These are tools kids can rely on for the rest of their lives, and use them to get back to their center.


~Ali Smith


Participating schools have reported fewer fights, better attendance and higher grades, among other benefits, according to Ali Smith, all results backed by independent research. Recent studies in schools from San Francisco to Columbus, Ohio, have shown that teaching kids mindfulness practices can heighten attentiveness, self-control and empathy, while reduc- ing stress, hyperactivity and depression, and improving academic performance. The kids also apply their newfound skills at home. “To take ownership of the practice and understand the ben- efits, you have to know how to explain it, so we use a reciprocal teaching model,” says Ali. “We teach the kids to say, ‘Mom, Dad, you look stressed; can you take a breather with me?’” Martin, a Lincoln Elementary


student, was pleased to report, “I went to my house and taught my mom how to do all the things you guys taught us.” Virginia, another student, noted, “This


morning I got mad at my dad, but then I remembered to breathe, and then I didn’t shout.” Other schools are following suit.


Mindful Schools began in 2007 as a single-school program in Oakland, California, and then expanded to sup- port online and in-person courses and a network of mindful educators spanning all 50 states and more than 100 coun- tries. The David Lynch Foundation funds efforts to bring transcendental meditation to underserved kids in classrooms like the Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School, in Queens, New York; Wilson High School, in Portland, Oregon; and Way- zata West Middle School, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, among others.


Find easy instruction at Tinyurl.com/ MindfulnessStarterLesson.


Connect with freelance writer April Thompson, in Washington, D.C., at AprilWrites.com.


Mindful Exercises


This meditation exercise is rec- ommended by the Holistic Life Foundation to help kids slow down, relax, de-stress or clear their heads:


Sit comfortably with one hand on


your belly, with your head, neck and spine in alignment. Breathe through your nose. As you inhale, feel your belly expand and pause for a second. Then, exhale and feel the belly fall. Repeat for 10 breaths.


This mindfulness instruction is excerpted from a starter lesson


at MindfulSchools.org: Mindfulness is noticing what is happening in the present moment. It can help calm us when we are angry, sad or frustrated. It can help us notice when we are happy or grateful and also to focus, whether in school or in sports. It’s important to let our bodies be


very still. When that happens, it gets very quiet. When we have still and quiet bod- ies, that’s what we call our mindful bodies. Now, let’s close our eyes and just sit like this for one minute.


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