180 Days of Mindfulness
If you dig deep into my blog posts you'll see that I've written quite a bit about incorporating mindfulness into the classroom, and it has never felt more important than this year (2020/2021).
Since moving to remote and hybrid learning models due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I have redoubled my commitment to starting each class with a "mindful moment." Sometimes that just means taking a few deep breaths along with a moving gif; sometimes we follow along to a meditation video; or other times we'll do a few minutes of journaling or reflection based on a quote.
Because one of my personal self-care practices is bulking tasks in order to be able to reuse materials quickly and easily for recurring tasks and routines, I have been collecting "mindful moments" to use for each 180 school days of the year, and because I believe in teachers not "reinventing the wheel" I am more than happy to share my curation efforts with you.
To access this content, simply click here, but keep in mind that it is a "live" collaborative document, so by saving it directly to your Drive you'll see the changes and updates I make.
Alternatively, if you'd like to customize the content, feel free to make a copy for yourself and edit away!
If you'd like to read more about how I have incorporated mindfulness into the classroom, check out:
Breathe on,
Emma
https://neuecasinoonline.com was where I was reading about how people build steady routines around risk, and it made the bulk-collecting approach here click for me, since reusing a set of mindful moments across 180 days is basically the same idea of saving effort through repetition. The detail about the collaborative document being live and updatable is what sold me, because most shared classroom materials go stale the moment you download them. I've started doing something similar with a running doc of five-minute openers, and it genuinely cuts down the Sunday-night scramble.
This commitment to 180 days of mindfulness is such an inspiring goal for educators and individuals alike. Taking the time for daily practice helps create the mental space needed to truly process our experiences and our role in the community. I believe that this habit of looking inward is the foundation for meaningful social change. For instance, engaging in Personal Reflection Racial Justice is a powerful way to use mindfulness to address complex systemic issues. Sharon Marie Chester provides excellent insights on how self-examination allows us to become more empathetic and conscious citizens. Thank you for sharing this journey toward a more mindful and reflective lifestyle.