Select Mindfulness

Curriculum Modules
for Adolescents
Teaching Mindfulness & Emotional Literacy to At-Risk Youth 5
Sample Introduction to Mindfulness Module
Below are some pivot points, exercises and scripting for introducing mindfulness prac-
tice to the youth you are working with. The rst part of the module provides pivots and
a sample script for getting across the foundational ideas of mindfulness; after that, a
number of different mindfulness games and exercises are given. You should feel free to
mix and match these in the same session or over multiple sessions. For those of you
integrating short periods of mindfulness into other classes or activities, individual exer-
cises may be used in a stand alone fashion to inject some centering and presence
into the group.
Objective of the Activities in this Section
To gain an introductory understanding of mindfulness, have a direct personal experience with it
and get a taste of why its important.
Session Contents
Intros
Game: Still Chillin
Discussion: What did you do to stay still?
Discussion: What is mindfulness?
Meditation: Mindfulness of the breath
Process: What was your experience with the meditation?
Homework: Ringtone Reminder
Closing practice/Dedicating Merit
Intro Script
We always start out in here by saying Whats up to everyone, to honor each person in the room and
get their voice up in here. So lets go around the room and each person will say their name, and well
all say Whats up to that person. Go around room. Im _____. Whats up ____.
Game: Still Chillin
Have everyone sit in a circle and explain to the group that you all are about to play a game that
involves an aspect of mindfulness. The rules are that each youth have to hold their entire body still. No
movement at all. If any of the youth move anything besides blinking or breathing, you call them out.
Also, dont let them put their head down; they need to be sitting up. This is a competition to see who can
sit still the longest.
Discussion Points for Still Chillin
Still chillin is an activity in which youth will see who can sit still the longest
They can breath and blink, but no other movement
Teaching Mindfulness & Emotional Literacy to At-Risk Youth 6
If they move, you call them out. Last person sitting still wins
Play multiple rounds
Script
I want to tell you all about a game were about to try out. Its called Still Chillin and its a competi-
tion to see which one of you can sit still the longest. The rules are that you have to sit completely still
and if you move, Im gonna call you out and youll be out until the next round. Youre aloud to move
your chest and stomach when you breath, and youre aloud to blink. But any other move and Ill call
you out. Also, you have to sit up straight, no putting your head down. Everyone got it?
After you play the rst round, play one more to make sure all the youth get the hang of it. In between the
second and third round, prep the youth to focus on their breath in the present moment and see if it helps
them sit still longer.
Our experience has been that towards the end, when there are just one or two guys left, everyone starts
trying to distract them. This is a great time to talk with them about Michael Jordan, being in the zone,
everyone trying to distract him.
ter the second or third round, most of the time most of the class is pretty still. This can then be a good
way to set a FOUNDATION for any subsequent meditations.
Discussion: Still Chillin Experience
After youve played a few rounds of still chillin process the experience with the youth. Here are a few
guiding questions for the group:
How did you stay still?
Did you think of something in particular?
Did your thoughts slow down or stop?
Did the breathing technique help?
After youve processed the experience for a few minutes, discuss how letting the body be still and not
dgeting is one aspect of mindfulness and that it takes time to practice and get good at it.
Discussion: What is Mindfulness?
After the experience of trying to stay still, next clearly dene what mindfulness is with the youth. It is im-
portant to make sure that this comes across simple and easy to understand. Its not about your own deep
understanding of mindfulness, but rather delivering the concept in such a way that the youth can really
understand it.
Discussion Points for Mindfulness Denition:
Mindfulness is
Present moment awareness
An accepting attitude
Teaching Mindfulness & Emotional Literacy to At-Risk Youth 7
It can be cultivated by
Formal meditation
Or any time you bring the above qualities to your experience
Script
What do Michael Jordan, Anderson Silva, Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez, and Mos Def have in
common? In addition to whatever skills theyve cultivated to be at the top of their game, they also
regularly engage in a form of mental training called mindfulness meditation.
For a lot us in this culture, meditation brings up some sense that were about to some otherly worldly
shit, like were going off to some remote mountain cave to escape into some disembodied state.
The reality of mindfulnessas its practiced by all those folks I just mentionedis actually 180
degrees from that. The basic problem mindfulness is setting out to solve is thatwhile all of life is
happening in the present moment, most of our attention and awareness is sucked up by thinking
about the past and future.
How much of our lives do we spend walking around worried about shit? Planning what were going
to do an hour, who were going to call, who were going to avoid? Worrying about what we said
on the block/at the party last night, how they took it, what they think of us because of it? Weve
gotten to a point now as people a culture where the simplest things have the power to literally crush
us with stressfolks are committing suicide because of some junk someone wrote about them on
facebook.
So in a real way, some balance has been lost, right? A lot of us can feel that, even if we cant quite
put words to it. But science validates ittheyre now saying that more than three-quarters of the shit
running through our heads is just repetition, meaning our heads are working like some kinda jack-
hammer, meaning were not really using the mindthe mind is using us.
And we all know the consequences of thatyou dont gotta go very far in your experience to nd it.
