Abstract
Complexity of the modern era has led to increased difficulties of people, especially the youth. Living in the current stressful, uncertain, and highly stimulating technological era is not very easy for the young ones. Hence, there is an urgency to teach skills of stress management and resilience among children through mindfulness-based practices. This change in the present scenario has attracted the attention and interest of psychologists and educationists to the practice of mindfulness-based interventions with children and adolescents for enhancing their overall well-being. The last few years have observed a growing number of research and applications of mindfulness in educational settings because of its effectiveness and the urgent need of prevention and interventions of the youths' problems. In this chapter, the author has discussed research supporting the idea of mindfulness in education for both students and teachers and its usage to increase the academic performance, enhance overall wellbeing, and reduce the stress level of youth.
TopUnderstanding Mindfulness
The word “mindfulness” has its origin into word ‘sati’ of Pali language, which translates it into having awareness, paying attention, and being able to remember (Bodhi, 2000). The eastern meditative practices have a strong notion of mindfulness particularly in Buddhism which is used as one of the essential meditative technique. Mindfulness training is given to increase the individual’s awareness, be attentive to present moment and to observe his thoughts and experiences without reacting or being judgemental about them.
There are number of definitions given by different researchers keeping the base of mindfulness described in eastern meditative practices. Some of them are contemplated here. Mindfulness is defined as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 4). This definition has given the importance to three aspects of mindfulness which are intention, attention, and attitude (Shapiro et al., 2006). It is also reiterated as “nonjudgmental observation of the ongoing stream of internal and external stimuli as they arise” (Baer, 2003, p. 125), as “moment-by-moment awareness” (Germer et al., 2005, p. 6) or as “a state of psychological freedom that occurs when attention remains quiet and limber, without attachment to any particular point of view” (Martin, 1997, p. 291). Mindfulness comprises of two components: self-regulating attention and adopting an open and accepting one’s experiences (Bishop et al., 2004), being conscious to one’s present experience (Brown & Ryan, 2003; Shapiro et al., 2006).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Non-Judgmental: Respecting and accepting the other person without making judgments of being right or wrong.
Non-Reactive: A person who responds to situation after contemplation and not act automatically or without thinking.
Attention: A process of paying focus or taking notice of something or someone.
Mindfulness: Paying attention to things and accepting as they are and not how we expect them to be.
Intention: A mental state of dedication to take an action in present or future to achieve one’s aim or plan.
Implementation: The process of executing a decision or plan or a programme into an action.
Attitude: A particular way of perceiving, thinking, or feeling about something or someone.