and incorporate them into daily life
to grow their understanding of how
mindfulness can help us. For example,
we might introduce a lesson by asking
students to ‘get your PFCs ready for
some hard thinking’, or asking them
what part of the brain a child is using
when he or she is reacting too quickly
or thoughtlessly.”
Greene continues, “If you were
to walk into one of our classrooms,
you might see students sitting cross-
legged on the floor while listening to
a chime with their eyes closed. Or
you might see them carefully eating a
Malteser then describing the different
textures and tastes they experience as
it changes. Overall, we use MindUP
to help students become calmer, more
focused, and positive about school and
home life.”
Proof of the pudding
The philosophy is sound, but does
it work? Greene thinks it does. He
says, “Just last week, a girl called me
over and said, ‘Mr Greene, my heart
was beating really fast and I did the
breathing right here in my chair and
it slowed down!’ So they get it.”
Breathing exercises and eating
Maltesers sounds like my kind of
lesson, but the techniques don’t end
there. Eight-year-old James explains:
“This week our teacher made noises
under her desk and we had to guess
what the noises were and then link
them to a memory. It was fun.” These
short activities are what Goldie Hawn
refers to as brain breaks.
So are parents noticing a
difference? Year One teacher Jane
Trotter says, “I received a note from
a parent saying that she was very
impressed at how much her daughter
had learnt since starting school and
that yesterday she came home and told
mummy all about her hippocampus!”
Greene agrees that there have
been positive effects. “Any time you
can get a five year old to happily talk
about school, something good must
be happening. For the most part, the
children really enjoy it. A number of
parents have mentioned their sons or
daughters talking about the different
parts of the brain or how to do the
breathing. I often forget to do the
post-playground breathing practice
and there are always three or four
students who are desperate to remind
me. You will always have one or two
children who haven't bought in to the
idea, just like adults. We can’t know
how hard they are actually trying to
clear their thoughts and focus on their
breathing, but hopefully they will
come along in time.”
A phenomenon is born
Mindfulness is nothing new. Forty
years ago, Jon Kabat-Zinn from the
Medical Centre at the University of
Massachusetts took up the subject for
research. He looked into the benefits
of Buddhist meditation, simplified
the practice and made mindfulness
secular. The list of academic papers
researching the topic continues to
grow. In 2011, researchers from
Oxford University, led by Professor
Mark Williams, found that a mindful
practice can change the structure of
the brain, discovering that the brain
can repair itself in ways that weren’t
thought possible before.
Nefs explains how it works:
“Everyone realises that they have
thoughts, opinions, judgments, doubts,
etc but people never question ‘the
stories of the thinking mind’ for one
second. They over-identify themselves
with their thoughts, thinking, ‘my
thoughts tell me this, so it must be
true’. Mindfulness teaches you to look
at your thoughts with a little distance.
When you do this, you will realise
how busy your mind is, but that you
don’t have to follow all your thoughts.
This brings more freedom of choice
and will help you to see things a little
lighter.”
But a word of warning to those
looking for a quick fix from stress, or
instant happiness. As Nefs explains,
practising mindfulness requires a bit
of commitment. “My own mindfulness
teacher always says mindfulness is a
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