Posts Tagged ‘mindfulness’

prime the brain for learning

Activities That Prime the Brain for Learning

Brain breaks and focused attention practices help students feel relaxed and alert and ready to learn.

BRAIN BREAKS

FOCUSED ATTENTION PRACTICES

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more on mindfulness in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=mindfulness

Yoga Therapy

Why More Western Doctors Are Now Prescribing Yoga Therapy

With a growing body of research proving yoga’s healing benefits, it’s no wonder more Western doctors are prescribing this ancient practice. Learn what’s behind the trend.

SUSAN ENFIELD https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/western-doctors-prescribing-yoga-therapy

Yoga therapy is now recognized as a clinically viable treatment, with established programs at major health care centers, such as The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic, and many others. In 2003, there were just five yoga-therapy training programs in the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) database. Today, there are more than 130 worldwide, including 24 rigorous multi-year programs newly accredited by IAYT, with 20 more under review. According to a 2015 survey, most IAYT members work in hospital settings, while others work in outpatient clinics or physical therapy, oncology, or rehabilitation departments (and in private practice).

The health care world’s increased acceptance of yoga therapy is partly due to a significant body of clinical research that now documents yoga’s proven benefits for a range of health conditions, including back painanxietydepression, and insomnia, as well as its ability to help reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease and hypertension. Yoga has even been documented as a way to alleviate the side effects of cancer treatment.

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more on mindfulness in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=mindfulness

Your Brain Off Facebook

This Is Your Brain Off Facebook

Planning on quitting the social platform? A major new study offers a glimpse of what unplugging might do for your life. (Spoiler: It’s not so bad.)

Benedict Carey, Jan 30, 2019

This Is Your Brain Off Facebook by BENEDICT CAREY

So what happens if you actually do quit? A new study, the most comprehensive to date, offers a preview.

Well before news broke that Facebook had shared users’ data without consent, scientists and habitual users debated how the platform had changed the experience of daily life.

the use of Facebook and other social media is linked to mental distress, especially in adolescents.

Others have likened habitual Facebook use to a mental disorder, comparing it to drug addiction and even publishing magnetic-resonance images of what Facebook addiction “looks like in the brain.”

When Facebook has published its own analyses to test such claims, the company has been roundly criticized.

For abstainers, breaking up with Facebook freed up about an hour a day, on average, and more than twice that for the heaviest users.

research led by Ethan Kross, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, has found that high levels of passive browsing on social media predict lowered moods, compared to more active engagement.

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more on Facebook in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=facebook

Mindfulness And Trauma-Informed Teaching

Why Mindfulness And Trauma-Informed Teaching Don’t Always Go Together

Katrina Schwartz Published on 

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52881/why-mindfulness-and-trauma-informed-teaching-dont-always-go-together

Teachers are turning to the practice as a simple way to restore calm to the classroom, help students find some quiet space, and build self-regulation skills. Some teachers say their personal mindfulness practicehas helped them respond more calmly to students and helps them keep perspective.

“This isn’t about calming down,” said Sam Himelstein, a clinical psychologist, trainer and author who has spent most of his career working with incarcerated youth. “Calming down is great and it is a skill that youth can get better at. But if we’re talking about mindfulness, at its core, we are just talking about being present with whatever it is.”

Larry Rosenberg the dog-mind versus the lion-mind.
Reacting with the mind of a lion allows a person to say, “I’m angry right now,” and that little bit of metacognitive space between the person and the thought allows them to choose how to respond.

TRAUMA SENSITIVE MINDFULNESS

  • Students don’t take the activity seriously
  • Students are triggered by silence because it feels like a storm is brewing, so they don’t want to be quiet
  • Students feel too many requests are made of them without the requisite trust being built up
  • Students exhibit avoidance behavior

Guidelines for teachers using mindfulness:

  • Don’t force it
  • Don’t focus on the logistics like sitting with eyes closed
  • Somatic awareness, like counting breaths, could be a good place to start. “There’s different types of awareness. Sometimes we’re really aware of what’s going on in the mind and sometimes we’re more aware of what’s going on in the body,” Himelstein said.
  • Think about the child’s window of tolerance and whether he is already triggered or not. “It’s good to strike when the iron is cold in a lot of these cases,” Himelstein said.
  • Build relationships

SELF CARE

Cultivating a trauma-informed classroom is much harder when educators themselves are burnt out. Building relationships, not reacting defensively to student behavior and taking time to listen to students can feel nearly impossible if the adult is barely making it through the day.

several categories of self-care, according to Himelstein:

  1. Regular cultivation of relaxation response (3Rs): things like watching TV, going into nature, getting a massage.
  2. Effortful training: These are things like more sustained meditation or exercise where the payoff comes over a longer time period.
  3. Creativity: something that gives purpose and adds vibrancy to life. Writing, reading, painting or other passions are examples.
  4. Advocacy: everything from learning to say “No” (set boundaries), to working at a higher level to impact policy or structural change.

Emotional Data on the Job

How to Manage Your Own Emotional Data on the Job

emotions can give you truly pertinent, useful data about business problems that need attention.

negative emotions are useful indicators of both your instincts and your beliefs:

  • If you’re feeling sad or down, you’re probably unhappy with your own behavior or the effectiveness of your response to events. You might be thinking that something has gone wrong and that it was your fault. Be careful not to leave sadness unattended or it can slide into hopelessness and the belief that you’ll never be able to make things better. Instead, let sadness prompt you to change: Look for small actions and steps to make headway and improvements.
  • If you’re angry, you may be experiencing a fairness issue of some kind, and the anger may be telling you about a sense of violation or something that needs to be set right.
  • If you’re afraid or don’t feel safe in some way, you may sense that something bad is going to happen but you’re not sure what it is or how it might damage you. Or perhaps you don’t trust upcoming events or the people involved. Your fear can alert you to do extra preparation and contingency planning so you’ll have your best shot at success.

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more on mindfulness in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=mindfulness

mental health day for teachers

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More on contemplative practices in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=contemplative

meditation and education
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=meditation+education

mindfulness
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=mindful

 

yoga by Western doctors

Why More Western Doctors Are Now Prescribing Yoga Therapy

With a growing body of research proving yoga’s healing benefits, it’s no wonder more Western doctors are prescribing this ancient practice. Learn what’s behind the trend.

SUSAN ENFIELDFEB 3, 2016

https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/western-doctors-prescribing-yoga-therapy

With a growing body of research proving yoga’s healing benefits, it’s no wonder more doctors—including those with traditional Western training—are prescribing this ancient practice to their patients.

Yoga therapy is now recognized as a clinically viable treatment, with established programs at major health care centers, such as The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic, and many others. In 2003, there were just five yoga-therapy training programs in the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) database. Today, there are more than 130 worldwide, including 24 rigorous multi-year programs newly accredited by IAYT, with 20 more under review. According to a 2015 survey, most IAYT members work in hospital settings, while others work in outpatient clinics or physical therapy, oncology, or rehabilitation departments (and in private practice).

Some therapists focus on physical mechanics, while others bring in Ayurvedic healing principles and factor in diet, psychological health, and spirituality to create a holistic, customized plan.

“Researchers take blood samples before and after yoga practice to see which genes have been turned on and which were deactivated,” says Khalsa. “We’re also able to see which areas of the brain are changing in structure and size due to yoga and meditation.” This kind of research is helping take yoga into the realm of “real science,” he says, by showing how the practice changes psycho-physiological function.

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more on contemplative practices in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=contemplative

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