On a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Calm.com here, talking about our beginning interaction with mindfulness and what I’m expecting going forward.

#growingandlearning

My principal is a logical man, and when given information in sensible manner, will listen, and make his decisions on that information, not emotion. If the information is given in an emotional manner, it will be listened to, but not too much more.

I keep waiting for him to come into my classroom to see my students breathing and finding their calm. I keep waiting for him to ask, “Where’s the research?”

#Ihavetheresearch

First, from MIT, I have a great article that talks about how two separate studies done with middle school student. Both studies show that students who engaged in mindfulness activities were less stressed, dealt with their stress better, and in one study, the amygdala, did not fire up as much during stressful situations in those students who were given mindfulness training

#prettycool

The next article is titled “Are you 50 and Willing to Get the Brain of a 25-Year-Old?”.

#ummmmyes

It deals with your brain and how practicing mindfulness can actually cause your brain to thicken with those areas dealing with memory, learning, and empathy!

#prettydangcool

The best part of this research, the amygdala!

Plus, the brains of the new mediators saw shrinkage of the amygdala, a region of the brain associated with fear, anxiety, and aggression. This reduction in size of the amygdala correlated to reduced stress levels in those participants.

This shows SO MUCH PROMISE with my students! If they can get into this kind of thinking, trying to find their calm in the storm of their minds, wow. So many good things, both mentally AND physically can take place!

So, we’ll be breathing tomorrow, practicing our mindfulness to get ourselves focused for the day.

And who knows, maybe we’ll make our brains work FOR us too! 🙂