By Gopi Rao
Let’s look at how to teach mindfulness meditation to reduce stress. Of course, Mindfulness meditation will teach you to help your clients or students cope with the daily challenges that create an atmosphere of stress. Moreover, stress is a part of life. To a greater or lesser extent, stress is pressure on the mind and body. Albeit handled well, a managed level of stress in life can also make you stronger. When stress is handled poorly, it has the unlimited potential to end relationships, friendships, families, marriages, jobs, and lives.
Work with a Timer
When working with students or clients, subtle time management is critical. Using a quiet timer for stress management practices. In contrast, I prefer the 15-minute sand timer. Sometimes, teachers make sure a clock is in the room. However, for personal practice, keeping track of time can be as simple as counting the number of breaths during meditation.
Quiet Time
Instructors may also be able to put the timer to use to better manage communication in their classes. While it’s important to allow students to ask questions, using a timer will define a “just breathe” or “restful quiet” time. At the same time, a meditation or yoga class geared toward stress management may provide a break to anxious students. Furthermore, this will be valuable to the rest of the class as well.
Encourage Quiet Communication
Guidelines for conduct need to be established. The students or clients that you’re instructing may be dealing with a lot of anxiety and fear. Anxiety and fear can often manifest as frustration and even anger. Angry people can potentially be noisy, boisterous, and jarring to themselves and others at any time. Learning how to teach mindfulness meditation will be a deep lesson in how to prevent volatile situations with guidelines that keep everyone safe.
Keep it Simple
No matter what, instructors need to maintain a calm and quiet communication style. Pay special attention to your own volume and tone, so your words can have a bigger impact. Students or clients may be looking for instant answers or certainty. Stressed-out people don’t want to deal with more questions and may be unable to make the connection between deep, calming breaths and facing an unreasonable boss or a difficult financial issue.
Monitor New Clients
A meditation teacher may have great communication with their established clients, but new clients will take some extra handling, especially if their stress levels are high or they may not be able to manage any stress level well. Mindful communication is key here. Make sure that as you continue to teach mindfulness meditation, you also find the best way to connect individually with new clients.
About Communication
This communication could take many forms. A simple message to see if they have any questions is a good start. You might also send out an email to let everyone know that you’ll be available for questions and what your intended office hours are. Avoid making phone calls; highly stressed people have enough distractions and they may not be able to take your call when you make it.
Employ and Encourage Centering Rituals
As teachers, we can also suffer from stress; in fact, some teachers are sensitive enough to the feelings of others that just being around an agitated person can actually add to their stress. To break that connection, consider a mantra or action that encapsulates you and protects you from stress, anxiety, or pressure.
Relaxing Atmosphere
It’s just a matter of setting the atmosphere in the room. Take your shoes off and grip the floor underneath your toes. You could close your eyes and sniff an essential oil that you love. Sometimes, teachers might light a sandalwood candle and just gaze at the flame for 30 seconds while you breathe deeply.
Objections to Aromas
On the negative side, we have some students who get headaches from any kind of smoke, incense, or candles. Ultimately, if we use anything to enhance the smell of the space there will eventually be objections. In order to prevent conflicts, we should use mild cleaners and avoid smoke, incense, or candles.
Inspiration
Use a phrase from an author that inspires you. For example, William James’ mantra for control, “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” Then again we have Steven Pressfield’s earthier phrase, “Shut up and keep humping.” Above all, we can often find a quote or phrase that will center us, stop us for a moment, or make us smile a bit. In reality, we just need to encourage the next step forward.
Restful Communication
Meditation teachers note how positively their students react to these stress management techniques. Someone being drained by stress needs restful communication, and every student is different. Finally, if you want to learn more about how to teach mindfulness meditation, you might want to take a mindfulness meditation course.
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Related Resources
Mindfulness Meditation for Beginners: 50 Meditations to Practice Awareness, Acceptance, and Peace
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A Relaxing Way to De-stress, Re-energize, and Find Balance
by: Gail Boorstein Grossman.
YOGA: THE PATH TO HOLISTIC HEALTH
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TEACHING YOGA: Essential Foundations and Techniques
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Related Research
Michael N. Kane, Robin J. Jacobs, Keith Platt, Diane Sherman, LeaAnne DeRigne. (2018) Attributions About Mindfulness and Religion Among University Students. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health 20:1, pages 51-69.
Mingming Zhou, Chester Chun Seng Kam. (2016) Hope and General Self-efficacy: Two Measures of the Same Construct?. The Journal of Psychology 150:5, pages 543-559.
Inês Gaspar, António Martinho, Margarida Lima. (2021) Exploring the benefits of a mindfulness program for Portuguese public healthcare workers. Current Psychology 40:2, pages 772-781.
Kai-Tak Poon, Yufei Jiang. (2020) Getting Less Likes on Social Media: Mindfulness Ameliorates the Detrimental Effects of Feeling Left Out Online. Mindfulness 11:4, pages 1038-1048.
Related Studies
Brigid Foster, Justine Lomas, Luke Downey, Con Stough. (2018) Does Emotional Intelligence Mediate the Relation Between Mindfulness and Anxiety and Depression in Adolescents?. Frontiers in Psychology 9.
Peter Sedlmeier, Caroline Loße, Lisa Christin Quasten. (2018) Psychological Effects of Meditation for Healthy Practitioners: an Update. Mindfulness 9:2, pages 371-387.
Camila Devis-Rozental. 2018. Developing Socio-Emotional Intelligence Through Self-Reflection. Developing Socio-Emotional Intelligence in Higher Education Scholars, pages 131-156.
Robin A. Majeski, Merrily Stover, Teresa Valais, Judah Ronch. (2017) Fostering Emotional Intelligence in Online Higher Education Courses. Adult Learning 28:4, pages 135-143.
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