More and more school boards, principals and teachers are recognizing the value of mindfulness in education. Teachers put their heart and soul into their work, and most children learn with enthusiasm and enjoy going to school. Yet many children and education professionals experience increasing levels of stress. Classroom turmoil, behavioral problems and the feeling of constant overload are growing, while much-needed inner peace is increasingly disappearing. The "on button" works fine, but the "pause button" often seems to be missing.

Good education is not only about imparting knowledge, but also about developing values, behaviors and how we treat ourselves and others. For children to perform at their own level, inner peace and conscious attention is essential. For teachers, that same calmness and presence is equally important to teach well. Fortunately, it is possible to train this "attention muscle.

  • Developing conscious attention

    Developing conscious attention is the foundation of any learning process. Mindfulness, or the focused practice of conscious attention, plays an important role in how children learn. You can compare this to tuning a musical instrument before you start playing: why not tune our learning instrument before we start using it?

    More and more school boards, principals and teachers are at the forefront of the rapidly growing movement to make mindfulness a permanent part of the 21st century school curriculum. This not only promotes learning ability, but also enhances self-confidence, creativity, compassion and executive functions. The brain calms down, impulsive behavior and stress reactions decrease, and calm, focused attention develops. What child wouldn't you begrudge this? Read more about the effects of meditation on the (child's) brain.