Classroom – Page 3 – Mindful Frontiers LLC

The Present Moment Is The Only Time Period In Which We Actually Live

Anne-Marie Emanuelli, Creative Director and Founder of Mindful Frontiers

Amongst meditation experts, the understanding of ‘why we think about the past so much’ is that the past is an experience of our life to which we attach meaning because we lived the details of the event personally.

Our ego also clings strongly to the past because it is where a sense of our identity lies.

The reason past thoughts are problematic is that we mix them up with actual reality, thereby creating a faulty story of suffering.

The present moment is the only time period in which we actually live – the direct or actual reality that unfolds in the here and now.

In the Buddhist teaching of the Five Skandhas (Five Conditions) we interact with our environment to “create what we ordinarily perceive as conventional human reality as opposed to actual reality.” (from ‘The Five Conditions’, an article by Sensei Sean Murphy).

Through meditation and mindfulness, the Five Conditions help us understand our perceptions, past conditioning, and personal history that causes suffering.

It is presented as a chain that begins with Sensation/Perception (first encounter with a thought), followed by Feeling (like or dislike), proceeds with Reaction (emotions related to the thought) and then with Interpretation (where the thought enters consciousness) and if left unchecked will end up in the Story (the place where meaning is created around the thought; usually faulty and irrational) that causes suffering.

When a person meditates using open awareness, a type of meditation practice during which all thoughts and awareness are allowed and acknowledged, they are accepting whatever comes to mind at that moment.

During an open awareness practice, thoughts come and go with equanimity (non-judgement or attachment).

With practice, this kind of mindful meditation allows us to be focused on the present moment, and not get distracted by past thoughts.

We don’t ruminate about them, or let them take over our consciousness with stories of pain and suffering.

That would be called “gasping”, “clinging”, and “aversion” which is explained in the second of the four Noble Truths of Buddhism.

By accepting thoughts with equanimity and allowing them to dissipate, we understand that there is a way out of suffering (The Third Noble Truth).

Through meditation, mindfulness, non-attachment, and self-compassion (The Fourth Noble Truth), we can reach enlightenment, which is basically just a calm state of present-moment awareness that all is well, here and now.

The more a person practices mindful meditation skills, the better and more proficient the person will become in not allowing their mind to ruminate about the past.

As explained in ‘Altered Traits’ by Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson, when a group of highly experienced meditators were studied, “Other signs of the yogis’ expertise include stopping and starting meditative states in seconds, and effortlessness in meditation (particularly among the most seasoned).”

This suggests that a proficient meditator may be able to come in and out of present-moment awareness and relaxation, thereby not getting caught up in ruminating the past.

This post is part of a longer article published October 9, 2020 in Human Window on “How to Stop Thinking About the Past”. View entire article at Human Window

Mindful Frontiers & the garden of abundance.

Mission: 
By teaching young children the benefits of present-moment awareness, we build a mindful future for families and community.

Today is the start of Chapter 5: Mindful Frontiers. I’ve been dreaming of this day for a while now. The seed (idea) was formed several years ago while teaching mindfulness awareness in my classrooms. As the seed sprouted, and the dream grew, I practiced and perfected the skill of teaching/sharing mindfulness with others, both in and out of the classroom. The seed (idea) became a plant (reality) and the flower (potential) blossomed into a dream, ready to proliferate more seeds into gardens of abundance. With retiring from full-time public school teaching, the dream has come to fruition (flower is now a fruit, ready to spread seeds far and wide).

The goal is to offer mindful meditation teaching to local families with young children (5-10 years old). The proliferation of further seeds will grow abundantly the skill of present-moment awareness as stress reduction skills that can be nurtured within families. How this will enfold and come to fruition is in Universe’s hands.

Gardens of abundance:

Weekly meditation sits with families in a local venue such as TaoSatva.
Receive a grant to spread this practice to families who are not able to pay for the classes.
Sage Institute of Taos would be the “umbrella” non-profit to house the grant funds.
As Mindful Frontiers family meditation classes grow, the next step would be to expand into elementary school classrooms: phase 1 would be 3 classrooms; phase 2: expand to a couple schools x 3 classrooms each; phase 3: hire additional teachers to expand into more schools and classrooms.

