By Ray Freeman
Coaches and teachers were among the 135 delegates who flocked to a conference on mindfulness in schools on 30 September in Tonbridge.
Mark Williams, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Oxford, gave a whistle-stop tour of the physiological and neurological aspects of mindfulness and how it can help people avoid depression and anxiety, for example, moving from conceptual to direct experience, judging to letting be, and to seeing thoughts as mental events rather than real.
Professor Felicia Huppert, director of the Well-being Institute at the University of Cambridge, explained the role of mindfulness in the enhancement of well-being. She said flourishing people are socially well-connected and value loyalty and creativity, whereas non-flourishing people are more inclined to value money, status, security and traditional religious values.
She said that thoughts and behaviour influence the structure and functions of the brain. She highlighted five parts to well-being: connect, be active, take notice, keep learning and give, all of which are underpinned by mindfulness.
Increased confidence, ability to cope with change, a more positive outlook, improved sleeping patterns and lessening of pre-examination nerves were among the benefits reported first-hand by pupils from schools including Tonbridge School, St Paul’s Girls’ School in London and King Alfred’s College in Oxford.
The pupils championed the eight-week ‘.b’ mindfulness course developed by the Mindfulness in Schools Project, which is being rolled out in some secondary schools in the UK and overseas.
Ray Freeman is a teacher, coach and mindfulness practitioner raypfree@gmail.com
See “The Dharma School comes home”, Mandala magazine http://bit.ly/nX1lW4
Coaching at Work, Volume 6, Issue 6