Day 3 of Mindfulness

Image: Desert Sands 
Music
Time: 15 min. 
Notes:  

• I split a classroom with another teacher.  This teacher is conducting class normally, when my class is silent, they can hear all the conversations and lessons in the other classroom. 
• This is the week prior to midterm exams and tensions are high. 

Script:
Music is playing as students enter.
Teacher says the following:

1. Please site facing the image of the sands
2. Breath in through your nose and out through your mouth
3. Breath in 1,2,3,4,5; Breath out 1,2,3,4,5
4. Focus your eyes on the image and remember every detail.  Follow the light as it reflect on each grain of sand.  Follow the shadow that the sand hills cast. 
5. With your next breath, your eyelids are growing heavy and closing. The warmth of the desert 
6. Call the image of the sands to your mind. Breath in and Breath out.
7. Focus on one grain of sand.  You see this grain moving. 
8. The grain rolls on top of another piece of sand and you see it stack on another grain. 
9. The sand structure begins to grow in a line. Turning into what looks like a column. 
10. The sand formations continue to grow into what looks like a building. Is it a temple? Is it a palace? The sand shifts beneath your feat, turning into a sold path as you walk through the door. 
11. Inside the building the light grows dim.  You see sand shifting, swirling to form vines.  From these vines grow bright red fruit.  You grab a fruit and bite into it.  You taste the crisp sweet flavor. 
12. The sands continue to grow and change.  and climb to form trees,  The trees sprout in a circle and grow towards the ceiling.  From the ceiling you see a circular beam of light shining in the center of the grove of trees. 
13. You sit beneath the beam of light and fill the warmth enter your body.The light passes through your veins.  
14. The light begins to dim and the cold air increases as your gently open your eyes. 

Responses from students

• What is one word to describe how you feel afterwards?

chill,refreshed, rested (2), relaxed, very exhausted, tired (2), sleepy(3) could not concentrate, happy, calm, peaceful(2)

• On a scale of 1-10 (1 being stressed, 10 being calm) how do you feel?

Average stress level was 6.4 (edging towards calm)

• Did you feel that you could meditate?  If not why?

Yes(5),  No because, noises next door (10)

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Successes

• After two sessions of practice, 1/3rd of the students were able to focus with noise from the other classroom. 
  
• Students were able to use their imagination to "create" places 

Improvements

• In order to be successful in this endeavor, teachers would benefit from partnering calm environments.  Perhaps play relaxing music in the neighbor teachers classroom?
• Students had a harder time focusing when focusing on the background noise. 
• Work to make a shorter mediation session.  10 minutes is the goal for session 4
• Experiment with shorter/simpler journeys in the future. 
• obtain more feedback on if this would be successful in other classes, if so which ones?