News from MiSP and the world of mindfulness and education.
MiSP Conference 2019 – London – Friday, 26th April
Join us at our annual conference which seeks to mobilise the mindfulness community. The event will raise funds for our A Million Minds Matter campaign, and you will hear from a panel of expert speakers, headlined by Ruby Wax, alongside inspirational testimonies and performances which demonstrate the power of mindfulness as an effective tool for 21st century living.
Early Bird Tickets (25% off) now available!
Conference 2018 Video Highlights!
View highlights of our 2018 conference, celebrating a decade of MiSP and asking ‘what will the next ten years hold?’
How should we talk about mental health in schools? Here’s what the experts say
Metro online • 8th January 2018
Tes talks to… Willem Kuyken
TES • 25th August 2017: The University of Oxford mindfulness academic tells Helen Amass that teachers are right to be sceptical about the use of the practice in schools…for now, at least.
How to Avoid A Poorly Designed School Mindfulness by Jamie Bristow
Mindful • 12th April 2017: Designing and instituting a program for mindfulness in schools is fraught with potential problems. Here’s how to avoid having a poorly-designed program.
Mindfulness in Schools with Richard Burnett
RenaissancePodcast • 6th February 2017
Close your eyes and breathe: schools sign up to mindfulness
theguardian • 23rd October 2016: More than 4,000 teachers are now qualified in meditation exercises to combat pupil stress
Mindfulness In Schools Is Giving Children The Vital Tools To Protect Their Mental Wellbeing
Huffington Post • 17th February 2016
Archived News
Archive of articles and media clips
Richard Burnett on BBC Radio
MiSP co-founder Richard Burnett speaks on Simon Mayo’s Drive Time on Radio 2 (02:45) about how mindfulness can help students deal with exam stress:
Dominic Morris on BBC Radio
MiSP’s Dominic Morris speaks about mindfulness on BBC London 94.9 (26:58) with Harriet Scott and Tim Arthur:
Mindfulness on BBC Radio
Jane Garvey discusses mindfulness on BBC Radio (11:21), how it helps to cope with depression and anxiety, and why policy makers are so interested in it:
Mindfulness: the scheme teaching children to relax
Channel 5 News • 12th April 2015
Time & Place: Students meditate their way to success
Stuff.co.nz • 31st October 2015 : As the pressure of the exam period approaches and the weight of expectation increases, the students at Auckland’s Diocesan School for Girls are taking time out to appreciate the things that really matter.
Mindfulness has huge health potential – but McMindfulness is no panacea – Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Guardian • 20th October 2015: Britain’s robust cross-party parliamentary report on the benefits of mindfulness is a model to legislators across the developed world: this ‘way of being’ is no quick fix
Richard Burnett and Katherine Weare on BBC Inside Out
Richard Burnett and Katherine Weare speak to Natalie Graham on BBC Inside Out, South East.
Will Young on Channel 4 News
Will Young: why every child should learn mindfulness.
Willem Kuyken on BBC Radio 4 Today
BBC Radio 4 Today (05:12) – Interview with Willem Kuyken from the Oxford Mindfulness Centre – 16th July 2015:
ITV Wales reports on Paws b
Watch ITV Wales reporting on Paws b, our new primary school mindfulness course. [Watch]
Chris Cullen on BBC Radio
A great clip (05:12) from BBC Radio and MiSP co-founder Chris Cullen on his mindfulness work with parliament:
Richard Burnett speaks at TED
Richard Burnett, co-founder of MiSP, guides us through a short mindfulness meditation and shares his experience of teaching mindfulness in schools.
Lessons in mindfulness benefit teachers and pupils
The Telegraph • [More]
Mindfulness very gently moving around the world’s classrooms
The Age • [More]
Present, sir: benefits of a mindful classroom
The Telegraph • [More]
Focusing on the here and now
Special Children Magazine • [More]
Mindful students at Ysgol Dewi Sant celebrate achievements with Ripper Street star Jerome Flynn
Western Telegraph • [More]
Taking Care of Teacher
The importance of self-care in a demanding profession. [More]
Sleepy head: why beditation is an ideal bedtime wind-down
London Evening Standard • [More]
For the Flourishing of Young Minds: The Mindfulness Toolkit for Tough Times
Huffington Post • [More]
Chocolate meditation and mindfulness in schools
A programme is teaching UK kids to live the now, so they can be stronger later…[More]
Schoolhouse Magazine: Mind how you learn
Thousands of youngsters are struggling with the demands of an increasingly pressurised and competitive society. Stress and anxiety related conditions such as eating disorders, depression and self-harming are rising steeply, particularly among teenagers. Partly as a response to this rise in psychiatric disturbance, growing numbers of schools are adopting the mental discipline of mindfulness. The technique of meditation and breathing exercises is designed to help students unclutter their brains, respond more skilfully to negative thoughts and emotions, and focus calmly on the present. MiSP is featured in this article in Schoolhouse Magazine. Read the full article here.
