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Class One: Mindfulness of the Breath
Hello and welcome to Mindful Schools’ Level 1: Mindfulness Fundamentals Training! This
course will be facilitated by Shahara Godfrey ([email protected]), and will be using
content created by Kate Janke, the Director of Training for Mindful Schools.
If you have not read the Orientation Letter yet, please do so before getting started, as it
explains how this training works.
As you read you’ll notice a section encased by orange lines. This section has information about
current brain research and case studies related to the week’s topic. Each week’s letter will
contain a section like this.
You will also find several email questions. To gain attendance credit each week, you must
respond to the weekly questions (embedded in each lesson) by Sunday night of each week. I
will be sending out a summary of your responses in an email to the full class. All responses and
questions will be kept anonymous. If you have a personal question, please email the facilitator
directly. That conversation will not be shared with the group.
If you are having technical difficulties or have questions about the logistics of this training,
please email [email protected] or call 510-535-6746.
Let’s get started!
What is Mindfulness?
This training will be largely experiential through guided audio, reflection questions, and
worksheets to help keep each lesson’s practices alive during your week. Before we begin the
awareness practices it’s important for you to understand what mindfulness is, where it came
from, and why it’s so pertinent to our overall well-being.
Mindfulness techniques have been used and cultivated for thousands of years in various
philosophical and belief systems. Over time, components of these techniques began to be used
secularly in modern psychology, the medical system, and in education.
One of the pioneers of secular mindfulness is Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Professor of Medicine
Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Kabat-Zinn first introduced
mindfulness into medicine in 1979 and has become a renowned mainstream influence in
medicine, psychology, corporate environments, the military, and now, education. His work, and
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the efforts of those who have expanded on it, have provided the foundation for Mindful
Schools and our bringing secular mindfulness to children and adults in school communities.
We use the word mindfulness to express a particular way of paying attention. It is the mental
faculty of purposefully bringing awareness to one's experience. Mindfulness can be applied to
sensory experience, thoughts, and emotions by using sustained attention and noticing our
experience without reacting. Most simply, mindfulness was well defined by Dr. Kabat-Zinn as
“paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally”.
This mindful awareness has specific qualities that make
it different from just being attentive. These
characteristics are: Intentionality to be attentive,
Openness to be present and honest with what is
happening in the moment, and Observing what is
happening instead of adding judgment.
Much of the time we are not aware of what is happening
with our thoughts, bodies, or the people and
environment around us. We are distracted, worried, or
too busy. I’ve found that when an activity is ordinary or
repetitive I can easily perform the task without being
intentionally aware of what I’m doing; for example,
walking to my car on my way out to work. I do it every
day, taking the same route from my front door to the
street. Usually my mind is occupied by my day’s schedule or a conversation I’d like to have with
someone later. In the process, I am not paying attention to the pleasant scent of flowers from
my neighbor’s yard, nor am I aware of the slight tightness in my shoulders indicating the
presence of anxiousness due to my train of thought. Not only that, I’m not even aware that I’m
caught up in those thoughts!
“A Moment in Time”
The mind is a powerful device and can often run on its own accord without a referee to say,
“Okay, that’s quite enough” or “Let’s pay attention to how that thought is affecting me now”.
Even mundane experiences receive great benefit with the application of mindfulness. For
example, if I’m aware that I’m thinking about my schedule and business of the day, I might
notice some tension or anxiety. Once I realize that I’m having these feelings I can relax my
muscles, take some deep breaths, and choose whether I want to keep thinking about my work
day or direct my attention to something else, like the new relaxed feeling in my body. We’ll
come back to the power of choice that mindfulness grants us later in the course. It is one of the
quintessential benefits of having a practice like this.
Usually we don’t notice our emotions until they are red-hot and smoking. Leading up to those
obvious overflows of emotional states (such as feeling stressed or frustrated) there is often a
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subtle build up over time that we are distracted from. The mind is tricky that way. So many
thoughts and emotions slide right under the radar. Without applying mindfulness, we have very
little control over our mind, emotions, and reactions. To demonstrate how difficult it can be to
pay attention sometimes, here is a short exercise to try.
[Listen to the Counting Breaths MP3 before proceeding]
Email Questions –Click here
1. What did you notice about your ability to sustain attention on one thing?
2. Was this surprising to you? Explain.
When I was 21 years old, I was dragged to a 45 minute mindfulness class for beginners. I had
never done anything like it and was ready to protest whatever the teacher threw my way. After
a quick introduction and explanation of what we were about to learn, the teacher lead us
through the Counting Breaths exercise. I was determined to keep my attention on each breath.
The truth is, I never made it past 7! I would start thinking about something or suddenly be on
breath 13 without noting the numbers that came before it.
This exercise elicits different outcomes for different people. Some may have had a similar
experience to my own. Others may have been able to sustain attention on the breath the whole
time but may have noticed some multi-tasking in action as other thoughts came and went in
the background.
Either way, the Counting Breaths exercise is an important introduction to the way our mind
works. I encourage you to try it again now to see if the results change or differ from your first
try. One thing you will be noticing throughout the next six weeks is that our attention changes.
