​Greetings,
 
Today’s mindful Monday’s email although a day later than I had intended, is very dear to my heart because it is a mindfulness practice that I love.   (And… who says it’s “late”?   I’m the one who made up the name Mindful Mondays for these emails, so I give myself the permission to miss a Monday and send it out on Tuesday!)
 
So what is this mindfulness practice that I love?  It’s drawing, coloring and painting mandalas. 
 
Have you noticed all the coloring books on the market recently?  They are on display as you walk into Barnes & Noble, they are popping up in the online advertising and even at the grocery check-out lanes.  And have  you noticed that many of them feature mandalas?  Mandala is a word in Sanskrit meaning circle.  Circles appear in nature (flowers, snowflakes, sun, moon, etc.), in architecture (rose windows) and are symbols in cultures throughout history (Celtic knots, dreamcatchers).  I’ve been drawing and painting mandalas for over a decade.  On my website I describe mandalas as being “… symbolic of wholeness, centeredness and unity; they remind us of our connection to the infinite.  Mandalas can be a tool for deep inner contemplation and healing.  The mandala is a physical representation of our inner journey.”  What makes drawing or coloring mandalas a practice in mindfulness is that its repetitive nature allows your mind to relax and you can just practice being present with the shapes and colors.
 
So today I’d like to share with you a mandala coloring sheet that I drew for an article in 365 Being in 2013. I invite you to print it, take out your colored pencils, crayons or markers and color, and let your mind relax.  Please feel free to share the coloring sheet!   You could even make a class set to use with your students.
 
An article in Psychologies, Why adults are going back to colouring books says,  “Concentrating this way replaces negative thoughts and creates a state of peace, and many people who have a difficult time with concentrative meditation can find this easier. This gentle activity where you choose the colours to create your picture and the repetitive action of colouring it in focuses the brain on the present, blocking out any intrusive thoughts.”
 
Even Fox News had an article about Mandalas .  
 
If mandala making, drawing and coloring or painting is something that interests you and you’d like to do more of please let me know and I’ll send you an invite the next time my friend Charlotte and I offer an evening of mindfulness in which we explore mindfulness practices including yoga, meditation and art.  
 
Happy coloring!
 
In training,
Ann

Good Morning! 
 
The last few weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about kindness.  At Andersen United we celebrated Kindness Week from February 22nd- February 26th.    The purpose of Kindness Week is to encourage and recognize the importance ofusing positive words and showing kind actions to one another. Here’s a video with our very own Captain Kindness and his side kick, Kid Kindness.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzKuoXMVfno
 
Kindness, Mindfulness and Heartfulness go together.  Mindful Schools says it like this:
 
“Mindfulness without Heartfulness is not complete
Heartfulness without Mindfulness is not complete”
 
Try practicing Heartfulness every day as part of your mindfulness time. Start by bring some extra kindness to yourself.  Here are some phrases to get you started. 

1. May I be happy
2. May I be healthy
3. May I feel relaxed
4. May I be loving
5. May I be patient
6. May I feel safe
7. May I be content
8. May I feel gratitude

 
After practicing Heartfulness for yourself, you can extend your practice to wishing kindness to others, such as a family member, friend or pet. 
 
For more on cultivating the practice of Heartfulness read this from Mindful Schools.  
http://www.mindfulschools.org/online-training/week-4/Class_Four_Development_of_the_Heart_3.0.pdf
   
 
In training,
Ann
 
 

Greetings!
 
Today's email highlights a few upcoming opportunities that I want to share with you!  The first two are for MPS folks, but the last one is open to everyone.
 
#1 If you have not taken this ProPay course I’d highly recommend it! 
ProPay Skill Set Mindfulness: Self-Care for Educators, available for 3 MPS credits.
This eight-week program is an introduction to mindfulness meditation practice following the renowned stress reduction program (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, MBSR) pioneered by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Skills participants will learn are the ABC’s of establishing mindful awareness, sitting, walking, eating and body awareness meditations, compassion for self and others, gentle yoga, and qi-gong. Discussions and learning will be in dyads, small groups as well as a class community. **********NOTE: We have embedded an introductory session to this popular course so that you may experience mindfulness, understand the commitment, and get an intuitive feel if this is the right course for you. Spring Break is the following week -- so you will have an unprecedented opportunity to begin the practices in earnest. Regardless of which session you register for you may attend either the Thursday or the Saturday orientation. If you are Wait-listed for this course you are encouraged to join us. You will be given preferential consideration should there be an opening. 

