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Heather Pease, Mindfulness Educator and Consultant
The idea of Mindfulness was born at Boston Hospital, and the concept has caught on and spread to include many disciplines, and now the concept is catching on in schools across the country, including in Grand Haven.
Mindfulness is about present moment awareness. When we live in the moment, we learn to respond rather than react to difficult situations. When we are mindful, we are more able to navigate our emotions.
Mindfulness: Paying attention to whatever is happening in our experience that allows us to respond rather than react. An inner quality of a stillness that is always available to us, even when the environment is chaotic and threatening.
Heather has done a PILOT in 9 different classrooms in Grand Haven. Following the training, 60% - 80% of students reported that they:
- Focused better
- Calmed down quickly when upset
- Avoided fights
- Made decisions
- Slept better
Heather gave a quick explanation of brain parts and brain function. The amygdala part of the brain helped man with extreme stress response, when faced with a dangerous situation, our amygdala tells us to FIGHT or FLEE. Modern man sometimes accesses this part of the brain when confronted with a non-harmful situation, and we overreact and cause ourselves great stress. When faced with a difficult situation, we need to access the prefrontal cortex, and work to solve the problem at hand and respond to non-lethal threats. This is "mindful" response to almost all of life's difficult moments. She helped with some breathing exercises - five breathes is ideal to bring us back into the prefrontal cortex.
We can think about where in our body we first feel stress coming on, and learn to recognize when we are becoming agitated and can then use techniques to give us the ability to deal with our challenges in a mindful way.
A coalition of community leaders, including the Hospital, Chamber, GHAPS and the Foundation are working to bring Mindfulness into the community.
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