Prospect Magazine: Mindfulness in Parliament
MPs and Peers are taking off their shoes, exploring how meditation-style techniques can be used in policy and asking what a more mindful politics might look like. MiSP is featured in this insightful article in Prospect Magazine. Read the full article here.
Mindfulness in the House of Lords
A wonderful mention of mindfulness in general and MiSP in particular in a recent debate in the House of Lords. To read the mindfulness section of this debate, please click here. For the full debate, please visit: www.publications.parliament.uk.
BBC Radio Northampton
MiSP’s Claire Kelly speaks with Bernie Keith about the tools that mindfulness can give students in the classroom, how it can be fun, bright and exciting:
RED Hot Teaching
Claire Kelly, Operations Director of the Mindfulness in Schools Project, gives an insightful interview with RED Hot Teaching and their ‘Mindful Class Management’ series. To listen to the full interview, please click here.
Huffpost: Mindfulness for kids
MiSP featured in this Huffpost article: Why We Should Be Encouraging Young People To Find Inner Peace. Once upon a time mindfulness was reserved for spiritual types sitting cross-legged on the tops of faraway mountains, but these days the mind-calming practice has well and truly gone mainstream. Now, everyone is doing it, from comedian and HuffPost UK blogger Ruby Wax to high-flying bankers ditching the city for a life of peace. But what exactly is it? Mindfulness is a therapeutic technique that involves focusing on the present moment while acknowledging and accepting feelings and thoughts – whether positive or negative. Claire Kelly, Operations Director of the Mindfulness in Schools Project helps explain in this Huffpost article. Read the full article here.
Prep School Magazine: Mindfulness in Schools: A growing movement
Mindfulness deserves serious attention by all who seek to make schools happier and more productive places, argues Katherine Weare, Emeritus Professor at the Universities of Exeter and Southampton. There is currently a major growth of interest and activity around mindfulness for children and young people, particularly in the context of schools, with theory, practice, interventions, research, conferences and publications proliferating. The evidence for its effectiveness is still young, but is growing, positive and promising. Well conducted mindfulness interventions, such as the .b Mindfulness in Schools Project, have been shown to help address the problems of the young people who take part and reduce their worries, anxiety, distress, reactivity and bad behaviour, improve sleep, self-esteem, and bring about greater calmness, relaxation, and self-awareness. Read the full article here.
The Guardian: How two minutes of mindfulness can calm a class and boost attainment
Mindfulness helps students cope with academic stress and the pressures of life outside the school gates. In recent years, medical science has discovered the extent to which mindfulness can help treat a range of mental conditions, from stress to depression. While most studies have focused on adults, new research shows mindfulness can improve the mental, emotional, social and physical health and wellbeing of young people. Incredibly, neuroscientists have found that long-term practice alters the structure and function of the brain to improve the quality of both thought and feeling. MiSP is featured in this article in The Guardian. Read the full article here.
The Guardian: Politicians joined by Ruby Wax as parliament pauses for meditation
MPs and peers sample mindfulness practice becoming popular across UK as means to overcome mental health problems. Joined by the comedian Ruby Wax, now the poster girl for the benefits of mindfulness to overcome mental health problems, politicians including former ministers Lord Haworth and Jim Fitzpatrick straightened their spines and focused on their breath at the launch of an all party group to explore the potential for mindfulness in health, education, criminal justice. Read the full article here.
The Guardian: Why we will come to see mindfulness as mandatory
This increasingly popular tool for calming the mind, once seen as a New Age fad, could play a role in hospitals and schools. Mindfulness is selling millions of books and apps, it appears on the front cover of Time magazine, pops up in the Financial Times and is used by all kinds of people from corporate executives and nurses to sportsmen and primary school children. Once a poorly understood New Age fad, it has moved from the margins to the mainstream. Nothing demonstrates that better than the launch of an all-party parliamentary group on mindfulness on Wednesday. Read the full article here.
Richard Burnett on BBC Radio
MiSP co-founder Richard Burnett speaks on Simon Mayo’s Drive Time on Radio 2 (02:45) about how mindfulness can help students deal with exam stress:
MiSP Featured in Prep School Magazine
Teaching well-being and happiness By Debra Farhi
Unfortunately, some Heads associate mindfulness as being ‘hippy-dippy’, mystical or weird. However, this is a way of living which has been around for 2600 years. Our aims for our students should be more than simply functional such as increasing exam results, increased memory retention, etc., but rather we should have more ambitious goals for them such as greater self-understanding by instilling values such as tolerance, patience, and self-awareness. Read the full article here.
