My last batch of 6th graders completed their "Mindfulness Mind Maps" where they reflect on "WHAT" mindfulness is..."WHY" anyone would would want to be mindful and..."HOW" to be mindful. I love this assignment because I get to see their different perspectives and the Mind Map gives them an opportunity to tie everything together at the end of the unit. I found the reasons for being mindful very interesting, grounded and incredibly REAL for 6th graders :) Take a look! These kids ROCK!

Well, we've come to the end of the mindfulness unit for the last batch of 6th graders this year. I always love reading their thoughts on what mindfulness means to them! I find it amazing how each child takes something unique and different away from the same curriculum--if anything this is proof that all I am doing is bringing out what is already there in each child. I was inspired by what some of my students wrote! These 11 year olds are far ahead of me in so many ways! One student wrote: "Mindfulness means that you are aware of being the inner, true, self that you are. Thinking of the internal calm inside of you, and the external power that we have." WOW! Another wrote, "complete harmony between mind body in the present state." Keep in mind that many of these students are English Language Learners when you read their responses :) Reading their responses reminded me of when my Educator Sangha listened to voices of the students I followed in my research study. Below are responses from my colleagues/Sangha friends and a transcript!

 

 

My last official class in our mindfulness unit focuses on the mindful use of technology. Material for this lesson draws from a great book I read last summer, Wisdom 2.0: Ancient Secrets for the Creative and Constantly Connected by Soren Gordhamer. I also teach students "telephone meditation" which is something we do in the Thich Nhat Hanh community. My beloved teacher says, "And when you hear the telephone ringing you can consider it to be the sound of the mindfulness bell. You practice telephone meditation. Every time you hear the telephone ringing you stay exactly where you are. You breathe in and breathe out and enjoy your breathing. Listen, listen-this wonderful sound brings you back to your true home. Then when you hear the second ring you stand up and you go to the telephone with dignity. That means in the style of walking meditation. You know that you can afford to do that, because if the other person has something really important to tell you, she will not hang up before the third ring. That is what we call telephone meditation. We use the sound as the bell of mindfulness." Above you can hear one of my 6th graders speaking to the his guidance counselor about telephone meditation. I'm not a neo-Luddite but I do think it is very important for us to teach children how to use technology mindfully, especially since our lives are only going to become more connected. Power point and handouts below. If you'd like a lesson plan e-mail me at: mesrinivasan@aes.ac.in.

This semester I followed four students through my mindfulness unit and today my research supervisors and I went through all of my interviews with one of my students. My research question is: "How do the voices of these children help us understand mindfulness?"

"Teacher as researcher" is an academic reflective piece of writing which really looks at "the teacher" as the center figure of change or transformation, not necessarily the children changing as a result of learning mindful practices, and what I have learned about myself while looking at mindfulness through the eyes of my students.

Today we engaged in a coding activity and what emerged was absolutely fascinating. You can hear a snap shot from my interviews with this beautiful 11 year old boy, read the transcript of all the interviews and see some of the work he submitted during the unit in this post. I've also included some notes that emerged from today's focused discussion. As part of my triangulation I had members of my "Educator Sangha" listen to snapshots from the interviews with each child back at the end of January and you can see their responses below as well. Student C is the student my research supervisors and I focused on today and he is an English Language Learner from the Middle East. The whole experience of interviewing my students and the methodology employed in "teacher as researcher" is very powerful. The connection made with these children is something I will never forget. Hopefully I will have some time this summer to work more on analyzing my data for all 4 student subjects though I'm starting to get the feeling that I really need to be in a Doctoral program to do all the data justice..

