Supporting Pupils Mental Heath With Mindfulness
As a SENCO, your mental health and well-being is top priority. Your role is demanding, yet so rewarding. It can be easy to forget about your needs when you're so focused on putting others first. In this article, written by Rhiannon Hopkins, Assistant Psychologist from our Group, we share an introduction to mindfulness, implementing it in your classrooms, and how mindfulness can be used to support your pupils' and wider school team.
There is often a misconception that mindfulness is solely about meditating, sitting with your eyes closed, and focusing on your breathing. While meditation, when done correctly, can be a great form of mindfulness, it is not the only way. If meditation is not for you, it doesn’t mean mindfulness isn’t. Mindfulness is about grounding yourself in the present moment and accepting your feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations as they are. It can be practiced anywhere, at any time. If you’re looking for support to start your mindfulness journey, read on for our top five tips on incorporating mindfulness into your daily life.
Use your senses
Incorporating your senses is a great way to ground yourself. Grounding is the act of bringing yourself into the present moment. This can be done with intentional exercises such as the 5-4-3-2-1 method or by gently drawing your attention or the young person’s attention to your surroundings, such as a sound, smell, or texture. Grounding can also be a helpful way to support someone experiencing a fight-or-flight response.
Practice regularly
By practising mindfulness when we are calm or in a good emotional state, we begin to create and strengthen new neural pathways. This helps mindfulness become ingrained, like muscle memory, so it’s easier to use effectively in times of crisis.
Normalise emotions
Our young people may struggle to recognise their own feelings or feel hesitant to share them. They may need extra support to bring awareness to their emotions. By regularly talking about feelings both positive and negative we can encourage them to pause, reflect on what they’re experiencing, and feel more comfortable discussing their emotions openly.
Have an SOS emergency mindfulness plan
Create a kit filled with tools that can be used in the moment. For example, you could include a scented hand cream or sanitiser for a hand rub that engages the senses of touch and smell, helping bring attention to the present moment.
Have fun
Not all forms of mindfulness will work for everyone, and some techniques may work well at first but lose their effectiveness over time. Have fun experimenting with different approaches to find ones that resonate with you and your young people. Remember, mindfulness doesn’t have to be serious—it can be playful. Blow bubbles and enjoy the light sensation as they pop against you, or put on a song and dance like nobody’s watching.
Find out more about children's mental heath
Interested in supporting your young people with their mental health? Sign up for our free support pack to access strategies and practical advice on children’s mental health.