124 • PART II: MINDFULNESS IN EDUCATING FOR SELF-REGULATION AND ENGAGEMENT
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be peaceful and at ease.Feel the expanding love-and-kindness circle as you breathe. Feel the expansiveness of your sphere
and the possible connections with all beings. Slowly, bring your awareness back to your breath and
your body. When you are ready, rub your hands together, warming them gently. Raise your hands
to your eyes and slowly open your eyes into the palms of your hands. When you are ready, rest your
hands on your thighs, eyes open, breath steady.
Note: To be trauma-sensitive, do not follow classic instructions that bring to mind some-
one who hurt you or makes you angry. Asking students to think about someone who gets
on their nerves is less triggering replacement.
Source: Adapted from Cook-Cottone (2015), informed by David (2009), Greenland (2010), Hanson and
Mendius (2009), Shapiro and Carlson (2009), Rechtschaffen (2014), Siegel (2010), Stahl and Goldstein
(2010), and Wallace (2011); http://www.mettainstitute.org/mettameditation.html.
FORMAL MINDFULNESS PRACTICES FOR OLDER STUDENTS
A substantial proportion of all our students are struggling (Rechtschaffen, 2014). A review
of the extant research on mental disorders among youth found that approximately one
fourth of youth had experienced a mental disorder during the past year, and about one
third at some other time in their lives (Merikangas, Nakamura, & Kessler, 2009). Many
students are at risk. As students reach later middle school and high school, their ability to
understand concepts changes, as do their stressors and the complexity of their decisions.
Risk increases for eating disorders, depression, suicide, substance use, sexual decision
making, sexual activity, pregnancy, and self-harm. Faced with the more complex chal-
lenges of adolescent social networks, academic pressures, and the developmental task
of individuation, students can benefit from basic mindfulness skills—as well as more
sophisticated mindfulness skills that help them cognitively negotiate their experiences
and stressors.
Further, older students are more aware of the violence present every day in culture.
As we are all too well aware, in recent years, violence has made its way into nearly every
aspect of daily life (Olson, 2014; Rechtschaffen, 2014; Wiest-Stevenson & Lee, 2016). Wiest-
Stevenson and Lee’s (2016) review of the literature suggests that up to 60% of students
have been exposed to some form of trauma, either in or out of school. A recent report in
the Communiqué, a publication of the National Association of School Psychologists, details
a lawsuit filed in Compton, California (Peter P. et al. v. Compton Unified School District,
2015 ). The article and the lawsuit highlight the prevalence of trauma exposure among
all youth, emphasizing the higher rates of exposure among underserved youth (Ahlers,
Stanick, & Machek, 2016). The authors cite research detailing the effect of trauma on
youth mental health, learning, and relationships (Ahlers et al., 2016). Highlighted by the
lawsuit was the fact that the schools were not apprised of trauma-informed approaches
to students, and students were not receiving adequate support or intervention (Ahlers
et al., 2016).