Earlier quoted context omitted.
"But once they start looking at adults" I suspect one of the biggest sources of misery for a lot of kids are other kids.
Certainly for me it was, compounded by adults not taking this seriously (and a certain amount of screwy brain chemistry.) If your parent is a teacher at the same school, your school life is going to be A+ miserable.
Schools in England Introduce a New Subject: Mindfulness
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Re: Schools in England Introduce a New Subject: Mindfulness
#42>“Children will start to be introduced gradually to issues around mental health, well-being and happiness right from the start of primary school,” he added. Why wouldn't adults just solve their mental problems instead of introducing them to children? Children have no problems with happiness or well-being. It's us who should learn from them. big facepalm
Re: Schools in England Introduce a New Subject: Mindfulness
#43I really struggle with the term "mindfulness" as it seems it can mean anything and everything, depending on who you ask. We had some Mindfulness workshops at a previous employer and it was so full of woo and magical thinking that it really turned me off and felt like a huge waste of time. My current company also recently introduced a Mindfulness workshop only this time it was really a basic meditation workshop which…
I find it extremely weird for companies to offer these things. The only reason they'd do it is to boost their own productivity / margin / whatever. As in "be healthy because we need your ass on that chair and your brain working on our problems".
There is already a thin enough line between personal and professional life.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/31/mindfu...
Re: Schools in England Introduce a New Subject: Mindfulness
#44For adults, if one thinks that they are already super happy and self-realised, it still makes sense to try out the techniques of mindfulness just with a consideration that they "could" be even more so. They "could" be missing an entirely different dimension.
Personal experience: Up till the age of 21, I was enjoying my life, doing well, fooling myself that I am the happiest I can be. That's when I took this course in IIT Madras called Self Awareness [1]. I had taken it because people said they always give good grades. The course caused a massive self-discovery for me. It was all and all about mindfulness. The teachings were mainly from the books: `Siddhartha` [2], `The power of now` [3] and `Stop sleep walking through life` [4]. They introduced us to relaxing exercises, meditation and breathing techniques along with some ideas to watch yourself while you are getting emotionally vulnerable. Briefly, the course was about being conscious of your existence, about feeling one with the present and about figuring yourself out for real. It has been 4 years since and I can clearly see that I am a different person, I have much less fights, I am rarely depressed, I handle criticism much better, I am much more productive in my work and most important of all, I have the clarity about who I am.
Sucks to think that I wouldn't have known (never mind achieved) all this if it weren't for a mindfulness course. Props to the schools in England for this initiative.
[1] https://courses.iitm.ac.in/course/info.php?id=849 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddhartha_(novel) [3] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6708.The_Power_of_Now [4] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/258519.Stop_Sleep_Walkin...
Re: Schools in England Introduce a New Subject: Mindfulness
#45- Marshall B. Rosenberg, "Non-Violent Communication" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/560861.Non_Violent_Commu...
Moreover, it may change the society (so its benefits don't stop at an individual level) - as a lot of problems stem from conflicts that escalate step by step.
Re: Schools in England Introduce a New Subject: Mindfulness
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have it ever occurred to you that adults have mental problems because they didn't learn to manage it as children and young adults? Besides, depression and anxiety is surprisingly common among children.
>Besides, depression and anxiety is surprisingly common among children. Whom do you think they learned this from? Trees or cats?
Re: Schools in England Introduce a New Subject: Mindfulness
#47I'm always puzzled with the fact that people search for surrogate solutions instead of pursuing the real issue. If you don't feel well there is so much you can do. Make serious effort in making friends, join a sports club or something else you like, solve long running conflicts with other people, don't over- or under achieve on a level which doesn't fit you (school/work), be proud with the things you accomplish inste…
I agree problems need to be tackled at the source, but some self-help books may help you deal with the problem. 12 Rules for Life is one such book.
Unfortunately I see people around me who drown in the therapy/self-help circuit. A lot of money is involved, and they keep running in circles. It seems to become a self fulfilling prophecy.
If you spend to much time reflecting on your life, it becomes part of your life which prevents you from really living. Before saying anymore clichés I'll stop, and go do something :)
Re: Schools in England Introduce a New Subject: Mindfulness
#48I really struggle with the term "mindfulness" as it seems it can mean anything and everything, depending on who you ask. We had some Mindfulness workshops at a previous employer and it was so full of woo and magical thinking that it really turned me off and felt like a huge waste of time. My current company also recently introduced a Mindfulness workshop only this time it was really a basic meditation workshop which…
Sounds like you had a bad workshop the first time round. Mindfulness should be rational, scientific and entirely free of woo or magical thinking.
Re: Schools in England Introduce a New Subject: Mindfulness
#49My five year-old son now talks about his mind in the third person as a result of this. I'm having to retrain him with responsibility for his own actions. Lovely idea and all but having untrained people teaching psychological practices to reception-grade children seems rather foolhardy to me.
Re: Schools in England Introduce a New Subject: Mindfulness
#50Probably for the best they're starting younger these days. They might find real buy-in from actual children.