By Wellness Speaker Canada, Jamie Mason Cohen
For a decade of high school teaching, I incorporated yoga and meditation into most classes — even test days. The more hyper and unfocused the class, the better it worked.
I did it at a religious school in which some teachers scoffed at the idea of bringing in what they considered to be an Eastern discipline. Yet, it was a highlight of kids’ days and the majority of the parents loved it.
I even got the parents to do it during Parent-Teacher Introduction Days at the beginning of the year. I made fun of the fathers for their impatient shaky legs under the desk and then led a group stretch.
There is an epidemic in our society of impatience and lack of focus — and it effects Gen Z the most. The phone, ipad and social media have cut our kids’ attention from approximately 7 minutes of focus to less than 1 minute at a time.
The science-backed findings of Jon-Kabat Zinn and hundreds of years of careful reflection by Eastern traditions have made meditation an indelible part of any class and curriculum from K-12, from adult classes to special needs students.
