Mindfulness for Teachers: Simple Skills for Peace and Productivity in the Classroom (The Norton Series on the Social Neuroscience of Education) by Jennings Patricia A

Author:Jennings, Patricia A. [Неизвестный]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2015-02-15T22:00:00+00:00

How Caring Helps Us

A growing body of research is demonstrating that by regularly engaging in practices that help us generate a sense of care and compassion for others, we can improve our own lives. Loving-kindness and compassion meditation practices (also called metta) are designed to orient us toward the cultivation of unconditional care and compassion for others. Research on these practices suggests that they increase positive and decrease negative emotional states (Hofmann, Grossman, & Hinton, 2011).

Furthermore, compassion practices may reduce stress and improve the body’s immune response (Pace et al., 2009), and brain imaging studies have found that they may enhance brain functions in areas associated with emotional processing and empathy (Lutz, Brefczynski-Lewis, Johnstone, & Davidson, 2008). These practices have been used successfully in therapeutic settings to reduce depression, anxiety, and marital conflict and improve anger management (Hofmann et al., 2011).

One such practice that we call “caring practice” (basically another name for the traditional metta practice) can be found in the skill-building practices section of this chapter. This practice involves generating feelings of care for ourselves and others. As we generate feelings of care and kindness, we feel a warmth and openness in our heart. Taking time to do this practice may help us build the resilience we need to care for others on a regular basis. By generating feelings of care and kindness toward ourselves and others, we become habituated to this state and find that it comes to us more frequently. After a while, the practice becomes easier and more enjoyable and rewarding. It is a particularly useful practice when we are dealing with troubling interpersonal difficulties because it helps us keep our hearts open to others, even when we find their behavior challenging.

Ms. Winter, a teacher in one of my mindfulness workshops, once shared how caring practice helped her deal with her fear of a student’s mother who had been expressing anger and hostility over her daughter’s failing grades. Dreading the upcoming parent conference when she would have to face this parent alone, Ms. Winter decided to try engaging in caring practice, with this mother in mind, during the week before the conference. As a result of practicing caring, Ms. Winter began to notice that her fear was subsiding. She realized that the mother was worried about her daughter and that her anger was an expression of this concern, not personally directed at her. With this perspective in mind, Ms. Winter found it easy to generate feelings of care and kindness for this mother.

When the time for the conference finally arrived, Ms. Winter was calm and open-hearted. She listened mindfully to the mother and acknowledged her concern. The mother was very responsive, and together they worked out a plan to help the student improve her grades. This is an example of how a regular caring practice can improve our well-being and give us the inner strength and resilience to help others.

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