Implementing and Practicing Trauma-Informed Mindfulness
Tawanna Kane: mindfulness expert, instructor, and new ELE speaker!
Tawanna recently shared her expertise and insights for mindfulness-informed practices and strategies at the Virtual National Charter Schools Conference. As an instructor, she tailors her practices to mold with a client’s needs and demands. As the highest-rated session of the day, she delivered an incredible session on how leaders in education can use mindfulness to improve their environments and better prepare their students for learning. Tawanna recognizes that there are a myriad of internal and external conflicts and circumstances that can affect both educators and students in learning environments.
However, we know that everyone can benefit from mindfulness. Mindfulness can be used in every space, not just education, as Tawanna’s strategies work for everyone! Tawanna wrote this guide for anyone who wants to practice mindfulness, explaining its importance and providing an easy way to practice it, keep reading! If you would like to access her session for NCSC Virtual, registration is available until 10/14/20 and only $100, check her session out here!
-ELE
Staying Grounded: Implementing and Practicing Trauma Informed Mindfulness
Trauma is pervasive. It exists on a multitude of levels and is intrinsic to our lives as we learn to cope with living during a pandemic. When immersed in such an environment, it becomes critical to learn to navigate the new terrain or be consumed by it. In this workshop, we learned how the application of mindfulness might help to navigate our new reality, so that we can stay afloat long enough to, eventually, swim to the shore. My personal hope was that it was both practical and experiential – a soothing balm in the midst of the radical new nature of our lives
So, what is mindfulness? Mindfulness is acceptance of what is happening in any given moment, without trying to change it. It is the ability to build awareness around what IS happening and then to make choices about HOW we respond to what is happening. Viktor Frankl offers, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Simply put, mindfulness provides space, space for us to connect with ourselves, to listen and then act with wisdom.
There are many ways that mindfulness can show up in your life. It could be setting yourself apart for a formal 30-minute meditation but the thought of this can be intimidating. It can also be just following your breathing patterns for 2-minutes or paying attention to what you are eating during a meal. It could be taking a walk or painting. Mindfulness is not just a specific act; it is a quality of being that you can bring to everything that you do. How can you bring more patience, non-judgment, empathy, trust, and letting go to your life? These are the qualities of mindfulness. It is a process of honoring our humanity and preparing the body and mind for learning and connecting.
“It only takes a reminder to breathe. A moment to be still. And just like that something in me settles, softens, makes space for imperfection.”
– Dana Faulds
These are simple moments- where we can feel our feet on the ground, when we can take a deep breath and realize that befriending our bodies, comforting our minds can be the greatest life saver that we offer ourselves. So, how will you make space for your imperfections? How will you mitigate your stressors? As we re-enter virtual or in-person classrooms, how will you make space for your own imperfections and those of your students?
Be. The. Space. Build the Space in DAILY.
Research shows that with simple mindful moments incorporated into your day, your ability to be more adaptive and cognitively flexible increases. The mind is able to stay with one thought rather more consistently than jumping from thought to thought and we are more willing to positively engage with our emotions. Ultimately, we perceive less stressors as threats. This shift in perspective allows us to return to the social engagement space.
Imagine all the stressors that you face on any given day, someone cutting you off while driving, dealing with an irate parent or co-worker, hearing news about a family member, a health diagnosis. These events enter our lives all the time, many of which we cannot control. We call these red dye moments. Triggers and stressors that color your day. Sometimes when these red dye triggers occur, you cannot see clearly. This is the heart of the fight or flight response. For more information about the fight or flight response: Understanding Fight or Flight.
Right here, we can make a choice – to take a deep breath so that we can encounter these red dye moments without letting them completely take over. We can become more spacious in our being.
Here’s a practice to try:
Take a moment to settle in your seat. Notice all the places where your body is in contact with the floor or chair.
Pay attention to any sensations in your body, tingling, tightness, discomfort.
Allow your eyes to close, if that feels comfortable. You can also just lower your gaze, so that you are looking toward the floor.
Notice what is happening in your mind. Is it filled with thoughts? Can you let them settle for the next 2 minutes? (Know that you can go back to handling them as soon as this time is done.)
Take a deep breath and make space for any sensations. Bring some kindness to those areas. Take a deep breath and make space for your busy mind. It is OK if you are having a hard time settling.
Continue to breathe. Each time you breathe in, silently say the word, “in”. Each time you breathe out, silently say the word, “out”.
After 2 minutes, gently open your eyes. Notice how you are feeling in this moment. Commit to carry this with you until your next mindful moment.
Start your day with a simple sun breath, commit to stretch breaks away from your computer, encourage your students to pay attention to what they are thinking and feeling. Show yourselves and those you encounter compassion. This is a different reality and it can be difficult. We do not just automatically adjust. Tools and space will keep us afloat. The shore is visible. Let us swim together.
Tawanna Kane, RYT-500
Mindfulness Consultant
The Inner Resources Project
www.innerresourcesproject.com