Many of us have so much on our minds to deal with at any given time that we function quite often on autopilot. It’s not uncommon to set off in your car, or cycle on your bike, and arrive at your destination only to realise you remember nothing about the journey, or walk into a room with the intention of accomplishing a task only to forget instantly the very thing you wanted to do.
It is extremely easy to rush through life and its trials and tribulations without stopping to notice much. Paying more attention to the present moment – to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you – can improve your mental wellbeing.
Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while serenely recognizing and accepting feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.
Hampton School is at the forefront of utilising mindfulness in education. From 2008, mindfulness courses have been offered to pupils and staff, to reduce stress levels and help Hampton boys to attain peak performance in the classroom and on the sports field. Boys involved in music, drama and public speaking also follow the practices from the course allowing them to deliver exceptional performances on stage.
Hampton uses the Mindfulness in Schools Project’s .b programme, specifically created for teenagers. A nine week course is provided to the entirety of Fourth Year pupils, as well as a course in Wellbeing and Resilience, written by Hampton teacher and Head of Wellbeing and Mindfulness, Mark Nicholson.
Further sessions are extended towards students before those daunting public examinations. ‘’ I have used mindfulness techniques like FOFBOC in my GCSE exams and they have really helped me to relax and focus,’’ asserts Daniel Sparks, a Sixth Former, ‘’At home too, the tendency is to get irritated and snappy with family but mindfulness helps you diffuse your anger and deal with the problem in a more productive way.’’
A variety of techniques are taught during the course, including 7/11(breathe in for 7 seconds and out for 11), FOFBOC (feet on floor, bum on chair – encouraging attention to focus on contact between the feet and the floor and their bodies on their chairs) and Beditation (which aids restful sleep). Strange as they may sound, these practices help to motivate boys to take a moment in their busy lives to ‘stop, breathe and be’.
‘‘Mindfulness has really helped me in lots of ways. It encourages you to respond to situations rather than react to them – instead of letting your emotions take over, you take a moment to consider what you want to do or say’’ comments Charles Turner, a Fifth Year pupil.
Hampton boasts six trained mindfulness teachers, with mindfulness classes also presented to all members of the Common Room on an intermittent basis. Moreover, mindfulness training is now being provided to a number of staff from various local schools.
So, why practice Mindfulness?
Recent studies have shown school mindfulness programmes, such as the .b programme at Hampton, to be effective in reducing symptoms of depression, stress and anxiety among secondary-school children for a lengthy period of time. Such programmes can also help students focus during exams, as well as reducing stress and boosting happiness among pupils.
As well as practising mindfulness in daily life, there are other techniques one can utilise to help with stress, or simply to develop a more composed manner.
Several practices can help create a new awareness of body sensations, thoughts and feelings. They include:
meditation – participants sit silently and pay attention to the sensations of breathing or other regions of the body, bringing the attention back whenever the mind wanders
yoga – participants often move through a series of postures that stretch and flex the body, with emphasis on awareness of the breath
tai-chi – participants perform a series of slow movements, with emphasis on awareness of breathing
Mindfulness has been discussed in parliament over recent years.
Last March, in response to a question asking if the Department for Education planned to promote the idea nationwide, the then schools minister David Laws told MPs at an education select committee: “We are very interested in promoting this and we certainly think that it is an area that merits consideration based on the evidence we’ve seen to date.’’
In short, Mindfulness may well be coming to a classroom near you!
The usage of Mindfulness at Hampton School shows no signs of abating, on the contrary, the course is flourishing, with around 800 pupils having had the experience of a Mindfulness lesson.
I strongly urge any reader to learn more about Mindfulness and I hope that they may discover and reap its multitude of benefits that many schools, such as Hampton, are thriving from.
Arjun Chadha - Hampton School
