Week 14 Learning Challenge: Mindfulness

This week I read a really interesting NPR article based on an interview with a researcher discussing the benefits of mindfulness and demonstrating an exercise to increase mindfulness. It reminded me a lot of the little bits of meditation I've dabbled in. In fact, it was just similar enough to remind me that I really, really need to take this lesson to heart! 
Everything the researcher was describing as a symptom of low mindfulness -- constant feelings of rushing around, being stressed mind racing, lack of appreciation for the moment one is living in -- we're extremely familiar to me. He discusses how these feelings in people with low mindfulness act as a constant stimulus to the amygdala, which triggers the fight-or-flight response. Basically, my stress and inability to handle it has tricked my brain into constantly feeling like I'm being chased by a tiger. Whoops.
I was also really interested by the idea of performing the mindfulness activity with children. I know from talking with my students that their school experience is different from mine and the generations before me in that the stakes feel infinitely higher -- constant standardized testing, pressure to exceed not only in academics but a plethora of extracurricular activities, and the various home problems my students face. I'm not convinced some of my younger, wigglier classes could handle a minute of mindfulness, but I'm very tempted to try this with some of my older students. 

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