A stressful situation creates a thought, and rather than having a practice to deal with that thought or
emotion, it begins to gather momentum and take over our shit.
Again, look at your own lifehow many times have you obsessed over something someone told
youespecially someone you wanted props from? One thought, one glance that goes wrong, and
youre off on some two-day obsessive odyssey or lighting up a spliff just to calm that shit down cause
you cant do it on your own.
As this goes cycle on, we begin to actually feel it in the bodywe feel that stress responseit effects
our breathing, our perceptions, our whole nervous system. In extreme cases, just the idea that some
kid or some other crew doesnt like you or something you did can literally keep you awake at night.
One of the hardest things about working with these situations is how normal they are considered.
Part of that is because low-grade stress and anxiety are mirrored just about everywhere in this cul-
ture these daysparticularly in the adults that are trying to tell you the dozens of ways you need to
change your behavior.
The basic position of a mindfulness practitioner is that contemporary human culture has gotten itself
into this position by loosing touch with our fundamental, present moment experience.
Teaching Mindfulness & Emotional Literacy to At-Risk Youth 8
We have forgotten how to experience life in a simple, straightforward wayhow to simply let
thoughts, emotions and experiences come and go, and how to be with the actual reality of things as
they arein other words, not to always be with our ideas of how things are, or how they should
be, or the millions of ways wed like to change thembut with this naked-ass, barebones reality of
our experience before we try to mess with it in any way.
Have you ever heard of someone or have you ever experienced being in the zone while playing
sports? What does being in the zone allow the athlete to do? It allows us to be in the ow, like when
rappers are freestyling. Its that perfect balance between alertness and relaxation, and contrary to
what some people say, it is not some god-given accidentit can be cultivated.
We were talking about Michael Jordan before, being in the zone is being 100% aware of what is
happening right now. Who else do yall think is in that zone? What happens when youre not in the
zone? How vulnerable are you when youre not on point? Thats when youre being played. When
youre not paying attention anything could happen we can easily be punked into a reaction or
controlled by our thoughts or the thoughts of others. If we dont see our thoughts, we are easily
controlled by them. But when youre really on, youre less likely to be caught slipping. You can ex
with stress. Which is stronger in a wind-storm? Bamboo or a thick-ass tree? Bamboo, because its got
space inside. The space makes it ex. It can ex with stress.
Were going to give you a series of tools, some having to do with working with your breath and
physical body, some having to do with working with thoughts and the emotions. Some will be drawn
from martial arts, others from different contemplative traditions. Some will be done alone with your
eyes closed, some will be done with other people and lots of talking.
What they are all designed to do is give you a different experience of yourselfto give you a taste
of a more fundamental quality of awareness in yourself that, if cultivated, you can always take
refuge in.
Meditation: Mindfulness of the Breath
After youve dened mindfulness with the group, bring them through a 5-7 minute mindfulness of the
breath meditation so they can experience it for themselves.
Discussion Points for Mindfulness Meditation:
Sit in a comfortable position
Close your eyes (only if comfortable)
Focus on the breath, but its okay if your mind wanders, just gently bring it back to the breath
Remember to invite, rather than direct, the youth into every aspect of the meditationfrom the invita-
tion to practice meditation, to sitting comfortably, to closing their eyes. Simply by making your tone less
directive will make your mindfulness facilitation less threatening.
Script
I invite you to sit in a comfortable position. Its good to sit up as straight as possible because it
makes it easier to breath more deeply and freely, but denitely dont strain yourself. Just sit as up-
right and comfortably as you can I also encourage you to close your eyes. This will help you be
less distracted while we meditate. However, if you dont feel comfortable closing your eyes, thats
okay. Keep them open and focus on one spot on the oor a few feet in front of you.
Teaching Mindfulness & Emotional Literacy to At-Risk Youth 9
IMPORTANT: Never direct the youth to
close their eyes if theyre not comfortable.
Depending on your rapport and their rela-
tionship with trust, you may need to have
them meditate with their eyes open. This is
fne. Closed eyes are NOT a condition that
is necessary to develop mindfulness.
Next, begin to instruct the youth in the
meditation. Instruct them to become aware
of their breath; as they breathe in, and
as they breathe out. There are just a few
things to reiterate during the meditation
besides what has already taken place:
1) if the mind wanders, gently bring it back to the breath, 2) it is okay that the mind wanders, 3) theres
no need to get frustrated if the mind is not doing what you want it to, the practice is to just be present to
what ever is in your present moment experience.
Script
I encourage you to begin by becoming aware of your breath become aware of your breath as
you inhale and as you exhale. [LONGER PAUSE] Notice in your body the place where you feel
your breath the most; it could be your nostrils it could be your stomach or chest or even your
mouth if thats where youre breathing from.
Breathing in and breathing out if you notice that your mind wanders off the breath, maybe
thinking about the future, or the past thats okay, gently bring your awareness back to the present
moment by becoming aware of your breathing Notice that you dont have to do your breath-
ing. You are actually being breathed. As you give your attention gently to the breath, it will relax
and lengthen on its own.
