Hi Friends! This is a re-posting of books and activities to help with our rising stress and anxiety. We are hearing more conflicting conversations about opening schools. This is causing a great deal of confusion and anxiety for teachers, students, and parents. Now, more than ever we need to seek stability in our own well-being as the chaos continues.
Remember, you are the experts. An expert in what is best for you, your family, and your students. When you are more grounded the chaos can’t unseat you as easily.
Feb 17 Written By Mary Bengel
Hello friends,
It is helpful to read books written on the subjects about the concepts we share on The Mindful Educator website.
Here are some of my favorites. I will continue to update the list. Enjoy checking out these books and discovering some of your own!
- Full Catastrophe Living: Using The Wisdom of Your Own Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness
By John Kabat Zinn - Wherever You Go, There You Are
By John Kabat Zinn - Making Sense of Mindfulness: Five Principals to Intergrate Mindfulness Into Your Daily Life By Keith Macpherson
- Living in the Flow: Reminders for A Supremely Happy Life
By Craig Steven Phillips - Coach The Person Not The Problem: A Simple Guide To Coaching for Transformation By Chad Hall
- Practicing Mindfulness: 75 Essential Meditations to Reduce Stress, Improve Mental Health and Find Peace in the Everyday
By Mathew Sockolov - Conquer Negative Thinking for Teens. A workbook to break the nine thought habits that are holding you back. by Mary Karapetian Alvord, PhD and Anne McGrath, MA
- The Shyness and Social Anxiety Workbook for Teens. CBT and ACT skills to help you build social confidence. by Jennifer Shannon, LMFT
- Mindfulness for Teen Anxiety. A workbook for overcoming anxiety at home, at school, and everywhere else.
by Christopher Willard, PsyD
10. Relax Into Yoga for Seniors. A six week program for strength, balance, flexibility, and pain relief. [Includes:
Downloadable guided audio practices.]
by Kimberly Carson, MPH, E-RYT and Carol Krucoff, E-RYT
Mindfulness Activities You Can Do Almost Anywhere
- Mindful Walking: Contrary to popular belief you don’t have to move like a slug to get the benefit of this mindfulness practice. Try it at different tempos and see which pace or multiple paces of walking works for you. So, what is mindful walking? It means you are directing your attention to how it feels to move from one foot to another as you walk. You can be curious about different body parts as you travel across different textured and shaped flooring. Here are some examples:+How do my feet feel from the heal-arch-ball of the foot-to the toes? Can you feel the shape of your arch? Do you feel how your toes spread apart with pressure? Check out different parts of your body as you move with grace. Avoid beating yourself up because maybe your knees hurt possibly highlighting over use.
- Mindful Eating: This is one of my students favorite things to do! I recommend trying this every day with each meal just for 1 bite to start. It is best, with this activity, to eat more slowly than teachers are in the habit of doing. We are so use to shoveling our lunch to get back in class before the kids do. +Select a food you like. Before taking a bite really look at it’s texture, color, and then SMELL it. What does it smell like? Then as you take your first bite feel the texture, how it is breaking down as you chew, what does it feels like on your tongue and teeth, and then swallow that first bite when you are ready. [My students said they actually eat slower and get more enjoyment out of lunch time while eating mindfully.