Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10-20 minutes

Explore: Mindful moments

30 minutes

Discover: Creating mindful activities

20 minutes

Thrive: Mindful actions

Explore: Mindful moments

Step 1

Ask students to find a space on the floor and lie down on their backs. They should not be touching anyone else.

Provide the following explanation to guide them through a mindful body scan:

Your arms should be resting by your side with your palms facing up.
Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths, allowing your body to relax and release any tension.
Begin by bringing your attention to your toes. Notice any sensations you feel in your toes, such as warmth, tingling or tightness. Don't judge or analyse these sensations; simply observe them.
Slowly move your attention up through your feet and legs, noticing any sensations as you go. Pay attention to your ankles, calves, knees, thighs and hips.
Continue to move your attention up through your torso, noticing any sensations in your lower back, upper back, chest and abdomen.
Bring your attention to your hands and arms, noticing any sensations in your fingers, palms, wrists, forearms and upper arms.
Move your attention up through your shoulders and neck and finally to your head. Notice any sensations in your scalp, forehead, temples, eyes, nose, cheeks, jaw and tongue.
After completing the body scan, take a few deep breaths and return your attention to the present moment.

Ask students to sit up when they are ready, then debrief the exercise in pairs.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

How did you feel before, during and after the body scan?
How does this exercise help you practise mindfulness?

Step 2

Watch the following video:

Heartbeat: A Mindfulness Exercise to Calm Your Emotions (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iUf73v92lI)

Students should participate in the exercise as the video plays, then participate in a group discussion to share their thoughts.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

How did you feel during the exercise? Did you feel your heartbeat slow?
Did your thoughts wander? How did you come back to the present moment?
How did you feel after the exercise?

Step 3

In small groups or as a whole class, brainstorm different ways to practise mindfulness and discuss the associated benefits.

Record answers somewhere visible.

Examples:

Mindfulness practice: silent walk in nature
Benefit: reduced stress and anxiety
Mindfulness practice: mindful colouring
Benefit: better focus and attention

Discover: Creating mindful activities

Step 1

Explain that students will develop their own mindfulness activity/resource to increase the school community’s awareness of mindfulness and its benefits.

In small groups of 2-3, ask students to brainstorm areas within the school that would be suitable for a mindfulness activity. If time permits, allow students to walk around the campus to assess potential locations. Discuss the answers as a class.

Step 2

Display the Mindful Activities graphic and ask groups to select from 1 of the 3 activity options (listed below).

Option 1: PLAN AN ACTIVITY

Design a mindfulness activity utilising the school’s natural environment. Students will need to:

consider appropriate locations
design a suitable activity for the location
create clear instructions and resources
define the benefits of this activity as part of your planning (this may require research).

Examples:

Mindful walk through the school gardens
Nature art session

Option 2: MAKE A VIDEO

Create your own instructional video explaining mindfulness techniques. Students will need to:

research mindfulness techniques
decide on 2-3 to focus on in the video
plan and write a script with clear instructions explaining the techniques
film and edit the video.

Examples:

How to complete a body scan
Mindful movements such as mindful stretching or eating
Breathing exercises such as box breathing

Option 3: DESIGN A POSTER

Research the science behind different breathing techniques and the impact they have on the body, and create a poster or video explaining the technique and its benefits. Students will need to:

research the breathing techniques
draft a plan for the information to be shared
create a poster or video.

Examples:

Box Breathing
4-7-8 Breathing
Wim Hof Breathing
Lion’s Breathing

Step 3

In groups or as a whole class, determine the most impactful way of sharing the mindfulness activities with the school community. Make a plan to implement the roll-out of activities, including audience, timeline, mode (face-to-face or digital), materials and roles/responsibilities.

Examples:

Mindfulness Mondays: each Monday, a group runs a mindful activity at lunchtime
School assembly: presentation of videos
During a well-being lesson, groups visit younger year levels to facilitate mindfulness rotation activities

Teacher note: This lesson could be delivered across 1-3 lesson blocks so students can complete all three activities.

Thrive: Mindful actions

Step 1

Explain that students will get to experience the activities their peers created by participating in group rotations.

Step 2

Once each group has tried each activity, ask them to reflect on those they enjoyed most. In pairs, invite students to discuss how they could incorporate these mindfulness activities into their daily lives, then share with the class.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

When are some moments you have experienced stress or poor concentration?
What is your typical response in these moments?
Is there a mindfulness exercise that could replace this response to form a new habit?

Step 3

Give each student a Mindful Actions worksheet and ask them to fill in their answers independently. If time permits, invite them to share their answers in small groups.

Teacher note: Step 1 could be extended to include hosting a mindfulness lunch or day and inviting other year levels to attend activities hosted by the students who created them.

Health: Reducing Stress Through Mindfulness

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Summary

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