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
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
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