Mindfulness at Eastwood International School in Beirut. For the vast majority of students, growing up is quite a stressful and energy sapping time in their lives. Although most of us wish we could go back to school, we usually forget how many drastic changes students go through during their school years.
Within quite a short amount of time, students need to learn how to deal with a wide ranging amount of influences on their lives. Learning to how manage a growing body along with all the stress that comes from achieving good grades and managing a social life can be quite stressful.
Due to all of the above and after quite a bit of research EIS launched a Mindfulnessprogram that focused on our entire student body. That means 3 year olds in Nursery take the same amount of mindfulness as our International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and American Program students who are in High School.
Benefits of Mindfulness
The benefits of Mindfulness are substantial. Not only does it help students relax and relieve stress, but meditation also improves self-awareness and self-acceptance. Students are taught to resolve issues through calm communication rather than through anger and resentment.
Mindfulnes also helps the entire brain develop and helps children understand their emotions and feelings while reducing the risks of students developing anxiety and depression.
During a regular Mindfulness session, students have been taught to meditate for 20 minutes before sitting in a group and talking about anger management, conflict resolution and the importance of forgiveness.
EIS Students participating in a mindfulness session after a hike.
