Mindful Mondays 9 - 9:45 am MST
Live calls for teens and teachers learning remotely
SafeWithin: Attitudinal Foundations and Mindfulness Teaching Framework
by Cindy Garner, Executive Director
In teaching mental fitness and focused attention in the high school classroom, there is an opportunity to not only provide tools for calming the nervous system and cultivating present-moment awareness, but also to investigate social justice and foster the capacities for discernment, attunement, right speech, and wise action.
Beyond simply bringing attention to an anchor, or engaging in intentional self-care practices, mindfulness invites us into relationship, not just with our own experiences, but the experiences of others around us, and the opportunity to investigate with kindness and curiosity how we wish to BE in the world.
And what it means to feel safe enough to connect with each other.
Mindfulness also encourages us to consider what it means to be just, and how systems of oppression work to divide us and isolate us from our shared human experience and from the possibility of human connection.
It is in bringing attention to areas of systemic inequality in a compassionate and safe way that we can then begin coming together across our differences in community to support mutual respect, care for each other and for the planet, and access to our shared and authentic human experiences.
We are designed to be relational beings. Our nervous systems are built for co-regulation. And we are living in a world and in a society that so often drives us away from each other and builds barriers even within ourselves that prevent us from allowing ourselves to be fully human.
The SafeWithin teaching framework gives us an opportunity to place connection over achievement. To educate in experiential and compassionate ways that empower. To place process over content and learn to model unconditional positive regard... for ourselves, for our students.
And of course... to pay attention, nonjudgmentally, in the present moment ... as if our lives depended on it. Which they do.
Beyond simply bringing attention to an anchor, or engaging in intentional self-care practices, mindfulness invites us into relationship, not just with our own experiences, but the experiences of others around us, and the opportunity to investigate with kindness and curiosity how we wish to BE in the world.
And what it means to feel safe enough to connect with each other.
Mindfulness also encourages us to consider what it means to be just, and how systems of oppression work to divide us and isolate us from our shared human experience and from the possibility of human connection.
It is in bringing attention to areas of systemic inequality in a compassionate and safe way that we can then begin coming together across our differences in community to support mutual respect, care for each other and for the planet, and access to our shared and authentic human experiences.
We are designed to be relational beings. Our nervous systems are built for co-regulation. And we are living in a world and in a society that so often drives us away from each other and builds barriers even within ourselves that prevent us from allowing ourselves to be fully human.
The SafeWithin teaching framework gives us an opportunity to place connection over achievement. To educate in experiential and compassionate ways that empower. To place process over content and learn to model unconditional positive regard... for ourselves, for our students.
And of course... to pay attention, nonjudgmentally, in the present moment ... as if our lives depended on it. Which they do.
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Presentations for students and teachers incorporate tools from Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Mindful Schools, Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme), the Mindful Education Workbook, and other research-backed curricula.
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What teachers are saying about the SafeWithin program:
"I really enjoyed how peaceful the room was during this time. It was nice to start the morning in a calm setting."
"I thought this training was on point. We need more of this!"
"Thank you so much for bringing Rocky Mountain Mindfulness Center to us and for recognizing our common human connection."
The impact of Toxic Stress
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FROM MINDFULSCHOOLS.ORG
Children and adults alike need to be challenged in order to grow and develop. However, in the modern education system, healthy stress is frequently displaced by toxic stress. Toxic stress occurs when life’s demands consistently outpace our ability to cope with those demands. STUDENTS: Toxic stress impairs attention, emotion and mood regulation, sleep, and learning readiness daily in American classrooms. Even more troubling, prolonged exposure to childhood toxic stress has lifelong impacts on mental and physical health. EDUCATORS: Toxic stress starts as decreased productivity and creativity, escalating to more serious symptoms like frequent anxiety, dissociation, frustration, and, eventually, burnout. Roughly half a million U.S. teachers leave the profession each year. PARENTS: Toxic stress can lead to a parenting style that looks more like a “to-do” list, rather than an empathic, present-centered relationship with a developing child. Exposure to parental stress in early childhood has been shown to impact gene expression even years later in adolescence. |
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From MindfulSchools.org: Here’s Mindful Schools' summary of research findings on benefits of mindfulness particularly relevant to educators:
The inspiration for the Rocky Mountain Mindfulness Center was the tremendous public response of a handful of empowered teenagers in the wake of the tragic school shootings in February. In their power and fierceness, I saw an erupting volcano - a generation of troubled youth, trapped by legislation and political upheaval and a spiraling mental health crisis, and burning to find a voice, minds on fire, ready to burst into the world with spirit and determination. Volcanos have both the power to destroy and to create new earth, just as this generation of teenagers has the capacity to either level utter destruction, or to be a force of positive change, courage, and awareness at a level never before witnessed or needed in the course of human history.
These are troubled times, and there are not many of us who wander the world free from stress. The stressors are many and they are very real and present in all of our lives. There is never enough time, we are overwhelmed, we are under appreciated, we communicate harshly with ourselves, our families and our friends, we experience congestion and road rage, too many toxins plague our bodies, money and resources are scarce, our neighbors are dying from cancer, the earth is warming and species are going extinct, and terrible injustices are happening at our borders. The suffering we feel now is not ours to bear alone, but belongs to the entire human community and all of life on earth.
Through the practice of mindfulness, we have the opportunity to turn towards our discomforts with compassion, to embrace suffering with tenderness, to accept our bodies as they are, to expand our awareness and to arrive in the present moment, fully here, and utterly awake. But beyond calming our nervous systems and learning to relax, mindfulness is a call to global citizenship, and an opportunity to truly be the change we wish to see in the world. We can bring this practice beyond the cushion, to our relationships with others, to our communities, to our troubled government, our polluted streams and burning forests, to the refugees fleeing terrible violence, and to the planet that we are so blessed to call our home.
-Cynthia Garner
RMMC Founder, Executive Director, Lead Mindfulness Teacher
These are troubled times, and there are not many of us who wander the world free from stress. The stressors are many and they are very real and present in all of our lives. There is never enough time, we are overwhelmed, we are under appreciated, we communicate harshly with ourselves, our families and our friends, we experience congestion and road rage, too many toxins plague our bodies, money and resources are scarce, our neighbors are dying from cancer, the earth is warming and species are going extinct, and terrible injustices are happening at our borders. The suffering we feel now is not ours to bear alone, but belongs to the entire human community and all of life on earth.
Through the practice of mindfulness, we have the opportunity to turn towards our discomforts with compassion, to embrace suffering with tenderness, to accept our bodies as they are, to expand our awareness and to arrive in the present moment, fully here, and utterly awake. But beyond calming our nervous systems and learning to relax, mindfulness is a call to global citizenship, and an opportunity to truly be the change we wish to see in the world. We can bring this practice beyond the cushion, to our relationships with others, to our communities, to our troubled government, our polluted streams and burning forests, to the refugees fleeing terrible violence, and to the planet that we are so blessed to call our home.
-Cynthia Garner
RMMC Founder, Executive Director, Lead Mindfulness Teacher