This course has two sections: Thursday sessions starting April 7th or Saturday sessions starting April 9th.
 
All participants must attend the first class/information session in order to participate in the course:
March 24th at Davis, room N5-083 from 5-6:30pm
or
March 26th at MFT, Classroom 1 from 9:30-11am
 
Search course #90966 in eCompass to register for the Thursday or Saturday session and contact instructor Robert, Robert.reed@mpls.k12.mn.us, with any questions. If you do not attend one of the initial info sessions or connect with instructor, we will need to remove you from the roster.
 

#2 This three hour workshop is an introduction Mindfulness. It is open to everyone at MPS!
 Mindfulness 101: Understanding and Experiencing Mindfulness in Education eCompass Course #91395 
2016 Summer Professional Learning and Leadership August 16, 2016 - August 16, 2016 -  9:00 -12:00 - Davis Center N1-051  
 
Participants will learn about Mindfulness including Mindfulness in Education through an overview of the research, as well as, through experiential activities to explore mindfulness first hand. We will culminate with ideas on how to sustain a practice in our own lives and in our schools and classrooms.  Instructors are Jamie Edwards, Alice Kos and Ann Viveros.  This would be a great workshop for you to share with your colleagues who are curious about Mindfulness!  
 
#3 Trip to Guatemala for Educators
Your summer adventure is awaiting you . . .
At Casa Xelajú: Spanish Language School Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
June 19th - July 10th 2016
Join Ann and Robert this summer in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala and treat yourself to a fun filled 3-week Spanish language and culture immersion experience.  In addition to the language, cultural, and family stay experiences, we'll invite you to center yourself and groove your body every morning with an hour of meditation and yoga.  

• View an informational flyer highlighting the language and home stay experience here (you'll need to sign in with your MPS log-in to view as a Google Doc or open attachments)
• View the itinerary for June 19 - July 10 here
• Watch a video from Ann's trip three years ago on YouTube here

Join us February 27th or March 12th from 1:30 - 2:30 for a short presentation and Q&A                             
Pierre Bottineau Library  55 Broadway St. N.E. Minneapolis                                                                                                       
Interested? Contact Ann at annviveros@me.com or Robert at 2brobb@gmail.com
 
 
in training, 
Ann

Greetings!   
Last Monday, February 22nd, 2016 the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality & Healing sponsored the workshop Mindfulness Practices for At-Risk Youth.  The guest trainer was Bart van Melik, a highly-trained and experienced instructor from NYC who works with at-risk youth through an organization called the Lineage Project. http://www.lineageproject.org/  His workshop gave participants practical skills in how to introduce mindfulness practices to youth. Bart led a model class and then helped participants identify appropriate language, select contemplative practices for youth, and understand key elements of establishing a learning community.
 
Bart includes three parts to his classes with youth:  Questions, Movement and Meditation. 
 
Part One:  Questions
Bart chooses a topic for each of his classes.  The topic he chose to model with us was TRUST.
He asked us, “Who do you trust 100%?” “Do you trust yourself?”  “Do you trust your body?”  Students respond telling the group who they trust and why or why not.  He referred back to these questions throughout the lesson.
 
Part Two:  Movement
This could be some yoga, tai chi or Qigong moves.  In our model class we practiced a few moves that challenged our balance.  Bart asked us again if we trust our body.  He asked us to notice that our body is always in present time.    Be mindful to include movement that is assessable to all students.  Invite students to teach parts of the class, perhaps a movement from dance or sports. 
 