Motherhood Memories & Meditation

Mother’s Day meditation reflections for May 10, 2020.

Marielle is 15 1/2 and I’ve been a mother for 16. My heart is full of gratitude for this Mother’s Day.

My personal path to motherhood started around 2001 when I learned that I had a lot of uterine fibroids that were making conception difficult. I bled so much each month that I became critically anemic. By 2002, I was so sick and weak that one day I ended up in the emergency room because of excruciatingly painful cramps. I was told my blood test showed I was critically anemic and was offered a blood transfusion that I didn’t accept. The GYN doctor gave me a form to fill out accepting a hysterectomy. After refusing, she suggested I read “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom” by Dr. Christiane Northrup. The book saved my life!

Meanwhile, I joined a Yahoo community on “uterine fibroids” and met many women living around the world dealing with this female issue. We communicated with each other and shared experiences and advice. Along with the WBWW book, this online community was a great support. The WBWW book also pointed me in the direction of Caroline Myss’ book “Spirit Anatomy”. This resource helped me learn about spiritual healing, personal body communication, and eventually helped me decide when I was ready for medical intervention.

After lots of prayers, ceremony, reflection, meditation & research on the different kinds of fibroid surgery, I chose a couple I wanted to explore that would retain my womb. Then, I sent out 40 letters to doctors in my insurance network and waited for responses. Two doctors responded and I chose Dr. Lynore Martinez of Santa Fe OB/GYN. She looked me straight in the eye and told me she would remove the fibroids without jeopardizing fertility. During surgery, she removed 16 fibroids of varying sizes and reconstructed my womb.

One and a half years later I conceived and became a mother. What a thrilling joy and blessing that was. For the entire pregnancy, I swam and exercises and had the most healthy 9 months. When I arrived at the hospital for the planned c-section, I was tanned and toned and at peek health. Marielle was born full-term but before labor could start because Dr. Martinez said there weren’t enough women who had gone through natural childbirth after uterine reconstructive surgery for it to be considered safe.

Today, 16 years after my first Mother’s Day, I am grateful for the beautiful and sensitive daughter my husband and I are blessed with. Even as we navigate her teenage topsy turvy chapter, we are grateful she was brought to our life. As we live through the 2020 Covid19 pandemic and spend 24 hours together, I am mindful of daily family blessings. This year’s Mother’s Day will be special because it is so different from any other. We’re confined to our home. There won’t be a celebratory dinner in a restaurant. There won’t be a family hike with a picnic. We’ll just be home with the food in the pantry and will make it special just as it is. Plus, it’s my husband’s birthday this year as he was born on May 10. Every so often these two special days fall on the same day. It really feels intensely special this year.

Happy day to mothers, grandmothers, and caregivers who serve as mothers.

Looking ahead…

women s white top and orange floral skirt — Photo by Samuel Silitonga on Pexels.com

12.15.19

Ten days to Christmas. Five days to the end of the semester. The last lap before retiring from full-time secondary school teaching.

What will the next chapter–Chapter Five–look like? What do I want it to look like? Allowing Source to guide me, here’s an affirming story to manifest the next chapter.

I am teaching mindfulness and meditation in a variety of ways. I have a weekly family meditation group. The “students” donate (dana) in a abasket and I earn a comfortable return for my service. By teaching mindful meditation to families I am sharing the importance of present-moment awareness and self-compassion to youth and their parents. Through this weekly practice, I am helping to create mindful youth, mindful future.

With a mindfulness-based grant for early childhood community school initiatives, I share mindful meditation with many youth in kindergarten through second grade at local elementary schools. I teach mindful meditation in five classrooms weekly. The teachers come to my family-based weekly mindful meditation group for support with their own formal meditation practice.

Other than mindfulness practice instruction, I teach a couple university classes at our local community college in French and English or Computer Applications. Mindfulness is incorporated in those classrooms as well because it belongs everywhere and for all ages.

