More Focused, Better Behaved Kids, Through ‘Mindfulness'

Would the world be a better place if more of us were trained to take a mindful moment to connect emotions we are feeling to our brains before we act?

After recently learning mindful behavioral training in their classrooms, a number of elementary school students think so. When asked if the learning is making any difference in their lives, almost every one of them indicates it has. Equally impressive, the sentiments of queried local educators and counselors working with Mindful Schools teacher and mentor Sally Arnold, a Sonora resident, also seem to lean that way.

Advocates say that mindfulness, a behavioral learning approach that is experiencing exponential growth in schools across the country, develops a moment-by-moment awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, sensations and surrounding environment. It has been shown to strengthen our ability to pay attention where and when we want. It can also help us regulate our emotions; grow understanding and compassion for what others are experiencing; wisely adapt behavior patterns; increase our ability to calm ourselves; and build resilience to life’s ups and downs. Hand-in-hand with this learning comes the nurturing of kindness and compassion to create a positive mind state called “heartfulness.”

[For more of this story, written by Tori James, go to http://www.mymotherlode.com/ne...ugh-mindfulness.html]