Part Three:  Meditation
Guided meditation.  He suggested that we “Teach from the inside out.”  Teach what you are comfortable with, teach something that you have practiced, so that you can speak from your own personal experiences.  Here’s one practice that he shared.  Take one minute and don’t move your eyes.  If you are comfortable, try closing your eyes for one minute.  Otherwise, just lower your head and focus on one thing.  I invite you to try it.  One minute of not moving your eyes.  After you’ve tried it a few times invite your students to practice with you.   And then he told us to “teach from the outside in”  meaning, be aware of what the students are experiencing and take advantage of those teachable moments.  He suggested that we can Meditate out loud.  “Meditating out loud” works for when there is a disruption in the classroom.  You can verbally metacommunicate what you are feeling by the disruption.  Incorporate what you and the students are experiencing.  “I’m noticing that I’m agitated.  I notice my mind is racing.   To diffuse it, talk about what is in the room.   Maybe you have a lesson planned about gratitude, but there was just a fight and kids are angry.  Teaching from the outside in is being mindful of the present moment.  Talk about the anger.  Tell me where you feel the anger.  Anger doesn’t come by itself.  It comes from someplace.  What triggers the anger?   He’ll say to them, see if you can be with yourself right now.  Or if you have the hunger to disturb others.  Or when a student says, “I feel relaxed.”  Ask, “Who did this?”  Mindfulness is a powerful tool for students to realize that they are in charge and it is something that they can do by themselves.  Which makes it different than other tools which depend on someone else.
 
Planning a Lesson:
Here are some things to consider when planning the lesson.  Set a safe container for this practice.  Set up the chairs in a circle to change the atmosphere in the room.  Establish agreements with your students, such as one person speaking at a time and respect.  Encourage group discussions, students learn from each other.  Offer students a way that this practice won’t interfere with their own wisdom tradition.  The goal is to release stress.  Yoga and meditation are the methods to the goal.  All instructions are suggestions.  Invite students to participate.   Some students might not be comfortable closing their eyes, invite them to hold a soft gaze or look down instead. 
 
Language:
I really liked his languaging, as it was always inviting students to participate.
“See if you can….”
“Eyes open or closed.  You decide.”
“If it doesn’t feel good to you at this moment, please don’t do it.”
Tell them, “This is a class where we learn how to release and focus.  See things in a deeper way…”
 
Structure:
Lead them step by step, telling them what you are going to do.  It relieves some anxiety.  Even at the end tell them that in a few minutes I’ll ring the bell three times which means we are at the end of our class.  “Now I’m going to ring the bell.”
Classes are very structured so the kids feel safe, using ritual in a skillful way.  For example he’d say, “We are going to do three things today.”  Or “Now I’m going to ring the bell.” 
 
 
Quotes:
You are never too late for the present moment.
 
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”― Maya Angelou
In training,Ann

Hello!
This week I have test-taking on my mind!  Today we had nine online WIDA ACCESS sessions happening throughout the building in three different labs.  Whew!  As I walked from lab to lab to check in, I was so pleased to see our testing coordinators and ESL teachers using Mindful Breathing before the test to help prepare the students for the task at hand.  My first-hand experience is that mindful breathing before a potentially stressful task helps me to feel more calm and allows me to focus.  Kudos for using Mindful Breathing!  (…and if you didn’t use it, try it next week!)

In the article, How Mindful Children React Differently to Challenges, the author writes, “After mindfulness training, you are skilled at halting an anxious response in its tracks” So rather than getting worried and anxious before a test, you can use a minute of mindfulness to nurture a sense of calm, kindness, and patience.  I really like the illustrations, check out the one about test taking! (I’ve attached it to this email.)
 
Read the full article here:
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/stress-better/2014/12/how-mindful-children-react-differently-illustrated/
I think you could use the illustrations with students.  Let me know if you do.
 
In training,
Ann
 
P.S. I also liked how the author used the words “mindfulness training”!
 
 

Happy Mindful Mondays,
 
This week I’m sharing two web and app-based programs. 
 
The first is Smiling Mind, which I learned about from Kate Beesch.  She shared it with MS staff in her Middle School News and Notes.  You can choose the appropriate age group and even try it out with their trial offer.  If you do like it you can download it for free.   It says it’s a modern meditation for young people.  A unique web and App-based program, designed to help bring balance to young lives.     http://smilingmind.com.au/
 
The second program is Stop, Breathe & Think.  It guides you through a few questions about your mental, physical and emotional state of being at the moment and then based on how you are doing, it offers three mindful exercises to choose from.   
For example:
I’m mentally (choose one: great, good, meh, poor, rough)
Physically (choose one: great, good, meh, poor, rough)
Emotionally (choose from a list)
Then based on your answers they calculate an appropriate mindful exercise.  Some examples that I’ve seen include:  a 10 minute Body Scan, a 5-10 minute Gratitude Guided Meditation, Mindful Breathing, Compassion Guided Meditation or even a Mindful Walk.  http://app.stopbreathethink.org/
 
Let me know if you find either one of them useful!
in training,
Ann

​Happy Mindful Monday!
 
