From elementary schools to psychotherapy offices, mindfulness meditation is an increasingly mainstream practice. At the same time, trauma remains a fact of life: the majority of us will experience a traumatic event in our lifetime, and up to 20% of us will develop posttraumatic stress. This means that anywhere mindfulness is being practiced, someone in the room is likely to be struggling with trauma. This raises a crucial question for mindfulness teacher, trauma professionals, and survivors everywhere: How can we minimize the potential dangers of mindfulness for survivors while leveraging its powerful benefits? As we integrate mindfulness practices such as guided meditations into our classrooms, it is imperative that we are informed on the impact trauma has on the individual and how we can adjust our practice to meet the needs of all students whether they have experienced trauma or not. This self-guided module will bring you through videos, articles, additional resources and end with a course survey based in reflection. If you have any questions or issues accessing this webinar, please email kginney@citiboces.org.

The Google Form must be submitted after you've finished all course requirements, which can be found in the webinar below.

Access the Google Form here.

Begin here first! You will find a video to help build a foundation for why trauma sensitive mindfulness is necessary for a mindfulness meditation practice in classrooms.

Listen to the Webinar here.

"We as mindfulness facilitators must understand that the intersection between mindfulness and trauma can be extremely transformational but without proper consideration can also be harmful. Staying attuned, promoting interpersonal safety first, and being ready to advise against mindfulness when contraindicated are all necessary when working with experiences like Jeannette’s and others, especially for the sake of maintaining trust and not worsening the traumatic response. When we take these principles into account, we practice trauma-informed mindfulness. "

https://centerforadolescentstudies.com/trauma-informed-mindfulness-with-teenagers-9-guidelines/

There is growing evidence, as can be seen from the research and story pages of this website, that some people can develop serious mental health problems in association with meditation practice. In view of this we have created a leaflet for meditation and mindfulness students and one for teachers and retreat leaders that provides guidelines on how to recognize the development of such mental health problems, how students can go about seeking help and how teachers/retreat leaders can provide appropriate first aid and thus give support to the students affected in this way.

Please read the following resources from this website

Leaflet for Teachers here

Leaflet for Students here

Psychological Terms & Recognizing distress during meditation here

Experience a sample trauma sensitive mindfulness meditation practice here! Take time to listen to this practice more than once. First, listen to the meditation with the intention of following/experiencing the mediation as a practitioner, then listen for the purpose of taking notes to inform your practice with students.

Listen to the practice here.

This linked manual on trauma-informed classroom strategies provides specific strategies crafted for understanding/building relationships, classroom/teaching, safety in the classroom, and specific trauma-informed classroom activities.

http://web.unbc.ca/~loneill/classroomstrategiesmanual.pdf

Staff Development Specialist

Email: kginney@citiboces.org
Website: https://www.citiboces.org/domain/82
Location: 179 County Route 64, Mexico, NY, USA
Phone: 3154.27.4895