What is Mindfulness?

            Welcome to my first Yoga and Mindfulness Blog for SJCA. I hope to be able to share some tips, tools and insights from my yoga and mindfulness classes with my amazing students. I teach yoga and mindfulness classes to students, from Pre-k to Grade 8. This first blog is about mindfulness, which has been getting a lot of coverage in the media lately. At the end of each blog there will be a suggested home practice, which I hope you will try. It might seem a little weird in the beginning. but with a little practice I think you might enjoy it and experience some benefits. Small steps can lead to big changes over time!
The practice of mindfulness at any age is learning how to pay attention to what is happening right now. At school, teachers and students can pay attention to any activity or experience throughout their day, even if only for a moment- their thoughts and feelings, climbing the stairs, walking into their classroom, unpacking their schoolbags, sitting down at their desks, turning the pages of a book, the sounds in the hallway, the smells in the cafeteria, the cool air or the mid-day sun when they go outside for recess. This is not an easy thing for many of us to do in our modern, hurry-up, over-scheduled, stressed-out world. We are coming to school and work tired, but wired, and we are finding it increasingly difficult to be present and focus because we are either running on empty or on auto-pilot. What are the little things that go unnoticed throughout your day? What are the little things that irritate you?
By learning how to practice mindfulness, we can learn how to slow down, even for a moment, to catch our breath, and get a better sense of what we need. We all need pauses throughout our day to regroup. More is not always better! In my yoga and mindfulness classes I am teaching my students about their 6th sense, awareness. Mindfulness cultivates awareness, and that awareness influences our choices and how we behave, moment to moment. When we pay attention and start noticing the little things we can create space or a pause, and this enables us to respond rather than react without thinking to a situation. We become less impulsive, and maybe we can also become a little kinder to ourselves and other. This is easier said than done. and it takes time, practice and patience to make small changes.
Living in New York can be very intense and stressful, and many of us come from other countries and cultures, where the pace of life and our stress levels were very different. When we are tired, stressed, fearful, angry, sad, or we are experiencing other difficult emotions it can be very difficult to be mindful, or to be able to make good choices. Have you ever said or done something in the heat of the moment, or when you were tired that you later regretted? I tell my students that even though I practice yoga and mindfulness, I still have moments when I could be more mindful, kinder and more patient. We are all a work in progress.
Our minds, the thinking and feeling part of our brains, are like the weather, which we see is always changing. Just look at this week’s weather forecast. Today will be 61 degrees, and tomorrow we are expecting a snow storm. When we learn how to pay attention and cultivate moments of awareness, we begin to realize that our moods, our energy levels, our opinions, our thoughts and emotions will and can change many times throughout the day just like the weather. Good or bad, everything does change. Every moment of awareness, like each new breath, can be a fresh start.
Learning to cultivate mindfulness, to slow down and sense what you need in the present moment requires patience and it might feel a little weird in the beginning. Everyone is on their on path in life and we cannot expect to know everything about each other’s journey or experiences. In my upcoming blogs, I will offer some simple tools and suggestions that might help you cultivate more moments of awareness, calm, kindness, and patience throughout your day. Remember that this is a practice and not a perfect!

Home Practice: Just Breathe!
Did you know that we take about 25,000 breaths every day? Our breath is like a mirror that can reflect back to us our physical, mental, and emotional states of well-being. Try taking 3-5 slow, deep breaths a couple of times throughout your day for the next week and see what happens. Below are some simple suggestions for when you can become more mindful of your breath. Choose one or two that resonate with you. It may help anchor you throughout your day. Remember to be kind to yourself.

* Before you get out of bed in the morning
* When you are in the shower
* Before taking to your children if you are upset or angry, or if they are upset or angry with you
* Before you eat breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack
* Before you turn on your computer or check your phone
* When you step outdoors in the morning on your way to work or school
* When you are stuck in traffic lights
* When you turn the key in the door after coming home from work
* When you get into bed at night and your day is done

Namaste, 
Miss Anne-Marie