How Mindfulness Meditation Can Help American Students

Based in Emeryville, California, Mindful Schools has trained more than 2,000 teachers from 48 states on implementing mindfulness practices into their daily classroom routines. The teachers often report that mindfulness helps with focus and attention. Additionally, meditation provides children with tools to relax themselves when they experience overwhelming emotions or are exposed to a great deal of pressure. In modern American schools, children deal with the stress of tests and standardized exams, which can create a high-pressure environment. Mindfulness allows more children to flourish in these environments.

In recent history, schools across the nation have begun to focus more on social and emotional education, especially as issues such as bullying have made major headlines. An increasing number of teachers are discovering mindfulness meditation as one of the best means for tackling this new sort of education.

Mindfulness in American schools also helps adults to deal with the stress of teaching. Teachers cannot instruct their students on mindfulness meditation unless they themselves have a developed practice. Such a practice could ultimately make them better teachers as they handle pressure and frustration more constructively.