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When we cultivate awareness of thinking, we can discover the frequency with which our mind is disconnected from the here and now and we practice bringing it back. Sometimes we're thinking about the past or the future and find ourselves distracted from the present moment.
As we develop awareness, we begin to see that all of our minds wander and that it's a very human thing to do. We can gently remind ourselves to connect back with the present moment. Using our breath as an anchor can be helpful in bringing our attention back to something that's always happening right now. The more we practice, the stronger we get at catching ourselves when our attention has wandered.
It is helpful to talk about the realities of our wandering minds. We're told to "pay attention" from the time we're very young, but not often taught how to do it. Everybody has thoughts that take us away from what is happening in the present moment. It can be challenging when we miss important teachings or instructions. If we teach students to notice when their attention wanders, we can support them to refocus, attend to and engage in the learning that needs to take place.
Practice:
Practice:
- Begin by settling into your mindful body position either in a chair or sitting on the floor
- Take a few deep breaths together
- Let your eyes gently close or look down
- While sitting quietly, begin to notice where you're attention goes and what you're thinking about
- You may notice repeating thoughts, perhaps your mind is busy thinking, or maybe your mind is quiet in this moment
- We're paying attention with curiosity and there's no expectation that your mind is clear of thoughts
- After a minute or two of mindful breathing and noticing our thoughts (you can stretch this time with practice), ring the bell and put your attention on the sound
- Provide students with the opportunity to share out what they noticed with a partner and/or with the group
- Either in this lesson or in a follow-up lesson, you may guide them toward noticing if their mind was traveling to the past, present or future
Read Aloud: Mindful Monkey, Happy Panda written by Lauren Alderfer
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