I remember as a child lying on the dusty mat in the gymnasium at my girl's school in Sussex.
We would lie there, in silence, with our eyes closed at the end of gym session whilst the teacher gave very calm instructions. First you had to focus on the back of your head pushing it into the mat. Then you would move down to your closed eyes, neck and then shoulders. We went through this whole process along every part of our body, until we could focus on nothing else but pure relaxation. The exercises related to different kinds of our attention. Attention to our breathing, how different parts of our bodies feel, how they connected with the mat. It was moments like this that I think what we were really learning was to take a minute to find ourselves, feel where we were in space and time. No one ever had a name for this then. It was just something that teacher decided to do at the end of gym class. Was it Mindfulness?
The pace of life moves so much quicker these days. With mobiles, messaging and emails always in the palm of our hand we never truly take the time to relax away from interruptions. We are always contactable, always ‘on the go’. I often feel glad that my childhood was free from technology. That my parents weren’t endlessly stuck in their phones. I’d spend the weekend outdoors in the garden playing in the pond fishing for newts, cycling round to the local village shop or mucking out horses at the stables. I wasn’t stuck indoors playing video games (well unless you count Horace Goes Skiing on our ZX Spectrum, although it would take all afternoon to get the cassette player to load the game) or checking social media to see what my friends were up to or how gorgeous they look in their selfies.
I think it’s even more critical these days to learn to take time out from our lives, to find quiet for yourself and a place where your mind is settled. This is especially so for young people with anxiety and mental health needs. Raising a child with autism, I’ve learnt to take time for myself to find that inner peace. For me that’s again about being outdoors, walking my dogs, horse riding or hiking in the mountains. Often what we enjoy as an adult are the things that brought us happiness as a child. I’ve learnt to play calm music to help my son relax without him even realising it. Sometimes life has been so chaotic I’ve just had to develop those strategies, and in time learn to share them with my boys to help them find their inner peace. They totally get it, after all they’ve watched Kung Fu Panda and learnt from Po 'Every Master must find his path to inner peace'! They know that finding your inner peace is about relaxing, deep breathing and being in the here and now.
It really is incredibly important and by learning these stress management tools at an early age it can help children to -
Learn to control their attention, the exercises are very concrete and focus in the here and now.
Be self-aware and self-regulate, which in turn helps their executive function skills.
Become less distracted and disruptive in class.
Manage stress in an appropriate way.
Clear their pre-frontal cortex!
Regulate their emotions, by learning to observe their emotions, give them meaning and change how they respond to them.
Be learning ready, by clearing your mind and releasing your anxieties.
So, in looking at more specialist schools I wonder how they approach mindfulness with their pupils. Is it something taught in a Social Skills class? Maybe even in Occupational Therapy. I for one am certainly going to be looking out for it on timetables in the future.
You can start by downloading an app like Headspace a Guided Meditation, by Headspace Meditation Ltd or Stop, Breathe & Think by Stop, Breathe & Think PBC. I have no affiliation with either of these companies.
Summit Search specialise in helping families identify suitable schools for children with special educational needs. We work with pupils who are mainstream cognitively able, whose primary need is ASD, PDA, ADHD, Dyslexia, Speech & language, Sensory Processing and Tourette’s. Please visit us at: www.summitsearch.co.uk
Tamara King is an experienced Educational Consultant for SEN, and a parent to children with Autism (Pathological Demand Avoidance), Tourette’s, ADHD and Dyslexia. Please contact us at: info@summitsearch.co.uk.
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