Some schools around the country are introducing meditation into classrooms and staffrooms, a practice which is being shown to not only improve the physical well-being, but also academic results, of students.
Hillier Windsor, assistant principal at Waverley Primary School, told The Daily Telegraph that other schools could learn from how both students and teachers have embraced – and benefitted from – mindfulness.
“We’ve embedded its principles in the whole school practice,” Windsor said.
“We have ‘brain breaks’ every 30 minutes, where we use mindful techniques. The teachers have also done professional development in mindfulness.
“We can’t tell the children to practise it if we’re not aware of it ourselves.”
Schools such as Santa Maria College in Perth and John Colet School in Sydney have introduced meditation into their daily routine as a way of addressing the stress and anxiety that students feel, particularly as exams approach.
Rachael Fisher of the KindKids Project said mindfulness allows children to “slow down and notice what’s happening right now”.
The KindKids project draws on the leading studies of neuroscience, positive psychology and mindfulness education, to strengthen well-being, awaken resilience and empower youth with the tools to thrive in their personal and academic lives.
"I am passionate about children’s happiness and resilience,” Fisher wrote on the KindKids website.
“I am confident, based on a wealth of scientific research and thoroughly trialled methods, we can assist children to be more resilient, genuinely happy and skilful, in a world that is becoming increasingly more complex."