The roots of mindfulness can be traced back to the Buddhist tradition and the best way of teaching, learning, and practicing mindfulness is through different meditation exercises. However, mindfulness is not the same as meditation or relaxation. The goal of mindfulness is to become increasingly aware of the current moment. The objective of mindfulness meditation is acquiring awareness or consciousness of the external and internal stimuli (which are always in a state of flux) through observation.
If you practice mindfulness yourself, it will be easier for you to teach your students mindfulness effectively. You should choose a particular time for practicing mindfulness and turn it into a habit for your students. The time after lunch break or recess is the best time for asking students to practice mindfulness. Doing this helps the students settle down. Mindfulness should be practiced by all students in the class together, preferably several times a day.
The students should firstly be clearly reminded that a special time in the day is set apart exclusively for practicing mindfulness. Ask your students to clear off their desks and turn all the chairs in front and focus on their breath for 5 to 10 minutes and observe their emotions and thoughts. Request them not to move around, disturb others or take toilet breaks. A rotation schedule will help students to get involved and initiate the practice by turns.
Recount your own experiences in the classroom after a mindfulness session to help students connect with you and open up. You can start by retelling an incident when you were overwhelmed with emotion and how you used mindfulness to effectively tackle those emotions. Put special emphasis on how you applied the mindfulness. Your students will readily respond by sharing their own experiences or what they might have noticed during mindfulness practices. By sharing their stories of distractions and challenges, they will raise their own awareness of problems that can creep up during mindfulness practice.