What is Zen

Then she shared a “zen” idea they could practice with students…

Recently in the news we have heard more and more about the benefits of mindfulness and purposeful breathing in the classroom. So I want to share how I incorporated a 30 second breathing activity into my classroom last year, and how it made all the difference for me and my students.

First, when students entered my room, there was a “Do Now” on the board for them to get started on. This allowed them to come in and quietly get to work instead of sitting down and talking to friends and then having to call the room to order. During this time, I greeted them all individually. I was building relationships by checking in on each of them and giving them each a personal greeting. If a student had a bad day yesterday, I could ask if he was doing better today. If a student seemed sad, I would walk over to his desk and crouch at his level and check in to see if anything was going on.

After everyone had finished the “Do Now” activity, we did a really quick breathing exercise. It’s so simple. Ready?

Breathe in for four seconds.

Breathe out for eight seconds.

Repeat three times.

That’s it. Quick, easy and FREE!

To set it up, I told the students that we were going to take 30 seconds every day to breathe. I asked them to sit up tall, like their spine was made of a stack of pennies, and have both feet on the floor. They could close their eyes or look down. I asked them to imagine breathing in like they were smelling a flower, and breathing out like blowing on a bowl of hot soup – carefully so as not to splash soup everywhere!

For the first couple of weeks, I asked them to jot down a few words that described how they were feeling before breathing, and then immediately after breathing. The point of writing it down was to call attention to the way our body and mind shifted when we focused on breathing.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. What about the kids who would use 30 seconds of silence to make inappropriate noises? Good question. Of COURSE this happened. My advice is to not give up. It took several weeks to normalize this in my classroom. Some students WILL struggle with it or use the opportunity to do something silly or crazy. I placed some tape on the floor right outside the doorway of my class, and if any students didn’t participate appropriately, I would simply ask them to breathe out in the hallway the next day. I didn’t make a big deal of it, I just asked that they do their breathing out there to avoid being a distraction to those who were breathing in the class. Eventually, these students would learn to come in the class and focus and participate.

It’s easy to give up at first. It may seem like they’ll never get on board. But they will! Just hang in there. I also modeled breathing by calling attention to times when I needed to take a breath. I would say, “Hey guys, I’m feeling a bit anxious right now. I’m going to take a few breaths in the hallway.” Or if the whole class was dysregulated, I would stop and everyone could do a quick reset by taking a few breaths together.

Here’s the deal. You are the leader of your classroom. You have a choice. You can be frustrated about all of the pressure, mandates, and items that are out of our control… or you can do something about it. Something that is free. Something that just takes 30 seconds!

The benefits have been researched and discussed time and time again, but for my class, I can say that my students were able to sit in their desks and focus, even with the chaos right outside of our non-existent door. They were able to use breathing to help calm them down before a big test or before they had to give a speech. I believe that it gave them a tool that they can call on throughout their lives when they start to feel stressed or overwhelmed. Teachers – I can tell you this. It just takes 30 seconds, it is free, and it will help bring a sense of calm into your classroom!