Hello! As the first day of my new course with Mindful Schools is about to begin, I'm finally finishing off my review of the first course that I began with their organization about 6 months ago. If you'd like to read the rest of the series of posts, check out the following links:

Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools - Intro
Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools - Week 1
Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools - Week 2
Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools - Week 3
Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools - Week 4
Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools - Week 5

The topic of the final week of study in the Mindfulness Fundamentals course was "Everyday Mindfulness". We looked at ways to reinforce our daily sitting practice and to make it a part of our everyday lives. 

I'm just now finishing my first year of regular sitting meditation practice, so it's a really appropriate time to reflect on the topic that we covered during this week of the course. It's been a busy year getting used to being a father, finishing my MEd, taking on a new leadership role in my school, and preparing to begin doctoral studies in the fall, and it has been a real challenge at times carving out the time to sit each day. Thankfully, with only a few scattered exceptions, I've managed to practice each day.

One of the great tips included in the Mindfulness Fundamentals curriculum during week 6 was the reminder that daily sitting time can be split up into smaller portions. Although I personally find it much better practice to sit for 20 minutes or more at a time, I often find myself challenged to set aside that much time.

In order to maintain my practice, I've had to incorporate mindfulness throughout my day. 

• Each morning, I sit for about 10 minutes before leaving for work while I wait for my coffee to brew. 

 

• Then, I practice mindful walking on my half-hour walk to work. 

 

• Throughout the day when I have a chance (not very often, I"m afraid!) I take 5 minutes to focus on my breath, body, and mental state. 

 

• Of course, I try to practice mindful listening and be aware of my emotions and how I choose to react when I interact with students and colleagues. I'm trying to be much more mindful of my thoughts and words in my new role at school. 

 

• When I return home at the end of the day, it's easy to feel gratitude and be present in the moment when spending time with my family. 

 

• If my schedule sees me running after my wife and son have fallen asleep, I practice some great informal mindfulness of breath and body during my 5K or 10K run.

 

• Finally, before bed I spend at least 10 minutes in formal practice.

Although I usually only spend about 20 minutes per day in formal sitting meditation, I feel that I've really gained a lot from trying to be mindful throughout the day. It's helped me to keep my cool during a really busy time in my life!

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My experience during the six weeks of the Mindfulness Fundamentals course provided my Mindful Schools was very profound and uplifting. It really helped to cement the practice that I began just before the birth of my son. I was so impressed that I've signed on for the Mindfulness Educator Essentials course that provides training in providing mindfulness instruction to youth. I hope that it will help me to learn how to share mindfulness with my son one day, and maybe with the students that I serve.

Welcome back! As promised (for real this time…), here’s a review of Week 5 of Mindful School’s Mindful Fundamentals course. I took this course around the new year and found it worth every penny. My cohort’s guiding teacher, Kevin Griffin, was helpful and made everyone feel comfortable sharing their experiences throughout the course.

To check out the previous reviews, follow these links:

Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools – Introduction
Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools – Week 1
Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools – Week 2
Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools -- Week 3
Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools -- Week 4

The focus during Week 5 of the course was on interpersonal mindfulness. The biggest focus was on being able to listen mindfully and to be thoughtful and intentional in speech. At the time, I wasn’t super-interested in the week’s topic, but looking back, it really resonated and stuck with me. Though I haven’t been perfect at being a mindful listener and choosing my words well, I’ve done a lot better than I ever have in the past.

One neat experience was during a PD meeting we had during our orientation week prior to classes commencing in March. A psychiatrist came in and spoke to us about communication in the multicultural classroom. As luck would have it, one of the topics that she talked about was listening carefully to others and remembering their words. We did a neat activity in which we listened mindfully to our colleague as they related a story involving powerful emotions from their past. Then, we had to try to repeat the story back to the speaker as accurately as possible.

I was really struck during the activity by how nice it felt to hear my story repeated to me. I’m often reluctant to share my stories for fear that the other person may not be interested. To have someone repeat my words back to me felt cool; like my story had been a bit more interesting and memorable than I’d given it credit for being. I realized that, even though it may not seem like much, making sure that people realize that you’ve listened to them and understood what they’re trying is a very powerful experience. I hope to keep listening and interacting as mindfully as I can for the rest of the year and beyond!

During the transition into my new leadership responsibilities at my school, I was taking a 6-week mindfulness course for educators with Mindful Schools called “Mindfulness Fundamentals”. The course was great (I’m long finished now) but between tasks for my school and my amazing baby boy I stopped blogging regularly. 

I did say that I would review the course and reflect on it week to week, so I’ll finish the last three reviews in rapid succession. Though the course has been finished for a few months now, it might be good practice for me to review how the lessons that I learned in each of the remaining three weeks have served me since starting my new job as the program manager at my school.

If you want to read the reviews of the first three weeks, check out these links:

Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools – Introduction
Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools – Week 1
Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools – Week 2
​Mindfulness Fundamentals @ Mindful Schools – Week 3

The fourth week of the Mindfulness Fundamentals course focused on the ‘Development of the Heart’. The focus was on gratitude, forgiveness, and self-compassion. One thing that I’ve been coming back to a lot in the past few months and that has come up in many conversations with colleagues is our tendency to easily notice negative events and to forget about or not notice positive events day-to-day. 

I suppose that it makes evolutionary sense for our brains to focus on, and even to seek out, negative experiences. When we were hunter-gatherers in the long past, we needed to be constantly vigilant and conscious of potential negative happenings, like being eaten by wild animals, bitten by a snake, or some other horrible thing. Even during times of peace and repose, one would need to keep an eye open for emergencies. However, I can also imagine that, when our ancestors had full bellies and a safe place to sleep with their family safe and warm nearby, they were grateful for their luck and time of plenty.

Today, at least for a small percentage of us in the first world, we can afford to relax our vigilance and try to overcome our genetic predisposition for worry and fault-finding. Since taking the Mindful Fundamentals course, this idea has really stayed with me and helped me to feel grateful for my health and my family. I’ve tried to be mindful of blessings and joys each day, and to focus on the many small good things that happen rather than the few negatives or annoyances that occur occasionally. It has really helped me to stay positive and upbeat during a busy transition into my new role.  Looking forward to a nice walk outside along the river with my wife and son and rest and laughter together in the evenings has helped me to get through some long and challenging days. Being mindful of the great things that the teachers at my school are doing in their classrooms and their passion for our students, and developing positive relationships with new colleagues in the office has made even the stressful days mostly joyful. 

The lessons during Week 4 of the Mindfulness Fundamentals course have probably been some of the most useful to me in the last couple of months. Being patient with myself and others, being grateful for small victories, and being able to forgive myself when I’ve mucked it all up have been super-important tools that I’ve made use of almost daily. Again, I recommend this course wholeheartedly to anyone interested in mindfulness. There are free courses available (and way more expensive ones, too) but this course was worth the small price I paid to join.

In fact, I’ve just registered for the Mindful Educators Essentials course to begin next week! I can’t wait to learn more from the great people at Mindful Schools!