Calming Student Stress : Mindfulness, Meditation, and Other Strategies to Reduce Anxiety and Enhance Learning in K-12 Classrooms

Research shows that a highly stressed brain does not absorb or remember information, causing learning to essentially shut down. Today’s students are more stressed and anxious than ever and classrooms have become tense places. Educators require knowledge and skills to facilitate and teach students stress-management techniques and find creative ways to embed them in the classroom culture and daily routines. Calming Student Stress is a synthesis of empirical-based mind-body practices that have been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, help students remain centered and focus, and connect with the learning and each other. Various methods, techniques, and strategies that draw from mindfulness, yoga, tai chi, breathwork, and visualization are clearly defined, situated within current research, and geared towards both elementary and secondary students. Suggestions on how to introduce the mind-body practices to students, as well as administrators and parents, are also provided within this helpfl guide.