Holding Your Seat: A Mindfulness Exercise
At a Glance
Discipline
- Social sciences
Instructional Level
- College & CEGEP
- University
Tasks in Workflow
Social Plane(s)
- Individual
- Group
- Whole Class
Type of Tasks
- Discussing
- Gaming & role-playing
Technical Details
Class size
- Small (20-49)
Time
- Single class period (< 90 mins)
Instructional Purpose
- Consolidation & metacognition
Overview
In this activity, students learn how meditation and mindfulness can help reduce stress from daily life events, and in a broader picture, how mindfulness can help build resilience against trauma. Class starts with Video Clip 1 and Video Clip 2 about trauma, the means through which people can become traumatized, and what a traumatized person experiences. Instructor discusses the potential occupational hazards that can put a person at risk and what to be aware of.
Students discuss amongst themselves in small groups their reactions to the videos and then discuss their reactions as a class. Instructor introduces the idea of meditation as a means to overcome trauma, and drives this point home with Video Clip 3.
Students perform a meditation exercise (instructor-led, following instruction pdf), after which they write down an individual reflection of what they experienced during meditation and how they felt afterward. They then get into groups to discuss their experiences and then discuss these experiences as an entire class.
During class discussion, instructor address common misconceptions of meditation (can use Video Clip 4), as well as any questions the students may have. Discusses how meditation can be used as a tool to cope with everyday stressful situations in student life (exams, deadlines, relationships, etc.).
Instructional Objectives
Students should gain a deeper understanding of occupational and everyday life risks that can predispose or lead someone to experiencing trauma. Being aware of risks allows students to critically assess and identify experiences in their own lives that could lead to trauma and to prevent trauma from occuring. Teaching students meditative practices provides them with a tool to reduce stress in their own lives and a mechanism for positively overcoming traumatic situations that might arise in the future.
Holding Your Seat Video Clips 1 to 4
Workflow & Materials
Activity Workflow
Contributor's Notes
Benefits
Challenges
Tips
Benefits
Will help students be more mindful and give them a tool to use in their own lives for overcoming stressful situtations.
Challenges
The most common barrier is that people say ‘they can’t stop their thoughts’. Use the misconception guideline pdf to answer this if students bring it up.
Tips
Follow the misconception guideline to address any doubts or questions students may have regarding meditation.
Applied Strategies
Published: 18/09/2018
Copyright: © 2024 Goldsmith. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication on this website is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.