Some days it’s easy to be aware and other days it can feel impossible. With mindfulness we just
notice what’s going on with our awareness in the moment; extra judgment is not necessary.
A Word about Thoughts
We all have thoughts; they are part of the human experience. I’ve noticed time and again that
beginners to mindfulness practice forget this fact. Sometimes people have the mistaken belief
that the goal of mindfulness is to get rid of all thoughts. It is true that practicing mindfulness
can lead to a quieting of the running conversations in our minds, sometimes yielding moments
of deeply peaceful silence. This of course is a common product of mindfulness practice, but not
the purpose.
People sometimes come to me distraught because their minds just won’t quiet down; they
think they are failing and are not “good” at the practice. It’s a simple misunderstanding really;
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there is nothing wrong with having thoughts. The thoughts in our mind are very powerful,
allowing us to solve problems, to be creative, to innovate, to be thoughtful towards others, and
so on. But they can also give an incomplete picture of reality, wreaking havoc when they go
unchecked. This can happen when we are not aware of our thoughts. It’s a kind of “When the
cat’s away the mice will play” condition.
Often I talk to young students about
their thoughts during the Mindful
Schools in-class program. I’ll ask them if
they’ve ever been in a bad mood and
didn’t know why. Of course, they all
raise their hands because we’ve all had
those days. Using trained attention we
can start to investigate why this
happens. Through my own mindfulness
practice, I’ve come to realize that those
moods often occur because there was a
thought like “this isn’t fair” or “I can’t do
this” or “they don’t like me” and so on.
With that thought we can trigger an
“Thoughts” © Christine Martell
emotion like annoyance or
disappointment. Without mindfulness, thoughts can come and go without us even being aware
of them. Like a flash, a thought is gone but the emotion that came with it is left behind because
emotions dissipate far more slowly than thoughts. A feeling of disappointment or annoyance
might linger for a long time, until we realize that we are in a bad mood “for no apparent
reason”. And then we might end up taking that emotion out on an innocent bystander like a
loved one, co-worker, or the barista taking our coffee order.
Our unchecked thoughts can manifest in many different ways. Have you ever had a nagging
thought, or a repetitive thought like a broken record, or felt scatter-brained, or been filled to
the brim with information? These are all great descriptions for how our excessive or confused
thinking becomes an obstacle to fully experiencing what is happening in this very moment.
This week we’ll be learning ways to incorporate the thinking mind into the mindful breathing
practice. These techniques will also help strengthen our awareness around the different
emotions that may accompany thoughts or external experiences. We’ll be exploring
Mindfulness of Emotions in more depth later in this course.
Now that you have an understanding of thoughts, it would be unrealistic to think you’ll be able
to stay consistently mindful of what’s happening, especially in the beginning. It’s hard to
maintain awareness all the time. The mindfulness techniques you’ll be learning will help train
your mind to pay attention in a mindful way. Like working out a muscle in the body,
mindfulness strengthens areas in our brain that allow us to have better focus, increased
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empathy, and the ability to choose how we respond in stressful or emotional situations. Thirty
years of research, and more recently brain science, offer compelling evidence to support the
use of mindfulness. In each chapter I’ll share these findings with you.
Mindfulness and the Prefrontal Cortex
Research shows that practicing mindfulness benefits the body and
mind in many different ways. One area of the brain on which
scientists have been testing the effects of mindfulness is the
prefrontal cortex (PFC). Take your hand and lay it across the top
front of your head and down to your forehead. This is basically
where your PFC is located. Shown in this image of the brain as the
color green, the PFC is highly responsible for Executive Function an umbrella term that refers to a set of mental processes that help
with goal-directed behavior. People use it to perform activities
such as planning, organizing, strategizing, paying attention to and remembering details, and
managing time and space. One way that the Prefrontal Cortex supports these functions is by
playing a key part in the integration of the activity of different parts of the brain. Practicing
mindfulness actually stimulates the prefrontal cortex. In his book, The Mindful Brain, Daniel
Siegel outlines the different aspects of well-being that are developed by stimulating the PFC
through mindfulness (Siegel, 2007). Some of those aspects include:

Body Regulation: the state of coordination and balance between the brakes and
accelerator of the nervous system. When our body is regulated, our level of alertness
and energy is appropriate to the setting.

Self Awareness: our sense of ourselves, creating a coherent life story by connecting
present awareness, our life story, and images of the future. This is a key to building
positive social connections.

Emotional Regulation: emotional experience that is appropriately activated, so life has
vitality and meaning. When emotions are dysregulated we become overwhelmed and
emotionally chaotic. When emotions are not regulated we may experience stagnation or
depression, a sense that our life is not meaningful.

Fear modulation: our ability to calm and soothe, or even unlearn our own fears.
For more information about the brain and how it operates, check out “The Brain from Top to
Bottom” at http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/index_d.html.
