Mindful Bodies, Mindful Listening

Last week at Om School, children began working with the Mindful Schools workbooks.  Lesson One of this research-based curriculum introduces kids to mindful bodies and mindful listening.

We began by sitting upright and tall like a solid mountain.  Children sat like this for a moment with eyes open and then tried sitting like a mountain with eyes closed.  We noticed that it became very quiet while we sat with eyes closed.

This led us to the second part of the lesson, Mindful Listening.  To help us listen mindfully, I gave the kids the image of putting on Fox Ears.  Fox listens very deeply.  He can hear the sound of mice deep beneath the snow... and in summer, he can even hear the sound of grapes growing.  We have to be very still to listen like fox.  We also have to listen not just with our ears, but also with our heart and way down into our belly.

Next we listened with the bell.  We listened with eyes open and then with eyes closed.  When we couldn't hear the sound any more, we raised our hands.  With eyes closed, the bell seemed to sound for a very long time.

Finally, we closed our eyes and listened to the sounds outside of our classroom and inside our own bodies.  We heard the sound of the rain, an airplane going by, and some children even heard their own heart beating.

At today's class we'll explore mindful breathing.  We'll also continue to expand on the themes of mindful listening and mindful speech with folk tales, and discover what's happening on the farm.

I'm posting more photos of the children's work on our Facebook page.  Be sure to stop by and enjoy these little treasures. 

With metta,
Chelsea