Meditation in Schools Project: Feedback from Bedford School
‘Mind Space visited Bedford School last week during Citizenship Day and opened the eyes of the Lower Sixth to the world of meditation. Adam explained about the history and purpose of the session before leading the whole year group through two short periods of meditation. The Mind Space team then offered a more in-depth session at lunchtime to those pupils and staff who chose to ‘opt-in’. There, we were led through a longer meditation session and had time to discuss and reflect upon the value of meditation to studying and to our lives a s a whole. All of the pupils present were ;’buzzing’ with the session afterwards and told other pupils about what they had learnt!’
Susie Spyropoulos (Member of staff at Bedford)
February 7th 2012
Create Mind Space at Warwick University
Mind Space have been invited by students at Warwick University to deliver a session during their Health and Well Being Week
The event will take place on February 22nd between 3-4pm Meeting Room 6, SUHQ, Warwick University.
The session will discuss techniques to create mind space through training in Meditation and Mindfulness.
Mind Space works with Universities across the UK and Europe introducing practical tools to create mind space
For more information about the work we are doing with Universities please click here.
To invite a Mind Space Speaker into your University please click here.
An Introduction to Meditation & Mindfulness at Bedford School
Mind Space is delivering an Introduction to Mindfulness and Meditation on Wednesday February 1st, 2012 at Bedford Boarding School
9-10am: Year 11
10.15-11.15am: Year 12
12pm: Small Group Sessions
Watch feedback from students at other schools here.
Find out more information about how Mind Space and the Guardian are working together on the Meditation in Schools Project here.
For more information about how to invite a Mind Space Speaker to your school today – contact us.
Meditation in Schools Project – Sats test success in London
In 2009 Riverside Primary School in Rotherhithe, South East London, scored a 100 per cent pass rate in Sats tests in English, maths and science after pupils were taught breathing exercises by a teacher before the exams.
Testimonial from the staff at the Meditation session at Juniper School
Adam came to Juniper on 23.11.11 to deliver a mediation workshop to the staff. There were 6 staff and although the staff were a little wary of what this session would be like, they took part and gained something from it. It was enjoyable, we relaxed and a couple of staff had to work to stay awake! Adam’s delivery was good. He is softly spoken and influenced the session in a very positive way.
Mrs McAndrew – Head Teacher
Meditation in School Project Motivation
This week we had a Meditation in Schools workshops with a group of people learning about the Meditation in Schools project.
These sessions are of a practical nature and show practitioners who are interested in meditation how they can contribute to the Meditation in Schools project.
My experience now of running these sessions and bringing Meditation to Schools is that it is a natural wish for people who already have experience of meditation in their own lives to want to bring it to children and students.
When you realize and appreciate the great benefits that arise from Meditation then you always think what would my life have been like if I had learned earlier.
Offering a child access to meditation is one of the kindest most special gifts that you can give to them.
They may not use the techniques straight away but they have at their disposal an incredibly powerful tool which they can turn to throughout their life.
How kind for schools and teachers to offer this to students from an early age!
My own passion and desire to bring Meditation to Schools came as a result of having to travel all the way to Nepal to stumble across meditation.
When I finished college I spent 6 months Teaching English in Nepal and it was here that I discovered the practice of meditation. If I hadn’t traveled there, I may not have learnt or discovered how to meditate.
Sometime people think that you need to travel East to discover meditation – this is false. Meditation is a global activity and can be learnt in the classroom where you learn how to read, count and write – if it is made available.
The Meditation in Schools Project is motivated to making this happen.
Watch feedback from students who have engage in the Meditation in Schools project here.
University Meditation – Feedback from University Staff from the Business School Meditation Session
Mind Space ran a Meditation session for the University Staff at the Business School in Wolverhampton discover how they found it:
Invite a Mind Space speaker to your University/School to deliver a meditation session.
I enjoyed it very much…..personally, I think a 30-40 minute session would have been more beneficial. However, with the shorter period of time, I learnt how to concentrate and control my own mind, I found it helped me to relax, and create an inner peace of mind….I loved it.
Would it be worth you considering doing a regular lunch time session?
I think it would have been better if we had a more comfortable room.
I thought the session was very helpful, it was quite enlightening. Without a doubt I think staff would find this valuable, I think it should be on the staff timetable as a compulsory activity!
I went into this a bit cynical, because it’s not really my cup of tea and I was a bit – oh my gosh have I really got to shut my eyes in front of my colleagues in the business school, but it was quite nice… and an opportunity to not think about anything at all, which was a novelty. I found it very interesting & useful, I also found it particularly easy to use and do at any time during the day, the moment you can find a few minutes… you do come out refreshed and with recharged batteries.
I could see the benefits for other people who might need to have some sort of skills and tips to be able to take themselves out of a stressful situation and realign their thought processes and patterns, but I’m not sure it’s for me.
I think the problem would be for us, that you don’t have enough time for yourself, let alone enough time for yourself to do nothing – so it would be a bit of a step, but it was good.
