Low-Key Mindfulness Exercises

            “Starting classroom lessons or individual counseling sessions with a brief mindfulness practice helps students reset and prepare for learning,” say Michaela Avila and Danielle Maida in this article in ASCA School Counselor. “At its core, mindfulness helps students strengthen attention and self-regulation – the very skills that drive success inside and outside the classroom.”

            Here’s how a teacher might introduce mindfulness as a voluntary beginning-of-class exercise with students – or for themselves before launching into another school day:

• Notice your feet grounded on the floor, your hands resting.
• Your body and mind settling gently into the here and now.
• Inhale slowly, exhale fully.
• Repeat for five breaths. 

Cognitive scientists have shown that this simple process has a remarkable effect on focus and learning – as described in this widely viewed 60 Minutes segment with Anderson Cooper.

            The language used to describe mindfulness is important, say Avila and Maida. Avoid terms like yoga, meditation, breathing Buddhas, and namaste, and mention that many professional athletes, actors, and musicians use mindfulness as they prepare for performances. 

 “Mindfulness Mondays and Beyond” by Michaela Avila and Danielle Maida in ASCA School Counselor, November-December 2025 (Vol. 63, #2, pp. 34-37); the authors can be reached at michaelanavila@gmail.com and dmaida20@forsyth.k12.ga.us.

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #1118 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.