In the Mindful Educator Resource Guide, Greg and Amy offer guidance on how finding your breath helps reduce the feelings of stress that educators and providers face everyday in their work with students.

 

For some people, the breath is not a natural anchor for being present and finding calm in the moment. In some cases, a focus on the breath can induce strong emotions and symptoms such as anxiety. It can be just as effective to use your senses as an anchor. We offer that the external practice of concentrating on images can also help us learn how to focus on the here and now.    

 

Luckily, mother nature provides us with endless beautiful images to catch our attention. Science also tells us that our brains have always been intrigued

and motivated by patterns in nature. We all can be drawn in by the spiral

of a shell or the veins in a leaf, because our minds are comforted by the predictability of patterns.

 

The following is an exercise to practice grounding using the images from nature:

 

Start by clicking on the image above in the slide deck gallery and scroll through the images until you find one that naturally attracts your attention. Start with a full visual focus on the whole image. While maintaining a visual focus, breath through your nose. Fill your lungs with air and release the breath as slowly as you can. You can breathe out through your nose or your mouth. Your shoulders and back may soften as you exhale.  

 

Let your eyes travel over the photograph. Pay attention to the patterns you see, the colors or the contrast between the light and dark shades. If a thought about life or the kids pops into your mind, that’s okay and completely natural. The mere fact that you realized it popped up, is being mindful! Woohoo!  Be kind to yourself as you label the thought as "thinking" and then shift back to a visual focus on the image.  

 

Next, try and find a line deep in the image and let your eyes follow it.  Follow the same prompts above if your mind starts to wander. If comfortable, you can continue to breath in and out slowly with your core attention and focus on the image.  

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When you feel you are finished exploring the image, take a moment to

be curious on how your body was impacted by this practice and what it feels like in the moment. The greater extent we tune in to our bodies with kindness toward self, the more skilled we become in reading the messages it sends us. This includes feeling too

stressed and needing to take a moment like the one you just allowed yourself with this practice.

 

Take this exercise with you next time you glance at the changing colors of a leaf, the clouds in the sky or anything that nature is offering.