Should Mindfulness Be Taught In Schools Essay

Should schools be teaching mindfulness? Mindfulness would be a very beneficial tool, not only for students but also teachers. Mindfulness has been proven to help students in various ways to help support themselves. Many schools have already implemented mindfulness in their classrooms, but some schools and researchers have speculated that mindfulness isn’t as helpful as everyone might think. What exactly is mindfulness? Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique. People have been practicing the techniques of mindfulness for almost three thousand years, and it has recently been on the rise in many schools around the world.

According to “The Benefits of Mindfulness” by Kendra Cherry, “in more than 400 previous studies, mindfulness was identified as an effective mental health practice for helping almost all people improve their physical and psychological well-being.” With so many sources backing up the benefits of mindfulness, I believe that it is easy to say, yes, mindfulness should be taught in schools. Mindfulness brings many benefits to whoever practices it correctly and consistently. The first benefit is improved mental health. By including time for mindfulness in your routine, you will see things such as reduced stress, depression, and anxiety. A study from 2016 showed “mindfulness was both a simple and cost-effective way to reduce negative emotions, stress, and anxiety.” (“Cherry”). These are not the only things mindfulness can do for your mental health, according to “positivepsychology.com”, mindfulness can overall make you