“Teaching meditation to middle schoolers is the toughest job I’ve ever loved” – Jeff Goin
Next month, Lotus Center will successfully complete its third year of Meditation in Public Schools (“MIPS”) at Aldo Leopold Charter School.
Lotus’ executive director, Jeff Goin, the lead teacher of MIPS at Aldo, says that it took some time for him to get the hang of working with middle schoolers.
“Not only is this the first time I’ve taught meditation to children, it’s the first time I’ve led a class of people, regardless of age, who weren’t there necessarily by their own choosing,” Jeff says. “It really took some creativity to keep them engaged.“
Through trial and error – and advice from a few parents – Jeff developed a format that resonates with the children:
* Inviting one of the children to “ring in” the start of the session with a meditation bell.
* Settling into a comfortable meditation posture (known as the Mountain Pose, “balanced, grounded, and stable”).
* Focusing on the flame of a candle. From Jeff: “I found that it was too much to expect the kids to go from their between-class break straight into a traditional meditation. They needed an object of meditation that was easier to focus on . . . and that’s the candle flame.”
* Transition from focusing on the candle flame to a more traditional meditation on the breath.
* A class discussion based on a story. From Jeff: “Both kids and adults love stories. After meditation, I tell a brief story – one that has a moral or two – and ask them what they think about it. I’ve found that young people really respond to being asked for their opinions about some of life’s questions.”
* Close the session by inviting one of the kids to “ring out” the class.
Jeff says that while it can be difficult to get a read on how the children feel about meditation, their teachers are more candid.
“Most kiddos aren’t going to share what they think about meditation with a geezer like
me,” says Jeff. “But a number of the Aldo teachers have told me that they see a difference in the children’s dispositions. Teachers tell me that, in general, the students – not all, of course, but many – are calmer and more attentive, less agitated.”
Your support of Lotus Center through Give Grandly will help enable us to continue to offer MIPS at no cost to Aldo Leopold Charter School, or the students. To make a donation, please visit www.GiveGrandly.org.
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