Week 10- Independent Research Notes
Week 10: Independent Research
Focus: Resources from the Greater Good Science Center
Article: “How Meditation Can be More Sensitive to Trauma” (By Marianne Spoon).
Mushim Ikeda- Buddhist teacher and writer who leads meditation sessions and community engagement in Oakland, California.
Ikeda also leads in meditation retreats for women, people of color, and social justice activists.
“Ikeda shares how mindfulness meditation can be both inclusive and exclusive, both healing and traumatizing—all depending on people’s lived experiences and how they’re met with care during meditation practice or in their community” (Spoon).
How people’s identities and experiences in life affect their well-being and meditation practices:
- Ikeda focuses on discussing mindfulness meditation which is the equivalent of insight meditation and vipassana meditation in the Buddhist tradition.
- “The specific technique of mindfulness meditation is a thoroughly embodied practice. And by that, I mean that we understand that mind and body are not binary. Often, this practice is learned by the directed activity of another human being (a teacher), and therefore in terms of diversity, the instructional language that is used is very important if someone is starting out” (Ikeda).
- “As we know, because we live in a society where there are structural and institutionalized forms of prejudice, some people’s access to education and access to medical care can be limited. Then there is more structural inequity that is also structural violence. This is especially true for people who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) or identify as LGBTQIA, or people with disabilities and illness, or people who are neurodivergent. Huge portions of our society fall into groups who are targeted in structural discrimination, where their basic human rights and basic needs as human beings are not met equally” (Ikeda).
- For instructors, being ignorant of these inequalities, injustices, and traumas, their methods of teaching can be insensitive or harmful.
What taking trauma into account looks like when leading a meditation:
- Using “Trauma-informed” or “disability-justice-informed" language when instructing: “They are based on the idea that the very words we use and the way the teacher delivers actual words—tone of voice, spacing, special attention to actual words—matter” (Ikeda).
- “Now do this” / “Now do that” may not be suitable for all. “People with trauma find it difficult or impossible to learn if they feel they are commanded with no choice or agency. That is why the instructions and variations of what is being told to them are important” (Ikeda).
- Being sensitive to the focus of breath- some have experience trauma where they have been unable to breathe/ their air supply has been cut off. Asking participants to become hyperaware of their breathe may induce trauma.
- What to do instead: Use invitational language such as “if this is accessible to you” or “if this is available to you” or “you might try both and see which feels safer or more comfortable”.
Article: “Research Round-Up: Mindfulness in Schools” (Emily Campbell).
Black, D. S. & Fernando, R. (2013). Mindfulness training and classroom behavior among lower-income and ethnic minority elementary school children. Journal of Child and Family Studies. Published online in advance of print.
What they studied: a five-week mindfulness curriculum (three times per week) with 400 low-income, ethnic-minority elementary students. Practices focus on attention, empathy, and self-awareness, reduce stress, and improving self-control.
Findings: Student behavior improvements in four areas (attention, self-control, participation, and respect for others)- maintained for seven weeks.
“Though this study is limited by the lack of a true control group—i.e., the researchers don’t know whether other students at the school might have shown the same improvements, even without the Mindful Schools training—it is one of the largest studies of a school-based mindfulness program to date. Its findings have exciting implications for the potential of mindfulness training to benefit underserved elementary school students” (Campbell).
Klatt, M., et al. (2013). Feasibility and preliminary outcomes for Move-into-Learning: An arts-based mindfulness classroom intervention. Journal of Positive Psychology, 8(3), 233-241.
What they studied: Move into Learning Program (MIL), 8-week mindfulness-based program, low-income urban elementary school, weekly 45 min program including mindfulness meditation, breathing, yoga, and self-expression through arts. The classroom teacher led brief daily practices in addition.
Findings: after 8 weeks teachers observed less hyperactive behavior, inattentiveness, and ADHD symptoms. Attentiveness continued after the program. Teachers found the program feasible, productive, attainable, and enjoyable. The program produced positive results for student's behavior and attendance.
Article: “How SEL and Mindfulness Can Work Together” (Linda Lantieri and Victor Zakrzewski).
SEL and mindfulness are two separate ideas, however, they work best together as a unit.
“But how can they be integrated? The answer is that one works from the outside-in—and the other works from the inside-out. When the two come together in the mind of a student, the effect can be powerful”.
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