Students’ hit a very stressful zone around hand in times and that stress does overlap to all of us & I think students and staff should have some access to stress management techniques to get through the difficult periods.
To me the more I did it, then the better I would feel about it – I do think it is something that if you made a habit – it would become quite natural.
Invite a Mind Space speaker to your University/School to deliver a meditation session.
Meditation in Schools Project – Sessions at Gordano School, Part 2
Mind Space has recently run a series of 6 meditation classes for a group of 16 year old students in Portishead, Bristol.
A unique and innovative program of guided meditations.
Students have signed up and chosen to attend the program at Gordano School.
Here is an update of how Meditation Sessions 4-6 went.
For Sessions 1-3 which appeared on the Guardian Website read here.
Updated November 21st 2011
Written by Liese Stanley
(Liese Stanley is a Mind Space Schools Speaker based in Portishead, Bristol and is delivering
the meditation sessions at Gordano School - Learn more about Voluntary Speaker network here.)
Session 4
A quieter class today. There seems to be a feeling of tiredness, or perhaps it is just that they are more settled and know what to expect. Again we start with a body scan – a meditation focusing on the body – that lasts about 15 minutes. I change the style of where we start and vary the content a little as it is all too easy to fall into patterns. Focus is what is needed here not comfort through repetition.
One of the students is going to an interview soon so we also cover a shorter three-minute “gathering” meditation that can be used beforehand. I point out that it can also be effective just before exams and if necessary during the exam itself.
I also encourage them to tell me how they apply mindfulness in day-to-day activities. At the electives fair where they chose which courses to do, I had caught their interest by asking them to eat chocolate mindfully. It’s a simple three-minute exercise that often gets across the idea of mindful meditation when there isn’t the opportunity to try meditation itself.
Trying to adopt triggers throughout the day to be mindful can help meditation practice and vice versa. We discuss eating, walking, listening to music, just stopping and looking around, all done mindfully.
We return to our mindfulness of breathing meditation. Again, using a count if they feel it necessary. We count as we exhale, I remind them that if they forget the count to return to 1, if they start to get distracted to accept the distraction, let it go and return to the count, if their mind wanders off, to accept the thought, let it go and return to the count. They are used to the practice now and my comments serve as reminders rather than instruction. We finish with personal visualisation allowing the mind more freedom and building an image that they can come back to when they want or need to.
Session 5
Adam, the founder of Mind Space, arrives today to interview some of the students for a video that will be used for training other teachers and also for showing to other schools etc. It changes the structure of the class a bit but this is no bad thing. I run the body scan for a shorter amount of time and we go with a longer meditation – less talking and more freedom to go deeper. Again we use a breathing count, then drop the count, then move to visualisation at the end.
The visualisation feels like a reward somehow. I recall the anecdote of meditation being akin to training a wild horse. Focusing is similar to very slowly and gently pulling on a rope to bring the horse in closer but always letting it out again as necessary. The visualisations seem to be akin to letting the rope slacken and the horse move into a wider surrounding again.
Interviews done, and reminding them of how helpful it was to hear how the sessions were going for them, we leave, calm and focused for now at least.
Session 6
Last session today. We run through body scan, 20 minute meditation and three and five minute meditations. I remind myself what my intention was at the beginning of the course. To offer meditation as a tool that they can use when and where they need it. Not necessarily now but, with a new understanding and good technique, they can return to it when they need it in the future. I do reiterate that regular practice, even 10 minute sessions, is the best way forward but I’m aware that maybe not everyone will follow this just now.
I also touch again on the possibilities of being more mindful through the day and encourage them to pause here and there and breathe!
I am happy that they all feel confident enough with their approach to meditation, the practice itself and how to integrate it into daily life either now or in the future. They are aware of resources available to them and hopefully have a fresh understanding of what it is about. It is up to them now, when and how they use meditation.
And actually that is the point, meditation is different for everyone. Once the basic understanding is there it becomes very much a personal journey.
I am incredibly grateful to and privileged to have worked with these students. I am reminded of the quote “By learning you can teach. By teaching you can learn.” I have and this experience will add to my teaching of other students.
For Sessions 1-3 (which appeared on the Guardian Website) read here.
Meditation in Schools – 5 minutes to a Calmer Classroom – Teachers Resource on the Guardian Website
Mind Space in partnership with the Guardian newspaper is providing a resource tool for Teachers, Schools and Students who wish to integrate meditation into their classroom. Read more about this below.
Also Mind Space is featured on the Guardian website with a report by Liese on her experience delivering meditation to schools
This resource gives you ten, top tips on how you can deliver a simple breathing meditation that students of any belief system – or none – can use. It works best when students opt in to the meditation session. You could offer it as a taster and if the students enjoy and engage, then offer more.
These tips give you what you need to get started and include guided meditations and video tutorials.
Click below to access the resource on the Guardian website…
