How to Incorporate Mindfulness Practices Into the School Day

Do you know how much mindfulness can do for you? To put it simply, it’s a way of being present right here and now. Mindfulness teaches people how to appreciate the moment without getting overwhelmed by distractions around them. It’s not just a fad. Research finds that practicing mindfulness has a long list of benefits, from less stress and anxiety to improved attention and cognitive performance. This is also something you can do anywhere, especially in a classroom – a setting where it’s so important for our brains to work at their best.

The Five Senses

This practice is great for clearing your head. Experts from plagiarismcheck.org state that students can unintentionally plagiarize something when their minds are too cluttered for original thoughts. Avoiding this mistake is easy if you can take a moment to pause and focus on your senses. It’s best if you can sit down and close your eyes, but it isn’t necessary. You can even do it while walking to another classroom. Just follow these steps:

• Look around you and notice five things that you see. What are they?
• Pay attention to four things you can touch. Maybe you’re carrying a textbook, keeping your hands on top of a desk, or holding a pencil. What is their texture?
• Listen for three things you can hear. It may be a challenge in a noisy classroom, but try to pick up on specific sounds that stand out to you.
• Notice two smells in your environment. Feel free to sniff the air for a moment. You don’t have to know where these smells come from, just discover them.
• Focus on your own mouth for one thing you can taste. You can drink or eat something if you’re in a cafeteria. Or you can simply discover how your mouth tastes.

Body Scan

Being aware of your own body is just as important as paying attention to your surroundings. This practice can help you understand how you’re feeling, reconnecting your body and mind to help them both work better. People usually do a body scan as a meditation exercise, but you can try a simplified version that will easily fit into your school day.

First, notice how you breathe in and out, how your body touches your chair or the floor. Take an intentional breath and explore how it feels in different parts. You can scan your body from head to toe or just pick up on random sensations – whatever you prefer. Don’t judge your body; simply investigate it like you’re a scientist. A headache isn’t a weakness but a sign that you need to relax and maybe drink some water. Tingling or buzzing might be telling you that you should find a more comfortable position.

Don’t feel bad if your attention is drifting away – it’s normal. Gently return it back to your investigation as soon as you notice your mind wandering. Your body scan has no time limits, so do it for as long as you want without disrupting your studies. It should take at least a couple of minutes for best results, but then it’s entirely up to you.

Mindful Breathing

You might think that you know how to breathe because you’ve been doing it all your life. But mindfulness needs a different approach that will help you relax and calm your emotions. This practice is especially useful if you’re stressing over a test. Or maybe you’re having stage fright because you’re about to give a presentation in front of the class. Whatever troubles you, try one of these exercises and feel immediate results:

• Simply pay attention to how you normally breathe. This is similar to a body scan, but here you only have to be aware of how air goes in and out of your body, nothing else.
• Breathe in while clenching a part of your body like palms, eyes, or toes. Feel the tension. Then, relax your body on an exhale.
• Imagine colors while you’re breathing. For example, inhale in purple and exhale in green. Or you can think of yourself as a dragon who breathes in blue air and breathes out orange flames.

That’s it! We picked these practices specifically because you can do them anywhere, even during an exam. You don’t need any equipment or extra time – just take a couple of minutes or less to become more aware of yourself and your surroundings. Turn these practices into a habit and your brain will thank you!