My post-retirement schedule also includes coordinating DTC functions for a couple local schools during Spring semester. It’s a way to bring balance to my professional endeavors by using both brain hemispheres (mindfulness meditation teaching for the right hemisphere and testing coordinator consultation for the left). It is something I started my last semester of teaching and it ended up being a contract that I was able to continue after retiring.

Each year, through challenges and successes, through sadness and joy, I have grown into the teacher, woman and person I am now on the precipice of retirement and new frontiers. What a long, strange trip it’s been.

May This Be So (Ainsi Soit-il). Gratitude is powerful.

What about this idea?

In the middle of getting a rejuvenating massage today, an idea was brought to my attention. How about an office/home-based mindfulness/meditation center to reach like-minded families?

home-schooled children or a playgroup of families could offer gatherings on mindfulness.
youth and family group workshops through an existing organization or wellness center.
one-on-one mindfulness lessons to families in their home or in an office
homework tutoring that included a mindfulness check-in/focus practice
webinar/online mindfulness course for families with young students
membership card/punch card for weekly mindfulness sessions at a location in-town such as a massage or health center.
school clubs or departments to offer a mindfulness-based stress reduction class/session for their members.
civic organizations contract with me to offer an MBSR session to their members

This could be either instead of or in addition to offering mindfulness classes and training to local schools.

Spring semester 2019 notes:

Classroom lesson about changing patterns & response.

We started with a mindfulness discussion about the freedom to pause before responding using Victor Frankl’s quote Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. Then students visualized a situation in which there was a stimulus that led to an automatic reaction. Students rewound the scene to the moment right before the reaction and visualized their body sensations, facial expression, emotions and practiced seeing the situation as an observer. Students did an anchor breathing practice while they visualized how they might respond if there had paused beforehand.

The poem “Autobiography in Five Chapter by Portia Nelson” was read to students and they were asked to discuss with a partner the metaphor of the “hole in the sidewalk”.

Then, we did a ball-throwing activity to show how changing patterns can change the energy of a situation. The activity is called “group juggle“. The objective is to throw the ball to each student and then to remember the pattern afterward. We first used one ball and then tried to add a couple more. The second and third balls are juggled in the same way so that there are several patterns going on at the same time. Students in one middle school class couldn’t add the second pattern so we just did several patterns with one ball. The older class was able to do two simultaneous patterns successfully. When a third ball (pattern) was added it became too hard and the patterns fell apart (couldn’t remember who threw to whom).

We discussed what this felt like, why it was so hard to add another pattern, to remember the patterns, to focus, and what the metaphor of changing patterns is about. Students then wrote a timed journal writing about what today’s activities.

2. In a high school class, the topic of the lesson was mind wandering and distractions. A TedTalk video, How to Tame Your Wandering Mind” by Amishi Jha, was shown which explains how mindfulness practice can help us learn to focus under pressure and limit mind wandering. Then, two article were read by students on the topics of multi-tasking or task switching. (Kent State University and Stanford News) In these article, results of different studies indicated that our mind can only really focus on one task at at time and that multi-tasking actually impairs our mind’s memory. Students discussed the articles together and then wrote a journal writing reflecting on the topics.

3. From Heart of Teaching Mindfulness workshop in May at Mountain Cloud Zen Center: group cluster activity where we wander or amble around silently in mindful walking. Someone stops and another person stops next to the first person. Pretty soon several people stop and organically, silently form either a circle, lines or clump. Then, someone decides to start walking again and others follow until the next person decides to stop and so forth. This is a really interesting activity because of the group communicating in silence. Apparently it can be used with youth and I’m excited to try in my classrooms.

4. Also from the May workshop, a triad conversation to practice active listening and observing. Instead of the traditional diad conversation, the triad style is where one person speaks for up to 5 minutes while the 2nd person listens silently and the 3rd person observes the speaker and listener. Next step is the active listener comments on what he/she heard the speaker explain (5 minutes) and the final step is the observer comments on what was observed of the other 2 people (3 minutes). The addition of the “observer” is an interesting twist because there is the opportunity for the speaker and listener to get feedback on what the observer noticed or experienced.

