Pause Breathe Smile has always considered kaiako wellbeing to be just as important as tamariki wellbeing. In fact, they are directly related!
How?
To support and encourage mindfulness in others, we need to embody and practice it ourselves. “When we show up and are fully present, that flows on to others around us,” explains Grant Rix, the co-creator of the Pause Breathe Smile programme.
This central conviction was the motivation for creating an entirely new, fresh series of brief videos directly for teachers to watch on their own time. They can be found on the Members’ Resources Pātaka section of the website under the “Personal Wellbeing”.
“These new videos distil the essential points of mindfulness and wellbeing, including the psychological and scientific roots of those connections,” says Rix. “They help unpack the universal themes of mindfulness, and teachers strengthen their personal wellbeing as well as their professional practice with their ākonga.”
With an average video watch time of just under 5 minutes, the series of videos covers topics including self-compassion, mindfulness in difficult moments, the ‘family’ of mindfulness practices, and working with distraction.
“There are many ways to practice mindfulness and to allow it to improve our focus, relationships, and personal wellbeing,” says Rix.
We practice mindful attention throughout real world situations, and these videos offer various entry points for why and how to bring greater mindfulness into everyday life.
The outcome?
Improved teacher wellbeing, which in turn supports learner hauora.
Four ways you can use the Breathe videos:
- Watch them in order, starting with Video 1 straight through. Try watching one every few days and engage with the related meditations between for integration of the themes.
- Choose a video to watch based on what’s top of mind in your life today. Ruminating or worrying? Check out Video 9, which focuses on thinking. Need some kindness? Click on Video 15, about self-compassion. Want to get some helpful information about cultivating a daily mindfulness habit? Video 6 takes up that topic.
- Match the video you are watching to the Pause Breathe Smile content you are currently using with your tamariki. The Breathe videos are not intended for classroom use with tamariki but watching them yourself will deepen and enrich your understanding, which in turn, will help you feel more confident with mindfulness and your learners.
- Start a mindfulness journal or a mindfulness note on your phone. Include a gratitude list, a log for days when you do a guided mindfulness practice, and words that describe how you feel after completing each practice. Make a couple of notes when you watch a Breathe video and note connections with other aspects of your life and your teaching.