All those exercises, and a few more, that I've mentioned in the last
few refections--"Teacher's Oath," "Just Like Me," "My Word of the Day," "My
Word For the Day," "Raisins," "Water Diary," "Draw It," "One," "Three,"
"Five"--why do them? And, what do they have to do teaching? The answer is
simple. They have everything to do with living, and, hence, that part of
living we call teaching. And, that brings me to the second M, the inseparable
partner of meditation, the what I see as the purpose of meditation:
MINDFULNESS.
Mindfulness: to slow down; to take time to see, feel and listen to the
limitless grandeur of each moment in our lives; to see, feel and listen to what
others do not; to focus intentionally on our feelings, thoughts, attitudes, and
actions; to clear our mental and emotional clutter; to see who we truly are,
who we truly can be; to further learn and feel and connect with the authentic
"why" of our ways; to tap our inner capacity; to concentrate on what which
uplifts our lives, brings fulfillment, and instills joy; to be alert to, to be
aware of, to be attentive to, to notice, to have a sense of "otherness," to
zero in on, to savor, to appreciate, to be sensitive of and to. It's the
subtle, powerful, and insightful way to gain inner and outer insight. It's the
foundation for sensitivity, empathy, caring, kindness, gratitude, faith, hope,
love, support, encouragement, compassion.
Emotional fluff? When did these feelings become "dirty words" in
academia? When did they become a negative label. Why are they so greeted in
academia with derision, scowls, disapproval, snickering, ridicule, rejection,
and condemnation? When and by whom was the judgment made that such attitudes
were not up to academic scratch?
Well, Southern Cal's Antonia Damasio and a host of other researchers
say that mindfulness is not only about our feelings, it's also about our
actions and level of performances. And, emotions are vital to the higher
reaches of distinctively human intelligence. Contrary to some popular notions,
emotions do not ‘get in the way of’ rational thinking. Rather, emotions are
essential to rationality and play a central role in decision making. They open
our intellectual pores and let us see our real choices.
Personally, over the decades, I have found that mindfulness is a
diagnostic and unlearning process. It led to a curiosity about myself, an
examination of how I connected to other people, and what were the causes and
effort of my actions. It identified and striped away the blinders and chains
that I has used to peddle and preserve expectations, perceptions, and
assumption by either ignoring or dismissing or explaining away any troublesome
contradictions or inconsistencies to what I believed; at best, in the face of
such challenges, I showed me how I had merely made insincere and uncommitted
cosmetic alterations or offered token, uncommitted compliance.
However, the more I ingested M & Ms, uncomfortable and even painful as
they may have been, the more I experienced an unexpected shift in the way I
understood myself, other people, and things around me. I felt myself striking
out on new paths, and shunning the well-traveled worn and accepted paths. It
began to see flaws in my perceptions and expectation; I began to notice cues I
had been missing; I began to let go of perceptions and expectations to which I
had clung so dearly; it altered the feelings I had; it changed the beliefs upon
which my understanding was based; it altered my mental model of other people
and how things worked; it both added new and important beliefs into my mix or
got me to discard those beliefs I discovered were wrong and misleading; it
opened me more to change; it helped me to relate better with people on their
terms; it redirected my course of action. .
As a teacher, when you're "too busy" to help students in need of help,
that's the time to unbusy yourself so you can penetratingly see rather than
merely cast a passing glance, so you can listen intently rather than merely
hear. When you don't have the time for students, that's the time to make the
time. Otherwise, as someone said, you'll do less with your utmost, a lot of
people wlll go unnoticed, a lot of opportunities will be missed, and a lot more
"miracles" will not occur.
How did I use mindfulness on campus? Well, luckily I was in a position
at my University where I could refuse to teach back-to-back courses, or run,
like Alice's white rabbit, from a meeting right into the classroom without
taking a breath. Why? I wanted, I needed, stop-in-my-tracks, close-my-eyes,
deep breathing, quiet, refreshing, being-in-this-moment mindfulness to focus my
heart and mind on each of those individuals in the coming class before I go to
that class. I didn't vacuum out my brain or go into some hypnotic, zombie
state. No, my mind was active. I envisioned who is in the room with me. I
put my hand over my heart and quietly take the "Teacher's Oath." I quickly
recalled selected student journal entries. I reacquainted myself with their
stories. I pictured each student. I walked into that classroom focused on
each of those "others" in the classroom with me. I mentally and emotionally
pulled the class apart like softened taffy so I can see and hear it as a
gathering of "sacred ones."
My M & Ms were engines of primary virtues and values that
unconditionally--UNCONDITIONALLY--hold each student in high regard: faith and
hope and love, caring and kindness, respect, empathy and compassion, support
and encouragement.
Make it a good day
-Louis-
Louis Schmier
http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org
203 E. Brookwood Pl http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Valdosta, Ga 31602
(C) 229-630-0821 /\ /\ /\ /\
/\
/^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__
/ \ / \
/ \/ \_ \/ / \/
/\/ / \ /\ \
//\/\/ /\ \__/__/_/\_\/
\_/__\ \
/\"If you want to climb
mountains,\ /\
_ / \ don't practice on mole
hills" - / \_
---
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