Exhausted? Stressed? These 5 Simple Habits Will Change Your Teaching (and Your Life!)
We probably don’t need to tell you that stress is a serious issue! Chat with nearly any teacher, and they’ll tell you that, despite the good aspects of their jobs, there is quite a list of stressors and things that can take a toll on their wellbeing and mental health. Educator stress is such a […]
Deep Roots, Strong Branches: Nurturing Resilient Learners
Everyone wants to help the kids in their life be resilient. But what are the practical things we can actually do to encourage strategies that can help young people cope with stress, handle disappointment, and develop a growth mindset? We’ve rounded up some of the best tips and tricks from contemporary research studies, and a […]
Supporting children to sleep better is an important part of mind health – Grant Rix
Many of us are not getting enough sleep. Our friends at Southern Cross looked into it in their Healthy Futures 2024 Report and found that 56% of New Zealanders surveyed are sleep deprived. In fact, they are getting less sleep than they were two years ago, with the average number of hours we sleep every […]
The power of “yet” and “and”
As educators and parents, we want our children and young people to adopt a growth mindset. “Growth mindset” is a term coined by psychologist Carol Dweck, and it refers to a set of underlying beliefs about learning, success, and ability that view setbacks and mistakes as opportunities to learn, not a sign that you’ll always be […]
Smartphones are stressing out our children, but could they also support better mental health – Grant Rix.
For our children and teens, managing social media is like trying to take a sip of water from a fire hose. It’s relentless, overwhelming and unmanageable. It’s no wonder that a survey released in August shows that we’re more worried about the effects of social media than we’ve ever been. The Healthy Futures 2024 Report […]
Introducing Whaiwāhi Mauri Tau, by Pause Breathe Smile
Pause Breathe Smile is a mind health programme for children and is being delivered to over 140,000 children across Aotearoa. This year, for the very first time, it will be offered to kura and Māori medium schools in Te Reo Māori. This programme is called Whaiwāhi Mauri Tau. Tā Whaiwāhi Mauri Tau he kaupapa hauora […]
Pause Breathe Smile: The Musical
Without a doubt, one of the most exciting, inspiring, toe-tapping, fun things a Pause Breathe Smile school has ever done is make mindfulness into a musical! And not just any musical—one performed by the entire school community, with stars, back-up dancers, hundreds of costumes, ten distinct scenes, a live 6-piece band, a thousand people in […]
Sir Ashley Bloomfield officially joins with Southern Cross to promote good mental health and wellbeing for our tamariki
Sir Ashley in a new partnership with the Southern Cross group, designed to help young New Zealanders thrive through promotion of the Pause Breathe Smile mindfulness programme Southern Cross fully funds the Pause Breathe Smile programme to ensure it is available free to all kura, primary and intermediate schools in Aotearoa Pause Breathe Smile […]
Thankful for My Hands and Feet by Janel Atlas
I have a confession. You know the little mindfulness practice titled “Thankful for My Hands and Feet”? It appears in the Pause Breathe Smile programme curriculum in Lesson 2; it guides children to think of their hands and their feet and all the things those parts of their bodies help them to do. The script […]
Pause Breathe Smile has now reached over 100 thousand Kiwi Kids!
I am very pleased to announce that Pause Breathe Smile has now reached over 100 thousand Kiwi Kids! It’s a massive milestone. That’s about 1 in 5 tamariki aged 5 to 12 equipped with mind health skills. It’s exciting and incredible to have made it possible for so many young New Zealanders to learn mindfulness […]
It’s a Wrap on Whakawhiti Kōrero!
It was a brilliant year for having smart, kind, and generous mindfulness teachers along on our six Whakawhiti Kōrero Sessions on Zoom! More than 700 views over and above those in attendance means that lots of people heard from Sara Gaertner, Rebecca Lock, Sarah Hearn, Gavin Hughes, Deb Barclay, Grant Rix, Viv Mallabar and Laura […]
Pause Breathe Smile trainings for Kura Kauapapa Māori and Māori Immersion Settings
Pause Breathe Smile has always been deeply rooted in Aotearoa’s bicultural identity, but this year we’ve taken some big steps toward ensuring that it is fully accessible for kaiako and ākonga who teach and learn in Māori immersion settings. Within the pilot phase, we’ve developed a whole new suite of te reo resources, including an […]
Creating Positive Change for Tamariki
Parents say they are worried about their children’s mental health. There is a mind health programme available free to all junior schools. Independent research shows mind health programme Pause Breathe Smile is delivering real results for tamariki Marked improvement in focus, perseverance, helpfulness and self-motivation Marked decline in apprehension, anxiety and pessimism With 63[1] per […]
Whole School Approach
Pause Breathe Smile is a mind health programme designed to equip children aged five to 12 with tools to manage the ups and downs of life and set them up for a healthy future. Delivered in schools, by teachers, it is aligned with the New Zealand curriculum and fully funded by Southern Cross. More than […]
Breathing with Fatigue: The Impacts of Covid on New Zealand Teachers and how mindfulness can help
Ask any teacher about wellbeing over the last few years and chances are, they’ll quickly describe the many challenges their learners face: disrupted routines, anxiety about Covid, decreased social interactions, and negative impacts on learning outcomes. But what about teacher wellbeing? It’s impossible to separate student wellbeing from teacher wellbeing because schools are communities, and […]
Mindfulness and Teacher Wellbeing
Teaching is a complex and demanding job involving many unique pressures and challenges. Although there are, no doubt, many rewarding and inspiring features associated with teaching, such demands and pressures also have the potential to cause significant stress. As we know, high levels of ongoing stress can be detrimental to wellbeing, and if left unaddressed […]
Working with Pause Breathe Smile – A teacher’s perspective
Rebecca Lock works with the Horowhenua Kāhui Ako as an across schoolteacher. She has been delivering the Pause Breathe Smile wellbeing programme since 2019 and did an inquiry into the impact on the students that same year. We’ve asked Rebecca to share her thoughts on the training and delivery of this programme to help inform others. “I […]
Mindful Eating
Mindful eating is one of the core practices of Pause Breathe Smile. When we eat mindfully, we bring all of our noticing to this everyday activity, intentionally paying attention to the many moment-to-moment sensations, thoughts, and emotions that are part of the eating experience. The practice of mindful eating is a way to bring awareness […]
Gratitude Practice
Gratitude practice is a core component of the Pause Breathe Smile programme. Practising gratitude regularly helps us to more frequently notice and feel appreciative of the everyday things in life, including things that we may take for granted, such as the sunshine, a morning coffee, or our health. Often, when times get tough, we can […]
Mindful Movements
Mindful movements are a core component of Pause Breathe Smile. Practising mindful movements simply means bringing our full, whole-hearted attention to the body as we move. The practice of “being where our feet are” creates an anchor for the wandering mind, providing the opportunity to rein in scattered attention and settle more easefully into the […]