The first time I ever experienced mindful eating was when my colleague/Dharma brother, Gene, led our Sangha through "orange meditation" close to 5 years ago! A few years later during a Buddhism unit I took my students to Buddha Jayanti Park in Delhi and led them through the practice of "orange meditation." At parent conferences shortly after this class a parent came up to me and said, "Thank you for bringing mindfulness to my daughter! She came home last night and told me she wanted to eat an orange with me mindfully." I was very surprised about this! I think mindful eating is a very accessible practice to do with anyone and a great way to introduce mindfulness. I have yet to read my beloved teacher's book, Savor, pictured above but I'm sure it is a beautiful work on the importance of "mindful eating." Below is what my 9th graders had to say about mindful eating :)

At first I wasn’t exactly sure why we were to put so much thought into just an orange. Plainly there were the orange pickers, the sellers, and the market owners in line of the process of selling the oranges. However, when reminded of the poem that we read in class about how in order for this paper to have been made, a rainfall would have had to happen for the tree to grow and etc. I was then able to concentrate on the deeper meaning of the activity which was to get out of the trance of thinking that the orange is a simple matter, and should have been in my hands without the efforts and the natural process of a thousand events. Before the orange pickers, or even the farmers who planted the orange tree, the Earth had to exist. It may sound like an exaggeration to think about the pre-historic times just for an orange to have happened. But like all humans, and the current existence of you, me, and us, an orange took just as much amount of process. In conclusion, I learned that we shouldn’t take everything for granted but actually think about how it came to be and how much effort or time was put into just one simple existence and be thankful, thoughtful, and simply more aware of my surroundings. - Yeon Ju

We all ate oranges mindfully. We thought about the orange very precisely. Where did it come from? How did it get here? What did the seed go through to become an orange. This really made me think more about the orange and realize its significance. – Gautam

When we eat food at home we don’t think of what people went through just so we could enjoy our food. The process of when we started eating the orange I was actually thinking about what people did and for the first time in my life I felt as though I was thanking people I don’t even know. This helped me realize how fortunate I am. It also made me think how everything we eat and drink starts off as such a little thing and that we are dependent on other people in order to get our supply of food. – Akash

I think mindfulness is very important to life, not just religiously, but in general. When one is aware of his or her surroundings, and pays attention to every little taste, smell, sight, and sound, life becomes a lot more enjoyable. The orange, for example, can be a whole experience, not just a snack, if a person takes the time to smell it, feel it, and get each texture and taste out of every mouthful. There were a lot of sounds and smells one wouldn’t notice if her or she didn’t take the time to stop and just sit quietly, observing and being aware. – Nikhil

Slow eating involves you to think about the food such as people who bought it, grew it, moved them to stores etc. When we did that activity with the orange, I began to realize that there are a lot of things involved in that orange in order to grow. There is rain and sun involved in terms of nature, also people who grew it, and the meal they had to eat in order to work and people who moved them to stores. If we think about it deeply there is an almost infinity of things involved. - Kyu Min

I think mindfulness means awareness. Awareness and thinking of everything that surrounds us. To understand this, we all got an orange and had to think of how it got in our hands, of all the people who worked for it to grow. We talked about how we didn’t take enough time to eat and think about all these people which are involved in it, which I think is true, we do not take enough time to savor the things we eat nor think about the work of others to make all this possible, we should be more aware of all this. – Mathis

 

This evening I was corresponding with a friend who is also bringing mindfulness to his students at an International School. He is planning on leading his students through a Metta (loving kindness) practice. This reminded me of the first time I ever led students through a Metta practice...it sort of spontaneously happened during a field trip to a Dharma center in Delhi more than three years ago during a unit on Buddhism in Indian Studies. Reading their reflections warms my heart :) This field trip was the start of formally bringing contemplative practice to my students!

