Embracing the Now!
Declaration of Disclosure
How Mindfulness can Build
Resilience in Students and Educators
•Dzung Vo, MD, will be publishing a book entitled The
Mindful Teen (New Harbinger Publications, April 205)
Summer Institute 2013: Promoting
Mental Health in BC Schools
Vancouver, BC ● August 21, 2014
Dzung X. Vo, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Adolescent Medicine
Ly M. Hoang, MA
Senior School Counsellor
•We have no other actual or potential conflict of
interest in relation to this program.
•We also assume responsibility for ensuring the
scientific validity, objectivity, and completeness of
the content of our presentation.
Dzung Vo, MD
Ly Hoang, MA
Acknowledgments
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Jake Locke, MD
Nimi Singh, MD
Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre
York House School
Presentation Objectives
1) Define mindfulness
2) Share the benefits of mindfulness
3) Share mindfulness practices
4) Opportunity for asking questions
5) Share resources for further inquiry
Invitation to You
• Experiences of Mindfulness
• Let go of expectations
• “Beginner’s Mind”
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Guided Practice:
Mindfulness of Breathing
Case: 16y Female
• 16y Female, Grade 11
• Reputation: “Anxious, perfectionist,
high-strung”
• On IEP: Gifted with learning disability
• “Meltdowns” before & after exams
• Referred to Counsellor’s office by
multiple staff: Came to office in tears
Calligraphy by Thich Nhat Hanh
Mindfulness: Personal Experience
Ly Hoang and Dzung Vo on Mindfulness Retreat (Plum Village, 2010)
Mindfulness in Youth:
Potential Benefits
• Improve mental health?
• Promote development of emotional
regulation and stress management?
• Provide lifelong skills?
• Improve School Functioning?
• Improve School Performance?
• Help Teachers?
Mindfulness
What is Mindfulness?
Calligraphy by Thich Nhat Hanh
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What is Mindfulness?
“Paying Attention in a particular way:
On Purpose
in the Present Moment
and Non-Judgmentally”
Mindfulness Practice is…
Autopilot
Awareness
- Jon Kabat-Zinn
Kabat-Zinn J: Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. 1994. p.4.
Mindfulness Practice is…
Past/Future
Here and
Now
Mindfulness Practice is…
“Reacting”
“Responding”
Mindfulness Practice is…
Judgment
Compassion
Mindfulness Practice is…
Ruminating
Letting Go
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Mindfulness Myths
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Having a “blank” or “empty” mind
Seeking “bliss”
“Escaping pain”
Relaxation exercises
“Zoning out,” “Navel Gazing”
Panacea for everything
Substitute for advocacy and social
change
Formal Mindfulness
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Is Mindfulness a Religion?
Present in ALL Wisdom Traditions
Moving Meditation
Sitting Meditation
Body Scan
Walking Meditation
Mindful Movements
Informal Mindfulness
• Not taking specific time “just” for
mindfulness
• Walking
• Eating
• Listening and speaking
• Becoming mindful in all moments of
daily life
Mindfulness-Based Stress
Reduction (MBSR)
• Centuries: Eastern
meditation
traditions
• 1979: Stress
Reduction Clinic,
University of
Massachusetts
Medical School
• 8-week Program
• 2009: Over 240
hospitals and
clinics
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Mindfulness: Clinical Interventions
• MBSR: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
(Kabat-Zinn)
• MBCT: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
(Segal, Williams, & Teasdale)
• DBT: Dialectical-Behavioral Therapy (Linehan)
• MBRP: Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention
(Bowen, Chawla, & Marlatt)
• MB-EAT: Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness
Training (Kristeller et al)
• MBCP: Mindfulness-Based Childbirth & Parenting
(Bardacke)
• MBSR-T (Teens) (Biegel)
• MARS-A: Mindful Awareness and Resilience
Skills for Adolescents (Vo & Locke)
MBSR, Stress, Amygdala
Holzel BK. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2010; 5: 11-17
Adapting Mindfulness
Teaching for Youth
• Cognitive Development: Concrete
language
• Attention: Shorter Practices
• Examples: Relevant
• Social environment: Teen-friendly
• Settings: Clinical; Educational;
Community
Mindfulness in Adults:
Meta-Analysis
• Moderate evidence benefits:
– Anxiety
– Depression
– Pain
• Low evidence: Stress/distress,
mental-health-related Quality of Life
• Conclusion: Small to moderate
reductions of stress-related sx’s
Goyal. JAMA Intern Med. 2014;174(3):357-68
“Mindfulness: Youth Voices” Video
http://keltymentalhealth.ca/healthy-living/mindfulness
BC Children’s Hospital:
MARS-A
• “Mindful Awareness and Resilience
Skills for Adolescents”
• Adapted from MBSR (Kabat-Zinn),
MBCT (Segal et al), MBSR-T (Biegel)
• Adolescents age 15-19y with
psychological distress
• With or without chronic illness,
chronic pain
Kabat-Zinn J. Full Catastrophe Living. New York: Bantam Dell, 2005
Segal, Williams & Teasdale. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression (2nd Ed). New York: Guilford Press, 2012
Biegel G et al. J. Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 2009; 77(5): 855.
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Mindfulness in Youth:
Meta-Analysis
Mindfulness in Education:
Canada
• 20 articles met inclusion criteria
• BC: MindUP
• Toronto: Mindful
Ambassador
Council
– Mostly school-based
• MBI beneficial for range of outcomes
– Small-moderate effect sizes
– No iatrogenic harm
• Greatest Benefits:
– Psychological Symptoms
– Clinical Populations
Schonert-Reichl K. Mindfulness. 2010; 1(3): 137.
http://mindfulnesswithoutborders.org/youth
Zoogman S. Mindfulness. Jan 2014.
