Mindful Schools

It is ever so encouraging to be finding an abundance of very promising research on mindfulness and resources being developed on the subject of integrating mindfulness into K12 education.

There is a part of me that becomes almost overwhelmed by the large volumes of information I'm finding, though only briefly. I am mostly very excited for the future of education with increasing evidence of integral education advocates. Integral Institute and affiliated characters, namely Ken Wilber, having really developed the concept and understanding of what an integral approach looks like.    For the purposes of this project, the focus is more specifically on integrating mindfulness into K12 curricula. One of the first segments of the web-resource in the making will be research findings, a collection of mostly current examples of mindfulness in K12 classrooms or other spaces relevant to the project.

Point of Departure 1: Mindful Schools
http://www.mindfulschools.org/resources/sample-lesson/

"It is often said that mindfulness is simple, but not easy. This is because while the principles, instructions, and techniques in mindfulness are very universal and accessible, employing them regularly, spontaneously, or continuously of your own volition can be very challenging. In the same way, teaching mindfulness might seem simple, but it’s actually not easy to do effectively. This is because in order to be effective in teaching mindfulness, one must first embody and demonstrate mindfulness with their behavior."

For this reason precisely, it has been imperative for me to integrate mindfulness in my life as thoroughly as I can. In the last few months, since decided to do this project, I've been all over the map with mindfulness. It's been a bit turbulent - to say the least. I feel like this is a huge part of why this project has been very compelling and of great importance to my education. 

As the Hindu proverb goes "To learn, read. To know, write. To master, teach."

I'm somewhere between... And, aiming for mastery while humbled by the truth of the first statement in the quote above. There is a certain paradox to the simplicity of mindfulness.