Siouxland Magazine - Volume 5 Issue 3

Siouxland Magazine | BeComing / 46
Living Lumin
Dr. Meghan Nelson & Dr. Ryan Allen
Getting Schooled: Cultivating A Mindful Classroom
We are all connected, we like to say. It doesn’t
always feel that way, especially with my own children
and those I serve. The force and frequency that so
many of our young people operate with today has us
all in a frenzy. The pace is too frantic. The energy out
there can be just too much.
In our work in the community, nowhere do we see
these truths at play more than in our schools. Many
kids today carry a heavy emotional weight in those
backpacks to class each morning. Massive forces are
reshaping the development and maturation in how
all young people learn: a destabilization of family
life, a lack of academic preparation, a decline in
social-emotional learning, the absence of resiliency,
an explosion of behavioral, intellectual, and physical
disability diagnoses, and a rapid rise in mental health
issues—we’re at a tipping point. And this was all even
before Covid-19. Additionally, childhood trauma can
negatively impact learning and behavior because of
how terror and fear change the brain. Without trauma
intervention, research has shown that these emotional
states alter brain function and the young person’s
ability to process information.
It doesn’t have to be trauma, though. There are all
sorts of barriers to learning—disabilities, environment,
language acquisition, curriculum design, teacher
disposition, the list goes on. Thus, those of us who
hold leadership positions have a special responsibility
to ensure that what we’re fostering is universal and
accessible to all. To create equitable and inclusive
classrooms and schools, it’s our job to co-create with
our students, parents, and community the space for
diverse voices and visions to flourish.
One of my favorite places to practice all these virtues
in action is Bishop Heelan’s Dual Language Academy.
There’s a beautiful community of learning and care here,
evidenced clearly in the closeness of bonds between
teachers and students and amongst the students in
the different classes. They belong to one another. They
support one another. They pick each other up when
someone gets knocked down, even if they are the
ones who knocked them down in the first place (they’re
kiddos, after all). They have challenges, and some of
Laughing – Learning – Fun
their students struggle pretty mightily, but there’s a lot of
love in that building and clear communication between
the adults. These aren’t always a given.
One of the greatest lessons I learned from my time
studying and serving with the Veterans Yoga Project years
back is how the teacher/facilitator can help to shape the
interpretation or meaning of internal states by:
1. Focusing on breath and sensation
2. Normalizing sensations and experiences
3. Encouraging non-reactive awareness/acceptance
4. Facilitating consciousness rotation throughout
the body (body scanning)
The constant test-taking in schools, over-committing in
sports and clubs, and lessons out of school, coupled with
a generally more disjointed home life and an over-reliance
on technology is producing a generation of children who
are missing golden opportunities to cultivate their critical
thinking, communication, and resilience skills. And they’re
screaming at us for help.
When our schools listen and our teachers create safe,