MindUP: Video
MindUP: Research
Grade 4 – 7
Acceptable and feasible for teachers
Improved Optimism
Improved prosocial classrooms
behaviors
• Less depression, aggression
• Improved stress regulation
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http://thehawnfoundation.org/
http://vimeo.com/86520490 (6 min)
Schonert-Reichl K. Mindfulness. 2010; 1(3): 137.
Lawlor MS. New Directions for Youth Development. 2014;142:83
Mindfulness Case Study:
York House School
Mindfulness in Education
• Related to SEL: Social-Emotional
Learning
• Cognitive, Executive Functioning
• Social skills, Emotional regulation
• Teachers: Self-efficacy, Classroom
Management
• Caution: Research still in infancy
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Individual counselling
Assemblies
Before test and exams
School play
Mindfulness club
Supporting staff
“Mindful culture”
Meiklejohn J. Mindfulness. 2012; 3(4):291
Frank. Research in Human Development. 2013; 10(3):205.
Greenberg MT. Child Dev Perspectives. 2011; 0(0):1
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Back to the Case:
16y Female
Mindfulness for Teachers
• Introduced mindfulness as a stress
management strategy
• Practiced together
• Guided practice before test and
exams
• Dramatic change in coping noticed
by staff and the student herself
Teaching Mindfulness
“Take my advice,
I’m not using it”
Why Mindfulness for Teachers?
• Teaching is socially and emotionally
demanding
• Teachers are expected to:
– Support students emotionally
– Model healthy emotional regulation
– Create positive classroom
environment
Jennings, P. A. (2011). Promoting teachers’ social and emotional competencies to support performance and reduce burnout. In A.
Cohan & A. Honigsfeld (Eds.), Breaking the mold of pre-service and inservice teacher education: Innovative and successful practices
for the 21st century (pp. 133–143). New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
SMART in Education
• Stress Management and Relaxation
Techniques (SMART) in Education
• Professional Development for K-12
Teachers and administrators
• 8-week program, Modeled on MBSR
• Currently piloted in Colorado &
Vancouver
• http://smart-in-education.org
Jenning and Greenberg. (2009). Review of Educational Research. 79, 491.
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SMART in Education
• “I have never experienced this in all
my years of teaching. The kids are
really calm”
• “I am getting a lot more than I
bargained for… I am softer and
kinder to the world”
• “I now approach my day… with
greater confidence”
CARE: Cultivating Awareness
and Resilience in Education
• Teachers pre-K-12. Goals:
– Improve overall well-being &
effectiveness
– Improve teacher-child relationships and
classroom environment
– Increase students’ prosocial behaviors
• Various formats: Intensives, retreats
• Preliminary Research: Promising
http://smart-in-education.org
www.garrisoninstitute.org
Jennings PA. Journal of Classroom Interaction. 2011; 46(1):37.
“Object” Meditation
“I've learned that people will
forget what you said, people
will forget what you did, but
people will never forget how
you made them feel.”
-- Maya Angelou
Image courtesy of SOMMAI / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Mindfulness in Education:
More Programs and Resources
• MindUP (BC)
– http://thehawnfoundation.org/mindup/
• Mindful Schools (California)
– http://www.mindfulschools.org/
• .Be (“dot-be”) (UK)
– http://mindfulnessinschools.org/
• Mindfulness for Schools: Goodwill
Teaching Guide (UK)
– http://www.mindfulnessforschools.com
Mindfulness in Education:
More Resources
• Broderick P., Learning to BREATHE.
(2013)
– http://learning2breathe.org
• Saltzman A., A Still Quiet Place. (2014)
– www.stillquietplace.com
• MindUP Curriculum (Scholastic)
• Srinivasan M., Teach, Breathe, Learn.
(2014)
– htttp://teachbreathelearn.com
• McHenry & Brady, eds. Tuning In:
Mindfulness in Teaching and Learning.
(2009)
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Mindfulness in Education:
More Programs and Resources
• MBSRBC.ca
• Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education
– http://dalailamacenter.org/
• Mindfulness in Education Network
– www.mindfuled.org
• Association for Mindfulness in Education
– www.mindfuleducation.org
• Collaborative for Academic, Social, and
Emotional Learning (CASEL)
• www.casel.org
Further Resources
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Stahl & Goldstein. A Mindfulness-Based Stress
Reduction Workbook. (2010)
Biegel G. The Stress Reduction Workbook for
Teens. (2009)
Willlard C. Mindfulness for Teen Anxiety. (2014)
Greenland SK. The Mindful Child. (2010)
Himmelstein, S. A Mindfulness-Based Approach
to Working with High-Risk Adolescents (2013)
Willard C. Child’s Mind (2010)
• Late 2014 or early 2015: Dzung Vo, The
Mindful Teen (New Harbinger Publications)
– www.newharbinger.com
– Twitter: @TheMindfulTeen
STOP Meditation
Questions?
Briefly step into present moment
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Dzung X. Vo, MD
[email protected]
Twitter: @DzungXVo,
@TheMindfulTeen
Ly M. Hoang, MA
[email protected]
S
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P
Stop
Take 3 Breaths (or more)
Observe (body, feelings, thoughts)
Proceed
• Whenever you “hear a bell” – i.e., door closing,
phone rings, car honking etc
• Whenever you feel stress arise
“Keeping Quiet,” Pablo Neruda
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