Last week I had the great pleasure of meeting Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn (JKZ) at a meeting on Wednesday with a group of 20 educators, on Tuesday with 500 people for an all-day retreat, and on Friday at the Northrop for a lecture with 2000 people.  He is the founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program and author of many books on Mindfulness.  
 
It was inspiring to meet JKZ in person.  His quotes, like the ones I listed below help me to live more mindfully.  But what really struck me was the number of people who showed up at the retreat, at the lecture and how many teachers the 20 of us represented at the meeting on Wednesday.  It is super cool to know that there are so many people who are interested in mindfulness and taking steps to practice mindful living.  I am inspired by this community and I am filled with gratitude. 
 
If you missed his lecture last week, you can find several of his lectures online.  Here’s one that I found on the Mindful Schools website.  Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn speaks about the role of Mindfulness in Education in CA in 2011.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEINtdXIqns
 
Quotes from Jon Kabat-Zinn’s book “Wherever You Go, There You Are:  Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life”
 
“Mindfulness practice means that we commit fully in each moment to be present; inviting ourselves to interface with this moment in full awareness, with the intention to embody as best we can an orientation of calmness, mindfulness, and equanimity right here and right now.”
 
“The best way to capture moments is to pay attention. This is how we cultivate mindfulness. Mindfulness means being awake. It means knowing what you are doing.”
 
“look at other people and ask yourself if you are really seeing them or just your thoughts about them.... Without knowing it, we are coloring everything, putting our spin on it all.”
 
“Concentration is a cornerstone of mindfulness practice. Your mindfulness will only be as robust as the capacity of your mind to be calm and stable. Without calmness, the mirror of mindfulness will have an agitated and choppy surface and will not be able to reflect things with any accuracy.”
 
“Just watch this moment, without trying to change it at all. What is happening? What do you feel? What do you see? What do you hear?”
Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally”.

If you would like more information on where to take a class to further your own practice and/or to learn how to bring mindfulness to students please let me know.  
 
in training and with gratitude,
Ann
 
 

​Happy Mindful Mondays!
Today’s Mindful Monday email is about mindfully sending emails and texts.  I know I’ve hit “reply all” on accident, forwarded an email without thinking if it was true, necessary or kind; and have sent texts to the wrong person.  I’ve also been on the receiving end of these emails and texts, which leads me to believe that we’ve all done this to some extent.  So with that in mind, I’m sharing  “Five Steps to be More Mindful with Email”, from Mind body Green written by Wendy Kuhn. 
“Here are five easy steps to practicing mindful emailing:
1.     Take a deep breath, or give yourself a few moments to collect your thoughts before you hit reply.
2.   Visualize the person to whom you are sending the email.
3.   Get clear on why you are sending the email.
4.   Ask yourself if it is a true, necessary and kind response, and if email is the best way to deliver the message.
5.    Shut down your email when you are involved in other activities, whether it is talking to your significant other, eating, talking on the phone, or just being in the moment, and always two hours before you go to bed for a better night’s rest.
 
To read the full article click here:
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-17887/5-steps-to-be-more-mindful-with-email.html
 
in training,
Ann 

Dear Colleagues,
 
This week’s mindfulness email is from the Institute for Mindful Leadership. It was a perfect read and video for me this week and I hope you will find it helpful as well. 
I highlighted in yellow the part that spoke to me the most from the article.
 
Here’s my take away from Janice Marturano’s YouTube interview which there is a link for at the end of this article as well as copied and pasted below.
…When you practice mindfulness,  you are bringing yourself more consistently into the present moment, into that space of the present moment where you get to make more conscious choices, rather than what we often do, which is live on auto pilot.  When we go on auto pilot mode, we start to lose our best selves… our full capacities of our mind, our wisdom gets lost in the autopilot.  And when we start to train our minds to be more present with this actual training of mindfulness… the training of the mind lets us stop even in the midst of chaos, take that purposeful pause and in that space, that pause and lets us bring more of authentic self…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsaZjFS0aAU
 
It’s difficult to do.  We’ll make mistakes.  We’ll lose our wisdom from time to time and go on autopilot.  And this is why it’s called “training the mind” and a mindfulness “practice”. 
I am grateful for having colleagues to practice with,  together we can help each other to take those purposeful pauses.
 
In training,
Ann