5. During this semester, I found myself more strict about closing eyes. I really wanted students to try it and I felt that if I focused on it, encouraging them to try it for part of the practice, that they would realize it is safe. Next year I will mention it but I won’t force it. This semester was also challenging in that I got 3 new students mid-year and they did not have the prior practice in mindfulness that the rest of the class had and they disrupted the flow of things. I also found myself getting upset and aggitated by these new students. Next year I will model using mindfulness at random times when I sense my heightened mood so that students will see in “in action.”

Expanding beyond my classroom?

An invitation to share a mindful practice in another teacher’s classroom this week.

In Student Success Lab (off day computer lab for online curriculum work), a small group of students are learning about how to navigate Math anxiety. The teacher calls this group Eustress Math.

I have been invited to share how deep breathing can help calm feelings of anxiety. The 30-minute activity starts with this video and then an explanation of the physiology of the brain and how deep breathing affects the 10,000-year-old human brain.

Then the chime is rung and I lead the group in slow breathing: 4 counts in, 2 counts hold, 6 counts out. After a few guided breaths the students count for themselves. Finally, we imagine that we are holding a cup of hot cocoa: breathe in the flavor; hold while admiring the cocoa; breathe out the mouth to “cool off” the cocoa. After a few hot-cocoa breaths the chime is rung to mark the end of the practice.

I could definitely sense the students had relaxed. Out of the 4 students, one had not been in a class with me before so this was her first exposure to mindfulness. She expressed that closing her eyes was uncomfortable for her so I explained how this is common for new students of mindfulness as it is related to the prehistoric origins of our brains. A discussion about fear of being attacked by a tiger ensued and I explained that it takes time and practice to retrain the brain.

A successful and enjoyable way to expand mindfulness into other teachers’ classrooms feeds gratitude to be on this adventure.

Fall 2018 semester notes

I incorporated mindfulness practice is all classes including advisory & enrichment. I either started class with a mindful practice, a check-in question or a mindful visualization. In afternoon advisory class I sometimes alternated between a mindful practice and a yoga movement check-out activity. Some days I would ask students to vote on which activity they wanted to practice. Towards the end of the semester, I started having students alternate between facing in and facing out for the practice. It seemed that this allowed students to create their own personal space and I felt that the overall atmosphere became quieter when they weren’t all facing in the same direction. At the middle school level, I also allowed students to choose whether to sit in a chair, on the floor or even to lay down. I didn’t offer this choice to high school students. Maybe this is something to offer next semester and see how students choose their mindful position.

My students were 7th, 8th & 9th graders. For the most part, everyone participated willingly. There were a couple 8th-grade boys who openly expressed not wanting to do the practice. However, most students complied and willingly participated. I used a variety of card sets that incorporated mindful activities, yoga postures, EQ questions, intention-setting questions, and social-emotional activities & questions. Some days, students signed up to choose what we would do to start class. Most days, I chose because students were uncomfortable coming up with their own activity/question. The sets of cards were made available to the students who had signed up to lead our check-in/practice.

I did not ask for much sharing after mindful practice. When the check-in was question-based, students were encouraged to participate, of course, since this is the intent. However, after a mindfulness practice activity (sitting, visualization, breath awareness), I gently allowed for sharing and I found that students preferred not to. Last year I had more sharing from students. This semester I suppose I decided to allow for more introspection / personal reflection instead.

Feel/See Mindful Activity

This week’s classroom (and staff) mindfulness activity entailed the senses of feeling and seeing. I asked students to close their eyes, focus on their breath, put their hands out and ground themselves. Then, I placed a shell fragment in their hands. I had collected these shell pieces on a trip to Northern California & Southern Oregon. There were a large variety of shapes and kinds of shells. Some were larger than others. After passing them out, I led the students (and staff later in the week) in a practice of first feeling the object in their hands. I asked them to keep their eyes closed and just really feel the object as if they were blind. I also shared an anecdote of my godmother’s husband, Jimmy Woodlee, who was a blind chiropractor who used only the sense of feel to heal his patients. I explained that our fingers are very sensitive and observant. After a minute or so of feeling the objects, I asked them to open their eyes, and still without speaking, to see the object in detail. The directions included observing the object completely and intimately.

