 2nd grade girl exclaimed, “I feel the sound come in through my head and go all the way down to my toes.” A pre-K student said, “It feels like ice cream melting---like dark chocolate ice cream!” A good number of students responded spontaneously with comments like, “I feel it in my heart,” while a kindergarten boy exclaimed, “When I swallow the sound, it makes my body light up inside!”


Mindfulness clearly helps all students, includ- ing at risk students. I had one homeless kinder- garten student who came in my room and liter- ally ran in circles. One day I took this boy to the hallway and put a finger halfway between his heart and neck. I asked him to breathe under my finger. Eventually, his chest began to rise with the breath. He looked me dead straight in the eye for a long time. That was a very moving moment because this child was willing to trust me with his emotions. The positive benefits of such a connection remain long after.


By the


end of the year I could say, “breathe” to a child and they knew how to use their breath to create the space needed for positive change to occur. Furthermore, this knowledge empowered them


with problematic behaviors, and results in bet- ter singing quality and musical phrasing. It also resulted in some beautiful soul-to-soul con- nections and helped my students and me get to know and trust one another in a deeper way.


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