How To Include Mindfulness and Yoga Into The Education System

Q&A Session

As the world becomes more complex, children need more internal skills to put themselves into context and navigate this world. We have seen the problems that arise when leaders fail to have these skills. Fortunately, we have access to all the tools and resources we need to help youth develop essential life skills to become not just productive, but kind and conscious members of society. So, how can we best implement these tools that will be accepted and impactful?

I had a conversation with a Dr. Zsolt Molnár out of Hungary who is working on a child development initiative called the Mind Management Program. He had many thought-provoking questions on how to incorporate mindfulness and similar practices into the education system. I wanted to share a summary of his questions and the answers we discussed here.

Q: What is the difference between meditation and mindfulness

A: I don’t want to claim expertise on this question, though I can give some idea here. Meditation itself has different meanings in different contexts. In our lay terms, meditation is typically a practice done while sitting still and in silence.

Most practices for beginners are aimed at building concentration, calming the thoughts in the mind, and building the power of mindfulness. Following the breath is one such practice.

As the Buddhist teacher Joseph Goldstein has written, mindfulness is “the quality and power of mind that is aware of what is happening, without judgment and without interference.”

Meditation is a practice, where mindfulness is a faculty of the mind, just like concentration or imagination is a faculty of the mind.

As I understand it, true mindfulness is a moment in time when we are awakened. Recall a time you were angry and immersed in your thoughts, then you suddenly woke up and realized you were ruminating. This moment of waking up is the mindful moment.

Q: How can meditation and mindfulness be used to help school-aged children?

A: These days I work with mostly adults under 30. I find that many young adults have difficulty concentration and sitting still, so I don’t recommend meditation for everyone.

Yoga is a nice alternative that is more accessible — the asana (posture) practices that we often associate with “yoga” are actually just one of the 8 steps in the 8-steps of Raja yoga. These practices were designed to prepare people for meditation, and the practices can be adapted for children of all ages.

Breathing practices — or pranayama — could also be a good alternative. It gives people something to “do,” making it easier for those who have difficulty sitting still. Breathing practices could be used together with meditation, where each student can choose to do one or the other. Though, I would be careful in how I share. Lest children get the idea that one practice is “better” than the other.

Another practice could be journaling. Journaling is great for processing emotions and developing more self-awareness. That said, I would try to incorporate a variety of practices instead of focusing purely on meditation. Older children may want more independence while younger not take to a particular practice easily.

Mindfulness will be built through all of these practices. Though, mindfulness can also be practiced at any time — there is no need to plan a specific activity.

Here is a simple mindfulness practice you can do any time. Choose a klesha (impurity) of the mind. One example is irritation. Each time you experience irritation, simply notice it. Don’t judge it, don’t try to get rid of it, and don’t transform it into something else. Simply notice it, let it go, and move on.

This practice is useful for improving our lives. Oftentimes, we won’t notice it right away, we will only see later that we were irritated. We might find that we have been having hateful thoughts, speech, or action for 10 minutes before we realize we are irritated. This practice will help us notice irritation sooner and learn to let it go more quickly, eventually to the point where the irritation energy seems to flow through us.

Q: Do I need a meditation master to teach these skills to the children?

A: There are tons of resources available today to learn basic meditation and mindfulness practices. In fact, there is so much out there that it is confusing.

For this reason, I believe it is a good idea to work with someone experienced with these practice to develop a program for children. You want someone who has experience with the practices, not just book knowledge.

If you’re aiming for enlightenment, then you need a true master. For a program like this, then someone with an intermediate level of experience should be able to offer guidance. There’s no doubt that more experience is better, but we have to be practical too.

Once the program is developed, it may be possible to function without regular attendance by an experienced practitioner. Some programs train the the classroom teachers in the practices, giving the teachers skills they can apply in the classroom. This can offer a large bang for your buck.

The practices themselves are simple to learn, it is the subtleties that offer the most challenges. This is where an experienced guide will come in. Ideally the classroom teachers would be able to ask questions to the practitioner as they arise.

Q: What aspects of Buddhist philosophy may be suitable for teaching children?

A: While I find many aspects of Buddhist philosophy are just human philosophy, I would first be careful that the program doesn’t come across as proselytizing. There are some teachings in Buddhism that may be difficult for various audiences. Reincarnation and karma, for example, may clash with many people’s models of the world.

One reason Zen teachings have found so much acceptance in the west is that they tend to be simple, primarily focus on the practice and experience of living in the moment. So I believe pulling from Zen will be a fruitful direction to take. In fact, there are many mental health therapies that pull heavily on Zen, such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

Radical Acceptance, for example, has helped many people and doesn’t feel like “religion”. It is simply accepting the world as it is. Seeing the world as perfect, yet also acknowledging that it can be improved.

Beginner’s Mind is another Zen approach to life that is palatable to many. It tells us to treat each activity and each moment as if we are a beginner, allowing us to open our minds fully to the moment rather than categorizing new experiences based on previous experiences (e.g. “This is just another argument” or “just another shower”). This is a great practice, though children often have a beginner’s mind already — perhaps the adults in the room should be learning this from the children instead!

Some of the more “forgotten” aspects of eastern spirituality in the west are the ethical teachings. Yoga and Buddhism both rely heavily on ethics, with the idea that the mind won’t settle don’t if we don’t live a pure life. Many people begin meditating in order to relax or to cure a problem. A spiritual approach goes much deeper, and it requires this ethical foundation. Most of the ethics are palatable — don’t lie, don’t steal. Some might be harder for us, accept — don’t intoxicate the mind, for example.

Perhaps one of the most interesting ideas from Buddhism as a whole, not just Zen, is Interdependent Origination. This concept explodes our often simplified view of cause and effect that looks for an individual cause to a single effect. Instead, we recognize that all things at this moment lead to the arising of all things in the next — an intricate, interconnected web of existence.

Q: What is wisdom?

A: My coaching business is called Prajna Life Coaching, as Prajna means wisdom. I strongly believe that wisdom is one of the essential features missing in our education. This doesn’t mean I have perfect wisdom, it means that I hope more of us can intentionally walk on a path that leads to wisdom.

It is not easy for me to simply define wisdom, though here is my effort. Wisdom is “knowing who, or what we really are, or are not.”

When we have this wisdom to know what we are and are not, it’s easier to see how interconnected this body and mind are to the fabric of existence, so we naturally want to improve ourselves.

I believe our schools need to find more balance between teaching lower-case “k” “knowledge” that leads to jobs to teaching capital “K” Knowledge that leads to the wisdom to create a happier life and society.

For now, these are the musings that our conversation gave rise to. Please share your comments and feedback :)

Alex Krejci, PhD is the founder of Prajna Life Coaching — offering holistic life coaching and education to create a life of balance. Grow in life, success will follow.