Over the years, methods of punishment have taken combative and artistic routes. For an elementary school in Baltimore, the latter has become a helpful introduction to mindful meditation.
Featured by Upworthy, Robert W. Coleman Elementary School has enacted a Mindful Moment Room, a bright and peaceful space that replaces the bland traditional detention rooms. Children who take part in unruly behavior are encouraged to engage in Holistic Me, an afterschool program specializing in meditation and yoga. During the sessions, children practice mindful meditation, breathing exercises and conversations with professionals to help them analyze their behavior.
“It’s amazing,” said Kirk Philips, the Holistic Me coordinator. “You wouldn’t think that little kids would meditate in silence. And they do. As a little kid, that’s got to be hard to sit down and meditate when you know you’re about to get a bag of gifts, and they did it! It was beautiful; we were all smiling at each other watching them.” The school’s program is part of a partnership with local non-profit, the Holistic Life Foundation.
The program also informs children about the environment and even helps kids build veggie farms on campus. Phillps added since taking part in the program; the school has been suspension-free for two years.
Check out more from the Holistic Life Foundation here.