Using a three-tone chime, I used a different tone for each part of the activity. One tone was to indicate closed eyed observation with just the fingers, whereas another tone corresponded to opening the eyes and looking mindfully at the object. I alternated back and forth with these tones (activities) and before finishing up with a breath awareness practice I asked students while their eyes were closed to visualize a scene where this shell could be: a beach, in the ocean, floating on a wave. Finally, the practice ended with the third tone of the chime, which indicates the end of our mindfulness activity.

I found that this activity really caught the attention of all groups (middle school, high school, and teachers). I plan to repeat the activity and adding more to it. For example, after the mindfulness feeling/seeing practice, I would ask students to draw the scene they envisioned for the shell. Then, taking the visual scene, they would write either a story or a few paragraphs describing the scene.

After speaking with Erin Woo today (mindfulness teacher at Brown University and contributing teacher in the year-long Mindfulness School teacher training course), I could add on to this activity by alternating between writing and then sitting quietly, observing the shell more each time. She said that this leads to even more awareness and descriptive writing.

The staff activity took place before a PD meeting. Instead of an EQ check-in, I led the staff in this feel/see mindful activity using the shell. It was short and abbreviated, and I explained to them after we’d spent a minute or two feeling and seeing the shell pieces how I had used the activity in class.

New school year – new mindful challenges

Each new school year brings challenges and successes. This year I am teaching 7th, 8th & 9th grades. The older middle school students are a new frontier. Certainly, I had an advisory of 7th graders about 3 years ago but I’d gotten used to the younger 6th graders and their cuteness, willingness to please, and infantile energy & imagination. Older middle school 7th & 8th graders are in the midst of hormone changes; exploring their path to independence while keeping one foot planted in childhood as well.

Four weeks into the semester and we are exploring mindfulness activities in all classes: advisory as well as ELA enrichment. Some days I use mindfulness activity cards to stimulate introspection. Other days I take lessons from the Mindful Schools high school curriculum obtained from the “Essentials” course. We’ve explored the “punching bag” and “breath as an anchor”, heartfulness activities, and loving-kindness affirmations while focussing on the breath. All-in-all it is going pretty well considering how many hard-to-settle-down students I have this year.

The new school year started with feelings of anxiety that I had not experienced for a couple years. Was it fear? Uncertainty? Whatever it was, I have awoken often with feelings of anxiety and dread; my mind and heart still firmly planted in summer vacation. As soon as I reach campus, I’m ready to tackle the day.

Today, I explained to a class of 9th graders the reason I teach students mindfulness. I shared my “story” — well, one small chapter of it anyway. I also added that in the summer I spend 5 days in silent meditation with other teachers. “No way. Five days without talking! I would go crazy!” was the reaction of one 9th grader. The mindfulness lesson today was learning to anchor ourselves using the breath so that we can find the space between stimulus and response (avoiding reaction) and the freedom of that space as described by Victor Frankl. I read the 5 act autobiographical poem by Sophia Portia (aka The Black Hole poem). Using sports as a gateway to introspection, I asked, “What is a black hole in sports?” A student replied: “doubt”. When asked what could help to “choose to walk down a different street?”, another student answered, “being aware”. YES! I responded. EXACTLY!

The hardest part of teaching mindfulness to teenagers continues to be for them to close their eyes. Many still keep their eyes open while practicing. I really wish they would try closing their eyes. For me it is so much more relaxing and yet I understand that for others it may not feel safe. So, I give them the choice but ask them to at least try closing their eyes. If they absolutely can’t, I ask them to gaze on a neutral spot, not at other students. This is explained as our safety bubble that we don’t want to be popped by the gaze of another person on us.

Ongoing professional development:

Currently enrolled in the 6-week Mindful Schools Mindful Communications online course.
Read Non-Violent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg this summer and applying the concepts in daily interactions.
Recently obtained a copy of The Compassionate Classroom by Sura Hart and Victoria Kindle Hodson.
Rediscovered The Buddha in the Classroom by Donna Quesada which I’d read about 4 years ago and rereading with new appreciation.

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