 We went down to the bottom floor and each person grabbed a cushion and sat down on the floor. Then we were told to clear our minds completely and think of any one person that we know or we’ve seen that is suffering. Then from deep inside our hearts, we were to wish the best for this one person. Then we were to think of all the people in the world and do the same for them. I think this is a really good principle. When you think like this, you are basically telling yourself that every living person is in a way like you and is basically you. When you show compassion for these people, you are not only helping and caring for them but helping yourself. This philosophy is called “I am Thou.” – Anmol

When we all got into the room we all took pillows and sat on it. Ms. S then explained what the whole place was about. After that we closed our eyes and we sent happy thoughts to one person that we thought needed them the most. We did this because Ms. S said that we usually think only about ourselves. Which is true, people are very self-centered. I thought of this little street girl that I see every day at the stop light near my house. I had seen her crying the other day and I just couldn’t stop thinking about her. It just made me feel really sad. So I tried to send her all of the happy thoughts I had within me. – Scott

While I was meditating Ms. Srinivasan whispered to us to think about someone who was suffering and to think about them from our side. She then told us to give them a blessing from the bottom of our hearts. At that moment I felt a sense of pride coming over me because I hadn’t done such a deed for someone in a long time which proves how selfish we humans can be. Others who live on the streets and live in hardships every day are satisfied and are happy to a certain degree. Those people are heroes and whom I look up to and am inspired by because they hardly complain. After that Ms. Srinivasan told us to remember the last time we ever helped anyone. Honestly for me it had been awhile because I always tried or attempted to but I never ended up helping my friend or family member. As I thought of this I felt dissatisfied. Even though it was only a blessing it came from my heart and I really care for that person but unfortunately they don’t know that. I hope someday they will. This experience has made me more mature and to keep a lookout to help those in need. 
– Kresha

We all took cushions and sat in an oval. After practicing some meditation positions and breathing exercises, we all thought about the things we were grateful for. I had many on my list, some of which were having a family who loves me and all my friends. Also, that I am privileged to have such a great education, a meal on my table every night and that my family is healthy and stable. Thinking about this really helped me to see the things that I usually take for granted. It has changed my perspective in the way that now every time I think my life isn’t going so great, it really isn’t because I’m not starving on the streets or anything. Next, we sent out a mental blessing to someone who we thought really needed it. I sent mine to my cousin, Lisa, who has been going through a really rough time lately and has had a miscarriage and is devastated. After I sent my blessing out to her it felt like she actually received it. – Sarah

I think that every religion is the same just looking at different points from different angles and giving more importance to some things. When you start seeing what each one is about you realize all of them are kind of the same. I think Buddhism is a really nice way of seeing life, but at the same time I think it is really difficult because you care a lot more for others than for you and it is really cool but I need to be honest…I mean for me it is really difficult. Anyway, if some day I can really care about others without thinking about myself first, it is going to be a miracle. I would really like to learn more about Buddhism. When we did the meditation I felt so relaxed and I think it is a good and nice way of remembering the people who are going through a hard moment, especially the ones you know but as well as every single person in the world that is suffering. In our daily life we hardly think about all of the people in the world that are suffering and when you think about that you realize how lucky you are and we live in a very nice bubble. I really like my bubble but I really want to try to get out of it especially when I am in India. – Ale

One of the most peaceful ten minutes of my life since I came to India. This field trip that we went on today was a very, very exciting experience for me because I am very fascinated by the Buddha. I have been reading the book “Buddha” by Karen Armstrong recently and find his theories and teachings very interesting and true. So for me to come here to a place where the Buddha is worshipped is something I have wanted to do for some weeks now. It was really interesting because I have never really meditated like that before and I found it rather nice. At first I thought I wouldn’t like it and that it was silly but when I got started I felt happy and excited at the same time. The whole concept of meditating and relaxing yourself in this way is something I have only read about in a book. I felt as if I had been lifted up. I felt lighter. – Rasmus

I liked the idea of love and compassion meaning different things. Love meaning you want to best for someone else and compassion meaning you want to end suffering. I think those meanings are much better than the meanings we all, know them for. You told us to think of someone we saw or remember or concentrate on sending them a blessing. This was interesting, in most religions people pray to a god, in this case it was like we were gods, but at the same time people. We were feeling for other people and sending them blessings, as if answering their prayers. – Alex

