Teacher Resources
Age level: All
Type: App
Topic: Meditation
Useful for: Meditation Program
Time: 1 minute to 45 minutes
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Smiling mind have created mindfulness programs for a range of ages and purposes. There are different age brackets and categories to choose from so that the meditations are easy to follow and allow you to progress the more that you practise. Whether practising personally, in the workplace or at school, it is a simple way to follow guided meditations to bring a sense of calm and peace into your life and your student's lives.
To be able to access the programs, you must create an account with Smiling Mind, but once you have done this, you are free to progress through at your own pace.
Age level: All
Type: Website / App
Topic: Meditation
Useful for: All Meditation
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This app is useful for personal guidance with meditation and provides multiple meditation programs for different purposes. Some features are available for free, however to unlock the whole Headspace library, you must pay for a subscription to their app, which has a monthly fee between $12.50 and $19.99 (AUD). They offer programs for all aspects of life, including daily practise, personal growth and sleep.
Age level: All
Type: Application
Topic: Meditation
Useful for: All Meditation
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Insight timer is an app that allows you to be entirely in control of your meditation practice. This app has multiple functions and ways to meditate. As well as having guided meditations, this app allows you to set timers for meditation along with background music to create a peaceful atmosphere. You can also connect to the community of people who are meditating along with you. There are courses on the app that have a fee for access. However, many other features will keep you meditating and are available for free.
Mindful Breathing Meditation by Stop, Breathe and Think
Age level: Middle Primary and above
Type: Video
Topic: Mindful Breathing
Useful for: Meditation Break
Time: 5.22 minutes
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This video is a quick and straightforward guided meditation that can be done to help take some time to focus on your breath. It is a powerful tool for relaxation and re-focusing. It can be used as a brain break or as a meditation break between lessons or during some free time.
The Power of Mindfulness: What You Practice Grows Stronger TED Talk by Shauna Shapiro
Age level: Upper Primary and above
Type: Video
Topic: Mindfulness
Useful for: Learning about Mindfulness and its uses
Time: 13.46
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Shauna Sapiro encourages us to understand that Mindfulness can be used to change and transform. She illustrates the difficulty of meditation and covers what Mindfulness is. Throughout the talk Sauna gives simple examples of Mindfulness that can be used by all.
She shares some critical data about meditation and Mindfulness and mentions that attention, learning and compassion are stronger in those who meditate.
Shauna discusses that Mindfulness is about how we pay attention and that we are always practising and growing something moment by moment. She encourages us to question “Whom do you want to be? and What do you want to foster in your life?” Through this, she mentions that Mindfulness is not just about attention but kind attention and discusses how Mindfulness and meditation can be helpful for those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She highlights that we can choose to change and covers the importance of self-love and growing better habits. Transformation is possible for all of us.
Mindfulness for Health by Vidyamala Burch and Danny Penman
Age level: High School and above
Type: Book
Topic: Mindfulness for Chronic Pain
Good for: Personal Learning
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Danny Penman has joined with Vidyamala Burch to provide another 8-week mindfulness course. This course is centred around helping those who are struggling with chronic pain to use mindfulness to help with pain management and getting their life back. However, the same practices can be applied to everyone to help bring mindfulness into their lives and a better understanding of self. This course focuses on implementing small activities and 10 minutes of meditation two times a day and gives real-life experiences and evidence as to how these practices work. They provide information on how to pace better during your day so that you can work within your limits in order not to burn out and how mindfulness works to create a better quality of life.
Bite-sized Mindfulness: An Easy Way for Kids to be Happy and Healthy TED Talk by Kira Willey
Age level: Teacher and Parent Resource
Type: Video
Topic: Mindfulness for Kids
Good for: Teachers
Time: 14.07 minutes
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Kira Willey discusses the importance of short, bite-sized mindfulness techniques that can help students to be more focused. She talks about the benefits of Mindfulness for students, that they have limited downtime to be and that Mindfulness and Meditation teach them valuable skills.
She shares data on students in the US and mental health disorders, stating that the highest mental illness is anxiety with children as young as six years old suffering.
Kira brings to attention that when students have these issues, they are not ready to learn, and there is a negative effect of this not being managed. There are academic gains of Mindfulness, and she gives examples of some short, kid-friendly activities.
Kira states the importance of consistent practice and shares the science around deep breathing which can positively impact on students' self-regulation.
Mindful Minute: Quick Mindfulness Meditation Exercise for Kids by Go Zen!
Age level: All
Type: Video
Topic: Mindfulness
Useful for: Mindfulness Break
Time: 1.17 minutes
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The video starts with writing on the screen so, for JP students, a teacher may need to assist with reading it off the screen for them as it gives some simple instructions quickly.
This exercise is a quick and easy one that can be implemented in any classroom and eventually students can carry out this activity without the video. It is a simple, one-minute exercise that allows students to slow down and listen to the sound while slowing their breathing for one minute.
Self Transformation Through Mindfulness TED Talk by Dr David Vago
Age level: High School and above
Type: Video
Topic: Mindfulness and the brain
Good for: Informational and Scientific understanding of Mindfulness
Time: 19.35 minutes
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This TED talk by Dr David Vago provides scientific information about the brain and discusses Activity-Dependent Plasticity. He explains that mental training and meditation can positively change habits using Mindful Awareness.
He discusses the idea that self-experience has led to today and thoughts of today lead to tomorrow and that we become what we think through our experience.
Throughout the video, he discusses the construction of self-identity through our moments and our brain filters what is important subconsciously and adds to our self-awareness. Our inferences and predictions shape our behaviour and then we evaluate what is happening. This process creates mental habits and also causes us to colour memories of the past and the way that we view the future.
Awareness of mental habits and where our attention allows emotions to pass without the impulse to act, this is sensory awareness. Dr Vago believes that this is achievable using Meditation and Mindfulness.
Body Scan Meditation
Age level: Upper Primary / High School
Type: Meditation
Topic: Body Scan
Useful for: Relaxation
Time: 15 minutes
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This guided meditation is suited to upper primary students who have had some experience meditating or high school students. It is useful for helping students to relax their body and focus on each part which can give them better insight into themselves and their feelings. It can be great to de-stress, refocus and connect with self.
Age level: High School / Adult
Type: Book
Topic: Mindfulness for life
Useful for: Relaxation
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Mark Williams and Danny Penman have created an 8-week program to help introduce Mindfulness to your life with practical activities to integrate Mindfulness into your life and a CD of meditations to make it easy. You can tailor the program to your needs and can take as much or as little time to complete it. They also provide essential information about the effects of Mindfulness and the positive changes that it can have.
Practicing Mindfulness: Helping Your Child Relax
Age level: Parent resource
Type: Video
Topic: Mindfulness
Useful for: Giving parents an understanding of Mindfulness
Time: 2 minutes
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This video is a quick and effective way to support parents with implementing Mindfulness. Dr Lisa Ryan, a paediatrician, gives information about what Mindfulness is and some strategies that parents can use at home with kids from a young age. She also provides a brief understanding of the benefits of these practices.