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Training the Mind: A Case for Mindfulness-based
Interventions & Learning Disabilities
Sarah Kinsley (BA (Hons.), BE.d., ME.d. (Couns. Psych.)
Warm Welcome
Warm Welcome
Sarah Kinsley Sarah Kinsley (BA (Hons.), BEd (Primary), MEd
(Counselling Psych.) is the coordinator of the Embodied Mind stream in the Certificate of Applied Mindfulness Meditation the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. Sarah is trained in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy and is a facilitator at Mindfulness Without Borders and Outward Bound Canada. She has been a Primary School teacher and a Special Education Resource Teacher (SERT). Sarah enjoys sharing Trauma-Sensitive Yoga with students and Yoga teachers in Canada and abroad. She is very grateful to enjoy her life work!
Learning Outcomes Participants will learn the basic tenets of
Mindfulness and Mindfulness Meditation
Participants will learn and practice various Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs)
Participants will learn about research in the field of Mindfulness Mediation and Learning Disabilities
Participants will have the opportunity to pause!
Mindful Listening Practice
“Mindfulness
is the awareness that emerges
through paying attention on purpose,
in the present moment, and non-judgmentally
to the unfolding of experience moment by moment.”
(Kabat-Zinn 2003, p. 144)
Forms of Mindful Meditation Practices
Formal Practice
Informal Practice
Three approaches to bringing mindfulness into various
settings:
1. Direct Approach
2. Indirect Approach
3. A combination of direct and indirect approaches
Principles of Mindfulness Mindfulness is deliberately paying
attention, non-judgmentally
Mindfulness encompasses both internal processes and external environments
Mindfulness is being aware of what is present for you mentally, emotionally and physically in each moment
With practice, mindfulness cultivates the possibility of freeing yourself of reactive, habitual patterns of thinking, feeling and acting
Mindfulness promotes balance, choice, wisdom and acceptance of what is
(Center for Mindful Eating, 2014)
Mind the Gap…
3 Minute Breathing Space + Sound
A = Awareness (Thoughts, Emotions, Body Sensations)
G = Gather attention to sensations of breathing in belly
E = Expand awareness to whole body
Dyad Debrief of Breathing Space
Three Layers of Inquiry:
1. What did you notice?
2. How is this way of attending different than how you usually attend?
3. How could this be helpful?
When eating, just eat…
Mindful Movement
Mindfulness Training develops:
Increased attention
Increased executive function (working memory, planning, organization, and impulse control)
Decreased ADHD behaviors—specifically hyperactivity and impulsivity
Fewer conduct and anger management problems
Increased social skills and social compliance
Increased care for others
Decreased negative affect or emotions
Decreased anxiety
Decreased depression
Increased sense of calmness, relaxation, and self-acceptance
Increased self-esteem
Increased quality of sleep
Increased emotional regulation
Increased self-calming (Association of Mindfulness in Education, 2015)
What research has to say: Bogels et al (2008) evaluated the impact of mindfulness on
a group of adolescents diagnosed with attention and behaviour-control deficits. They reported significant increases in personal goals, sustained attention, happiness and mindful awareness; changes that were ratified by their parents.
Biegel et al (2009) studied the effects of a modified 8 week MBSR course for 4 to 18 year olds with a wide range of diagnoses. When compared with a control group, the young people who received MBSR self-reported significantly reduced symptoms of anxiety, depression, and somatic distress, global assessment of functioning and increased self-esteem and sleep quality.
Zylowska (2008) reported the results of a pilot study of 8 adolescents diagnosed with ADHD who took part in a mindfulness course and showed improvements on tasks measuring attention and cognitive inhibition, and in externally observed and self reported anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Beauchemin, Hutchins, Patterson (2013) study examined the feasibility of, attitudes toward, and outcomes of a 5-week mindfulness meditation intervention administered to 34 adolescents diagnosed with LD.
Post intervention survey responses overwhelmingly expressed positive attitudes toward the program. All outcome measures showed significant improvement, with participants who completed the program demonstrating decreased state and trait anxiety, enhanced social skills, and improved academic performance.
Although not directly assessed, the outcomes are consistent with a cognitive-interference model of learning disability and suggest that mindfulness meditation decreases anxiety and detrimental self-focus of attention, which, in turn, promotes social skills and academic outcomes.
Jillian Haydicky (2010) evaluated the impact of a 20-week mindfulness training program on executive function, internalizing and externalizing behaviour, and social skills in a clinical sample of adolescent boys with learning disabilities (LD).
Compared to the WL group, MMA participants with co-occurring ADHD improved on parent-rated externalizing behaviour, oppositional defiant problems, and conduct problems.
Mindfulness for Stress Management
Just Breathe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVA2N6tX2cg&feature=youtu.be
“You can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf.”
–Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn
Social and Emotional Core Competencies
1. Self-Awareness
2. Responsible Decision Making
3. Relationship Skills
4. Social Awareness
5. Self-Management
Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
Q & R
Resources Mindful Magazine
Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
Heart Mind organization (online)
The Whole-Brain Child - Dr. D. Siegel
Integrating Mindfulness Training into K-12 Education
Each other!
Resources The Mindful Child - Susan Kaiser Greenland
The Way of Mindful Education - D. Rechtschaffen
Yoga in Your Schools (books and website)
Sitting Still like a Frog - Eline Snel
Mindful Parent. Happy Child - P. Placone
Any book by Thich Nhat Hanh
Evoke Learning ([email protected])
Mindfulness Toronto
Centre for Mindfulness Studies
Certificate in Applied Mindfulness Studies at University of Toronto (AMM-MIND)
Discover Mindfulness
Mindfulness in Schools Project/ .b (United Kingdom)
The Association for Mindfulness in Education
Mindful Families-Sarah Marlowe
Sarah Kinsley: [email protected]
Contemplative
Education Applications Mindfulness Without Borders (MWB)
MindUPTM
Wake Up Schools
Learning to BREATHE
SMART in Education
Mindful Schools
Mindful Nourishment Prepare and Share a meal together
Check in with how hungry you are before the meal on a scale from one to ten (ten being really hungry)
Take time to say thank you for the food
Take 3 mindful breaths before you begin eating (or 1!)
Turn of electrical devices and eat at a table
Take your time and enjoy each bite
Swallow and notice how you feel after each bite
Talk to each other about what you observe
Repeat until you begin to feel full (2/3 full)
(Some information from Sara Marlowe: www.mindfulfamilies.ca)
Mindfulness in Nature
Planting Lettuce by
Thich Nhat Hanh
Thank you! Go Gently
