Today we had our first day of Mindfulness. We started with an introduction to mindfulness and an opening agenda. As Mr. Baumann cracked several jokes, the class laughed and started our day. While we were going through the slides we did a name exchange where classmates exchanged stories about our names. Later, we did meditation for 10 minutes in the classroom. After that, we did a mindfulness walk where we focused on walking and the area we were around. We went from the main building side door to Hartman and then around the building to Stokes. On the walk, we heard American Robins, Sparrows, Downy Woodpeckers, and admired the purple and white flowers blooming. While we walked, we kept in mind what foot we were on at that moment and the different pace changes that we had.
During tea time, we drank Genmaicha tea that originated in Japan. Many people in class enjoyed the tea, especially Zak. During our break time we wrote about some indoor and outdoor activities, journaled, and drew. Our class also had the opportunity to go to Senora Paollelo’s class for more quiet time. After our lunch we came together and we went outside to do focus breathing. While keeping still, we closed our eyes and focused on the sounds. There was silence in the group. After that, we were outside; some played basketball, as others sat and talked. We all had fun playing outside. Later, we had some trouble walking and coming together, but then we sat down together to watch a video calmly.