References
Siegel, Daniel J. (2007). The Mindful Brain. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
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Getting into a Mindful Posture: Preparing for Intentional Mindfulness Practice
In order to learn how to be more mindful it’s essential to spend time intentionally practicing in
a way that supports its development. Find a quiet place in your house, at work, or outside
where you won’t be distracted by other people.
The exercises you will be using this week can be done by sitting in a chair. Sit with both feet flat
on the ground and with your back straight but not too stiff. When I practice in this posture I
think of my bones keeping me upright and I relax my muscles around them.
If you are tired or lacking energy, peel your body away from the back of the chair, not using it as
a support. If this is painful or too uncomfortable, use the chair to support you. You’ll want to
find a balance of comfort and alertness that works for you. This will be your seated mindfulness
posture.
Mindfulness of the Breath
Mindfulness of the breath is a fundamental technique that we will be using throughout the next
six weeks. Start by getting into your seated mindfulness posture. Sitting upright will help you
feel the breath more fluidly. Take a few deep breaths and notice how you feel as you breathe.
Now, breathe normally and notice where you feel the sensations of breath in your body. Take a
moment to find where you feel the breath most predominantly. You may notice it at your
stomach as it goes in and out, at the chest as the ribs go up and down, or you might feel the air
moving in and out of your nose. Now decide which part of the body you wish to pay attention
to the breath for this next exercise. Any location is fine as long as you are able to use it
consistently.
[Listen to the Mindfulness of Breath MP3]
Email Questions – Click Here
3. Where did you notice your breath?
4. Was it difficult or easy to keep your attention on the breath? Explain.
Anchor Words
All sorts of things come up when practicing mindful breathing. We experience thoughts,
sounds, physical sensations, emotions, and more. In mindfulness, you don’t have to be
distracted by them; just pay attention to them. It’s like watching a play or a movie and
whatever pops up in your experience is just part of the show. Once you are mindful of
something like a car honking outside or an itch on your nose or even a whole storyline that is
playing in your head, you can then choose to either keep your attention on it or to come back
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to the breath. The breath acts like a reference point or an anchoring point. It is a constant
experience that can anchor us in the moment.
To help steady your attention on something
that comes up while practicing, the use of
Anchor Words might be of help. Anchor
Words are mental labels that are used to
point to what you are experiencing. Anchor
Words can be applied to anything, but should
be purely observational and not judgmental.
If you hear a noise you can label it “hearing”
or “sound”. If you have a body sensation you
can label it “itch”, “aching”, “buzzing”, “hot”,
or whatever best fits the experience. If it’s an
emotion that comes up you can label that too.
“Practicing Mindfulness” © Sean Munding
Try to avoid labeling anything with judgments
such as “good” or “bad”. As we learned before, mindfulness is “non-judgmental awareness of
the present moment” – and it is exactly that non-judgmental component that gives mindfulness
the ability to provide us with tremendous clarity about ourselves and our tendencies.
Here is a past participant’s example of how to use Anchor Words. I’ve written commentary in
orange : I was practicing my mindful breathing and noticing the air going in and out of my nose.
To bring more attention to that feeling of breath, I say in my mind ‘breathing in, breathing out,
breathing in, breathing out…’ (Other Anchor Words for the breath could be “in…out…” or
“rising …falling…” if you are paying attention the body moving with each inhale and exhale). I
then get distracted by a thought about picking up my son from basketball practice later. I’m
sucked into the thought now, imagining the best route to take to avoid traffic. At some point I
realize that I’m not paying attention to the breath anymore (This is a moment of mindfulness). I
can then use the Anchor Word “thinking” in my mind to point out what is going on. The
thoughts subside and I decide to put my attention back on my breath using the “breathing in,
breathing out” again.
Here is a guided practice to help you start incorporating Anchor Words into your practice.
[Listen to Anchor Words MP3]
E-mail Questions –Click here
5. Did the use of Anchor words help you pay closer attention to the changing experience?
Explain.
During the Week
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Practice mindful breathing this week every day for five to ten minutes. Download the
Mindfulness Log to record when you are sitting and how often you sit for. You can go back to
the guided MP3s if you find them useful, or try practicing on your own. It might be helpful to
have a clock or a timer set, because thinking about when the session is over can be distracting.
Use this week to find a regular time and place where you can practice. A consistent time and
place will help you to build up your practice more easily. To get started with these practices it’s
really helpful to find a nurturing, supportive atmosphere. This might be a challenge if you’re
surrounded by people all day. You may want to share what you’re doing with your family or
housemates so they can help support you. Let them know that your mindfulness practice will
ultimately benefit them as well! If that doesn’t work, get creative. You might try practicing
while sitting in your car before you turn it on to go somewhere, or while sitting on the bus. You
might find a bench in a nearby park. Make this an enjoyable start, whatever that means to you.
Be sure to send in your responses to the e-mail questions. If you have any questions about this
week’s practices or anything related to this week’s letter, you can send them to,
[email protected] .
Have a good week,
Kate Janke
©2011 Mindful Schools 1944 Embarcadero, Oakland, CA 94606