Mindfulness in Education

Healthy Acadia has developed several mindfulness programs for individuals of all ages, including Tai Chi for Health, Tai Chi for Kidz, yoga and mindfulness in schools, resilience programming, and more. Developing mindfulness skills in children helps to address the negative impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on our students, teachers and classroom environments, supporting improved stress management, self-regulation, self-awareness, healthy connections, and success in learning. By implementing mindfulness practices in the schools, we support mental and physical health and reduce the impact of ACEs, bringing about significant lasting changes to the health and wellbeing of our communities.

Mindfulness in Education addresses the prevalence and impact of ACEs on our children and the subsequent mental health challenges our teachers and students experience daily in their classrooms. Social, emotional and behavioral challenges are increasingly more pervasive in classrooms, and teachers need tools and interventions to help them and their students to succeed. Schools have a responsibility to provide effective interventions, and mindfulness programs offer powerful and effective life long skills.

Trauma affects learning and school performance, and causes physical and emotional distress. Mindfulness can bring awareness to how the body reacts to stress and help students learn and practice ways to manage stress within their body. Stress management involves knowing what causes stress, noticing the signs of stress in the body, and how to use tools to decrease the stress response. Developing stress management skills can help children think clearly and learn healthy coping mechanisms that will benefit them not only in learning, but throughout their life.

For more information please contact Ursula Hanson at Ursula@HealthyAcadia.org.