In this field trip to a Buddhist place, we meditated and thought about the suffering of other people. First we sat in a circle and breathed and then started thinking about someone other than ourselves who was suffering. We then offered them hope from our hearts that their suffering would stop. According to Buddhists life is suffering and when we discover the cause of suffering is desire or an expectation we understand that is we let go of our desires and expectations we wouldn’t suffer. However, that wasn’t the goal of this field trip. The goal was to move on from focusing on your own suffering and notice how much others around you suffer. The goal was to wish for the well being of someone else for a chance. We were asked when the last time we wishes for the wellbeing of someone from our hearts were, and honestly I had trouble remembering a time I wished well from the heart for someone other than myself, my family and some of my friends. This really showed me that I should be happy for what I have, because there’s someone out there who doesn’t have anything, and is truly suffering. – Anya

The meditation room itself was dimly lit, with a few candle-like lights which created a calm atmosphere. We sat in a big circle on top of pillows and began the process of meditation. The entire setting was so peaceful that Buddhist philosophy was made much easier; I tried my best to focus on my breathing and block out all thoughts and desires. While this needs much practice to accomplish, I felt I was much more successful than I was in the school setting. Here, I felt at peace; I felt inner peace and I felt peace around me. – Sheena

After a short crash course in prostrations we began to meditate. We relaxed and closed our eyes and focused on our breathing. Ms. S told us that our best friend is our breath because that is what leaves us last and that we should listen to it very closely. We were then told to choose someone who is having a hard time with life at the moment and that we should send our blessings to them. This was very hard as I see so many people that I know having a rough time right now but in the end I chose my grandmother and tried to send out positive thoughts and prayers for her general wellbeing. After our blessings, we focused on Delhi, the whole of India then Asia and we were asked the last time we really thought about suffering in the world. I couldn’t remember and I figured that I should start to do some thinking. Meditation is very calming and I personally have the feeling of sleeping but being awake at the same time. The environment that we were meditating in at the dharma center also contributed to the calming affect it had on me. The lighting was appropriately dim and the fact that we could not hear any of the chaos and noise outside also helped us reach a point of isolation from everyone else in that room. I felt like I was alone and at peace with myself. I liked this field trip a lot as I feel this field trip was educational but also very enriching as it allowed some time to get in touch with our true selves as I know I wouldn’t usually do this. – Nina

The candles illuminated the room beautifully and the golden statues of the Buddha shown n in its own holy pool of light. It felt like a really magical place. As we sat down and you helped us meditate I felt so relaxed. More relaxed than I have felt for days! You see the last week or so my brain has been “buzzing.” It has been filled with so much school “stuff” that the only time I can rest mentally is when I sleep. It has been really bothering me of late and thankfully I for a few minutes felt at peace and my mind calmed down. I felt renewed and this really made my day head off to a good start. Buddhism is such an interesting religion. I find their beliefs fascinating, such as how they view death, it isn’t a bad thing, it is just an occurrence of life and you will be reborn, or reincarnated into another life. This is a nice way to view death, and although any death is a very sad event, they can at least be optimistic about it in some ways. It like you said Ms. Srinivasan, “Reincarnation is just like changing to put on some new clothes.” I feel inspired to take other to the dharma center because it gave me such peace of mind and at last I could relax and reflect on my life and the life of those around me. 
– Harriet

The surrounding area was peaceful and I was able to clear my mind. Once I had cleared my mind I was able to relax and really feel compassion for those who were suffering and are less fortunate than me. It allowed me to take in my surroundings and really think about what is important in life and how lucky I am to have the things I do. This trip showed me that I should take more time to relax and focus on the things around me. – Amina

As we entered the center we took off our shoes, this is symbolic for leaving the outside world behind. By leaving the world behind, I think it makes meditation easier and it is easier to calm your mind when it is not preoccupied. We entered into a meditation during our visit and I enjoyed it. It is good to liberate the mind from all its thoughts and enjoy a relaxing peace and quiet. We all sat in a circle during our meditation and everybody sat on the floor on cushions. The meditation room at the dharma center had a really great atmosphere as it was quiet and the room did not have harsh lighting which was easy on the yes and not too stressful. – Bridget