If you notice that youre daydreaming, spacing out, or getting all caught up in some stream of
thought or emotioncool. Dont become frustrated and dont think youre doing anything wrong.
The only reason you even know you were daydreaming is because you experienced a moment of
present moment awarenessa moment of witnessing thoughts and feelings from a deeper place.
So dont worry about stopping thoughts just be present to whatever your mind goes to, and then
gently bring your awareness back to your breath
In addition to your breath, you can also use the feeling of your body contacting the ground, your
hands on your lap, the wind on your face. anything that you can feel on the level of sensation in
the present moment can help root you there.
In the beginning of practice, one of the rst things we notice is how many thoughts we have; we
also notice how obsessive and repetitive our minds can be. The mind has its own momentumkind
of like a car rolling in neutral after you kill the engine. Its gonna keep rolling for a while even if
youre not giving it any juice. Its the same with the thinking mind. By becoming grounded in the
present moment, grounded in your breathing, you have initiated the process of slowing down your
stressful thoughts. The trick is to trust that the process is working even if the thoughts keep coming for a
while. Dont worry about the thoughts! Just keep coming back to the present, to sensation, to the breath.
Teaching Mindfulness & Emotional Literacy to At-Risk Youth 10
Repeat some or all of these steps with moderate pauses in between. You dont want to always be talking;
you want to let the youth begin to see what its like to get acquainted with their subjective experience. At
its best, the guided aspect of the meditation should balance allowing the youth to their own experience
with intermittent encouragement to reorient to the present moment and the breath without self-judgment
or evaluation.
Discussion: The Meditation Experience
After youve facilitated a 5-7 minute meditation with the youth, take some time to process the experience.
This is important because you can use the experiences of the youth to discuss how and why mindfulness
is benecial to them. The way to make mindfulness meaningful is to immediately ground it in their own
experience. Here are a few guiding discussion questions that can be discussed popcorn or systematic style:
What was your experience meditating?
Was it easy, hard, in the middle? Why?
How do you feel (physically, mentally, emotionally) after meditating?
Was it easy or hard to stay on the breath?
Can you think of times in your life when you got this meditative feeling but didnt know what to call it?
After processing the youths experience of the meditation, move into a conversation about why mindful-
ness is a benefcial state of mind to cultivate. Use the youths own reasoning from the process of experi-
ence to set up the conversation about benets. For example, if most of the youth discuss feeling relaxed
or even sleepy, discuss how mindfulness is a practice that can improve sleep and increase relaxation.
Then discuss why those qualities might be helpful in life: Why do you all think its a good idea to be
able to relax?
If youth are reporting a lot of unpleasant experiences, thoughts, or sensations, a good thing to point out
is that mindfulness practice is a very good way to become aware of things in our own experience that
we were only kind of aware of before. While becoming aware of a feeling can make it feel subjec-
tively worse in the beginning, it also sets up a situation where we can acknowledge it, address it and
resolve it. By not paying attention to our internal weatherto how we feelnegative thoughts, feelings
and experiences have a way of piling up. If we havent mindfully checked-in with ourselves in a while,
the frst thing we sometimes notice is this pile up.
Spend about 5 minutes talking about the benets of practice.
Homework: The Ring Tone Reminder
Props: Cell Phone
The facilitator uses their cell phone to randomly play the same ringtone. Youth are asked to be talking
with each other, but when they hear the ringtone, they stop, check themselves, take a breath, tune in to
what theyre thinking or feeling.
Script
You know when you screen calls? You are practicing doing this with your thoughts when you hear
the ringer. Anything in your environment can be used to take a moment to center yourselfbut its
often true that the most repetitive shit we live with is the most useful for reminding ourselves to stay
Teaching Mindfulness & Emotional Literacy to At-Risk Youth 11
present. Eating, getting in your ride, checking your phonehow many times in your life do you think
you do all this shit? Many, many times.
Between now and the next class, use that ring on your phone as an invitation to just take a breath,
de-stress, get out of the hustle and get quiet with yourself. Something irritating then shifts into some-
thing peaceful.
In addition to the ring tone reminder, here are some other things you can suggest the youth experiment
with on their own:
Try the mindfulness of the breath meditation while laying down to go to sleep. When you lay down,
just encourage your whole body to relax consciously and re-focus on your breathing. Let your whole
system slow down, unwind and naturally let-go into sleep.
See if you can cultivate a mindfulness state of mind without meditation (maybe while eating dinner
or breakfast).
Pick spontaneous times to become aware of your breath for just a few breaths, and then go back
to what you were doing. Focus on taking short moments of awareness, many times rather than on
straining to make mindfulness continuous.
Closing Meditation and Setting of Positive Intention
After youve discussed the homework, do another mindfulness of the breath meditation to close out the
session, followed by the dedication of merit:
Remember that in doing this practice, were all generating positive energy. You all have the ability
to generate your own positivity and thats what these sessions will be about in part. Now lets offer it
up Any positivity generatedWe dedicate to everyonefor the sake of freedomMay all beings
be freeMay all beings be happyMay all beings be happy and free.
After youve nished the meditation, thank all the youth for their participation and let them know youll
be picking up where you left off at the next session.