“Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally” (Jon Kabat Zinn).  

Mindfulness plays a large part in wellbeing. The teachers at St Joseph's have adopted the idea of 5 plus 5. This means the teachers will at some time during the day, practise 5 minutes of mindfulness with the students.

Did you know: 

• Research shows that mindfulness training increases connectivity in the frontal lobe of the brain, which is linked to improved attention, memory processing and decision making

• Mindfulness training involves tuning in to internal and external experiences with curiosity resulting in increased self-awareness, social awareness and self-confidence

• Mindfulness training increases children’s ability to self-regulate their emotions, especially difficult emotions such as fear and anger, through breathing and other grounding techniques

• Mindfulness has been shown to improve empathy or the ability to understand what another person is thinking or feeling, which improves children’s awareness of others and helps them to build positive relationships.

Some simple mindful activities you can do with your children 

• Mindful dinnertime: Create a time for your family to appreciate and savour their food at the start of a meal by spending the first few minutes of dinner in silence, just eating and enjoying the food. It’s a surprisingly nice activity to do with the whole family, and done regularly, can become a lovely ritual.

• Mindful teeth brushing: Getting kids to brush their teeth can be a challenge, so why not make it a challenge, by inviting them to try to do it mindfully with you? Invite them to pay attention to the feel of the brush in their mouth and the sensation and taste of the toothpaste. Ask them three things they noticed that was different about their brushing tonight than from the previous night.