There was a big statue of Buddha which I have never seen before. It was all interesting to me. Then during the breathing exercise I felt good because I thought of how others were suffering deeply and I was fine. I had slow breaths; it felt good and peaceful under the dull lights. I wouldn’t mind doing it again. – Rohit

While thinking of people who are less fortunate than me, I pictured the two sisters I pass everyday on the way to school. One of them has something wrong with their foot, the other gets beat regularly. I thought about what it would feel like to live like that, it would probably break me. I realized that they were dealt a bad hand when they were born, but people like my driver, who had befriended them over the years, helped whenever they could. Every time I see them they always smile and wave, I think that it’s amazing they can do that when their world is so cruel, for lack of a better word. – Irena

The trip we went on Thursday was very meaningful to me. Inside, we learned lots of new things about the Buddha. Such as why his ears are so long and why there are different kinds of Buddhas. We also had our own time to think about other people excluding ourselves and blessing them. In that moment, I thought of lots of people and gave blessings to them. For example, I gave a blessing for the kid who was begging for money to me that morning on my way to school. I gave him a blessing while thinking how fortunate I am to be even thinking about these kinds of problems. Next, I gave my blessing to a friend of mine who looked like he was going through a tough time these days. I couldn’t ask him what the problem was because I knew it was family stuff, so I gave him a blessing to cheer him up a bit. Lastly, I have a blessing to a friend of mine that is having a tough time in school. Like I said before, the trip was very meaningful because it gave us all an opportunity to think about how fortunate we are and care about others than ourselves. – Brian

Usually I don’t enjoy meditation or yoga, this time I felt that it was really precious time to think about one person who was having a hard time and bless them kindly. Although our class couldn’t stay there long enough because of a lack of time to go back to school again, I felt really comfortable and purified after I blessed one kid I met in “Reach Out” one of the service clubs at our school who lived on the streets in front of the school. I couldn’t forget his bright eyes and facial expressions though he was very poor. – Jeeyeon

We entered the house, taking off our shoes first, and went to a room where there were several large statues of the Buddha. We sat in a circle and practiced meditating and creating these good vibes. In doing so, not only was I relaxed, but I also felt that possibly the person I was sending the vibe to might receive it and be happier. This chance to relax and be positive was both spiritually and physically calming. From our field trip I learned that Buddhism exists in the most random locations of the city and that it’s not the location of a religious center but rather what it contains. From the trip I learned a lot about the Buddhist religion and especially about the type of physical and mental preparation that must be done to move towards “enlightenment.” – Danny

We picked up pillows and sat in a corner of the room and sat down in a circle. We were told to think about someone who we wished to feel better, to do better, to have a better life. Here, surprisingly, made me think how unthankful I am for many people in my life. I think here I realized that I should be nicer to certain people in my life and that I should think more about them. – Conor

We all sat down on pillows in a circle. The class got told to just breathe quietly and free their thoughts. I found the whole process very relaxing and I was really concentrating on freeing my thoughts and spirit. We did this for a few minutes and then though about someone we wanted to support. – Nathalie

 

This evening when I checked my work e-mail I was shocked to see a message from one of my 6th grade boys about mindfulness! It reminded me of when one of my beautiful students, Trisha, sent me a message before Winter Break about mindfulness that literally brought me to tears. What is even more shocking is that I didn't think I was reaching this boy and receiving this message from him totally took me by surprise! 

 

To culminate our mindfulness unit I had my students create "Mindfulness Mind Maps." It always amazes me how creative and interesting their maps are! Below are a few thoughts from one of my beautiful kids :)

Another batch of 6th graders have gone through my seven class mindfulness unit in our health exploratory and this is what "mindfulness means" to them! More than 50% of my kids are non-native English speakers (some have very weak English) so keep that in mind when you read their responses :) It still amazes me how students take away different things from the same curriculum!