116 • PART II: MINDFULNESS IN EDUCATING FOR SELF-REGULATION AND ENGAGEMENT
Bring your awareness to your cheeks, your mouth, your lips. Notice any sensations here. Notice your
nose. Feel the air as it moves past your nostrils as you breathe. Breathe here and notice. Next, bring
your awareness to your eyes. Do they feel soft, tense? Breathe as if you can breathe into your eyes.
Keep your awareness here and breathe.
Slowly, move your awareness to your eyebrows and your forehead. Notice the skin, the muscles
underneath the skin, and the bone. Breathe as if you can breathe into your forehead and notice what
you feel. Now, bring your awareness to the very center of your forehead. Notice the skin, the muscles,
the bone. Bring your awareness to the center of your forehead to the area that some call the mind’s
eye. Breathe here. With your eyes closed and your awareness at the very center of your forehead, what
do you see? What do you feel? Notice and breathe as if you can breathe into the very center of your
forehead. Hold your awareness here and breathe (long pause of at least 60 seconds).
Now, bring your awareness to your whole body. Extend your awareness to the soles of your feet, the
palms of your hands, and the crown of your head. Breathe as if you can breathe into your whole body, the
soles of your feet, the palms of your hands, and the crown of your head. Take a big inhale—one, two, three,
four, five, and a big exhale—one, two, three, four, five. Take another big inhale—one, two, three, four, five,
and another big exhale—one, two, three, four, five. Slowly allow your breath to return to normal.
When you are ready, begin to wiggle your fingers and your toes. If you are lying down, bend
your elbows and your knees and slowly roll to your right side. Gently come to a seated position,
ankles crossed, hands on your thighs. Bring your hands together and rub them together gently,
bringing warmth into your hands. Place your hands over your eyes, and open your eyes into the
palms of your hands. Open your fingers slowly to let in light and gently withdraw your hands from
your face.
Note: To modify for younger students, you can do a shorter body scan focusing only on
the feet, legs, belly, hands, arms, and head. Do two deep breaths in each spot.
Source: Adapted from Cook-Cottone (2015), informed by Davis et al. (2008), Jennings (2015), Kabat-
Zinn (2013), McCown et al. (2010), Shapiro and Carlson (2009), Stahl and Goldstein (2010), Wallace
(2011), and Willard (2016).
The Calming Mind Jar (or Meditation Jar)
If you want to give students an object of focus, there are lots of secular and fun options. For
example, a creative colleague of mine, Kellie Love, a teacher in a Bronx elementary school,
uses calming mind jars to help kids focus (see Instructional Tool 6.1: Calming Mind Jar). The
mind jar is used as an anchor for attention. Students shake their calming mind jar, set it on
the desk, and breathe as they watch the glitter settle as a metaphor for their minds settling.
Willard (2016) recommends using different sizes or colors of glitter to represent thoughts,
feelings, and urges to do things (i.e., engage in behaviors). If you would like to see what
the use of a mind jar looks like in a classroom, you can watch the video, “Aliza and the
Mind Jar,” which illustrates the utility of this tool (vimeo.com/119439978). Aliza is one of
Kellie Love’s students. The calming-mind-jar practice integrates the following principles of
embodied learning and growth (see Chapter 3): principle 2, my breath is my most powerful
tool; principle 3, I am mindfully aware; principle 4, I work toward presence in my physical
body; principle 7, I choose my focus and actions; and principle 8, I do the work.