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A Beginner’s Guide to Adopting a Mindfulness Practice
Does the word “mindfulness” sound mystical and intimidating to you? If so, you are not alone. Before I began to study mindfulness, I thought it was something elusive that only Buddhist monks could understand. I also wondered if it’s religious origin presented a conflict with other beliefs. It wasn’t until I was desperate to find…
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What is Holding You Back from Being Mindful?
Despite the scientific research to back up the benefits of mindfulness, people are still very reluctant to adopt a daily mindfulness practice. Here are the common reasons I have heard. Comment below and let me know what is holding you back! These are the top three reasons I have heard for why people are reluctant…
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Is There Room for Mindfulness in Competitive Sports?
Now that the school year is over, I have even more time to be a youth sports spectator. I’m still waking up at 6am and doing a guided meditation from my favorite podcast, but instead of heading to the classroom, I’m heading to one of the many fields that I am only able to find…
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Mindfulness Monday: Origami Pencil Toppers
Today we tried origami pencil toppers in the shape of stars. We found it challenging. If you try this let me know how it goes!
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Shout Out!
Shout out to Ms. Tobin and her 3rd graders at the Ditson School in Billerica for their Chalk the Walk day. These students left kind, thoughtful, and positive messages on the sidewalk in front of their school for everyone walking by to enjoy. This is great idea for anytime of year, at any grade level,…
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Mindfulness Monday: Gratitude Tree
For today’s activity I brought in a small tree and gave each student a strip of paper with a hole punched through and a piece of twine to knot in a circle. I asked students to write what they are grateful for on the strip of paper and adorn the tree with their evidence of…
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Mindfulness Monday: Dreamcatchers
Another great student suggestion lead to today’s Mindfulness Monday activity! We made dreamcatchers and I’ve posted a how-to video below. This activity involves more steps than usual so it is more of an intermediate level activity and not my first choice for beginners, but it is a great way to promote persistence. I love how…
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Mindfulness Monday: Orbeez Stress Balls
The winner of our poll is Orbeez Stress Balls. Thank you to everyone who voted! My students were very excited to see the bucket of water beads and balloons I had out on the desk for this activity. They got right to work filling the balloons with the water beads. They found it worked best…
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Student Suggestions
This week I received two great mindfulness activity suggestions from students. One was to create stress balls out of balloons filled with Orbeez. I like this idea because it is a hands-on activity and easy to prep. The other suggestion is to create a sampler of different scents using small cups filled with essential oils.…
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Shout Out to the DHS ELA Department!
I want to thank my amazing department for helping me practice my presentation on SEL & Mindfulness to our faculty next month. They are always willing to listen to my ideas, try new things, and share helpful feedback. I am very luck to work with such amazing colleagues!