Mindfulness on BBC Radio
Jane Garvey discusses mindfulness on BBC Radio (11:21), how it helps to cope with depression and anxiety, and why policy makers are so interested in it:
MiSP Featured in Private Schools Magazine
Does mindfulness have a place in our schools? By Debra Farhi
The teaching profession has been plagued with increased burnout as a result of contributing stress factors, such as excessive workloads and the drive to meet unrealistic targets. Mental health issues such as anxiety, fear, depression and eating disorders are escalating among children and adolescents. Studies have demonstrated that teacher well-being affects the overall classroom climate and student well-being. Read the full article here.
Game of Thrones star inspires mindfulness in schools
Game of Thrones and Ripper Street star Jerome Flynn visited Welsh school Ysgol Dewi Sant, with .b teacher Elizabeth Daniels, on Friday 21 March to discuss and practise mindfulness with pupils at their upper school assembly. Jerome has studied the 8-week Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction course (MBSR), and visited the school to find out more about the .b program.Read the full article here.
Chris Cullen on BBC Radio
A great clip (05:12) from BBC Radio and MiSP co-founder Chris Cullen on his mindfulness work with parliament:
Mindfulness courses for pupils being considered by government, minister reveals
The government is considering whether courses in “mindfulness” should be introduced to help improve pupil well-being, a minister revealed today. Asked if the Department for Education planned to promote the idea, schools minister David Laws told MPs: “We are very interested in promoting this and we certainly think that it is an area that merits consideration based on the evidence we’ve seen to date…” Read the full article here.
Westminster Hall Video
Watch the video of Chris Ruane, MP, leading a debate on mindfulness in education in Westminster Hall on 10 December 2013. [Watch].
Mindfulness for Teachers: A Pilot Study to Assess Effects on Stress, Burnout, and Teaching Efficacy
Despite the crucial role of teachers in fostering children’s academic learning and social–emotional well-being, addressing teacher stress in the classroom remains a significant challenge in education. This study reports results from a randomized controlled pilot trial of a modified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course (mMBSR) adapted specifically for teachers. Read the full study here.
ITV Wales reports on Paws b
Watch ITV Wales reporting on Paws b, our new primary school mindfulness course. [Watch].
The Guardian: Could Mindfulness Help Teachers Manage Stress?
In this article in The Guardian, MiSP’s own Amanda Bailey explains how she teaches mindfulness skills in school to help staff and students manage stress and improve concentration. Read the full article here.
Medical News Today: School Children Taught Mindfulness Suffer Reduced Stress
Medical News Today discuses mindfulness and how it develops sustained attention that can change the ways people think, act and feel, as well as reducing symptoms of stress and depression and promote wellbeing among school children. Read the full article here.
The Independent Explains how MiSP Techniques Can Help Pupils to Cope With Exams
This article from The Independent references the recent study from the Universities of Exeter, Cambridge and Oxford, which reveals the benefits of teaching mindfulness in schools, and how eighty percent of the young people in the study said that they continued using practices taught in MiSP’s mindfulness curriculum after completing the programme. Read the full article here.
Daily Mail: Meditation Reduces the Risk of Depression in Schoolchildren
This Daily Mail article explains how children taught ‘mindfulness’ have lower stress levels, how mindfulness is a meditative technique used to focus awareness on a particular thought or object, and how the practice is also shown to improve pupils’ school results. Read the full article here.
British Journal of Psychiatry Details the Mindfulness in Schools Project
Mindfulness-based approaches for adults are effective at enhancing mental health, but few controlled trials have evaluated their effectiveness among young people. In this non-randomised controlled feasibility study, the effectiveness of the Mindfulness in Schools Programme is assessed. View the full article here.
BBC News Shows Mindfulness in Action
In this engaging clip, BBC News takes us inside a mindfulness class at Marden High School in North Tyneside. Watch the full video here.
BBC World News Talks Mindfulness in Schools
BBC Radio 4 Highlights the Benefits of Mindfulness in Schools
In this audio clip, BBC Radio discusses the benefits of mindfulness in schools with Marry Speakman, head teacher at Altrincham Girls Grammar School, and Professor Willem Kuyken from Exeter University. Listen to full interview here.
Mindfulness Programs In Schools Reduce Symptoms Of Depression Among Adolescents: Study
Huffington Post, March 2013 Read the full article here.
Mindfulness’ is the latest big thing in schools. What is it and why is it so popular?
The Guardian, March 2013 Read the full article here.
Now’s the moment for mindfulness
The Telegraph, January 2013 Read the full article here.
Evidence for the Effects of Mindfulness for Young People
The Times: School Teaches Boys to Meditate to Reduce Stress
Download the scanned article, or read the archived article here.
itv Regional News on Mindfulness
Radio France features .b
This sound clip featuring .b was first broadcast on Radio France, in early 2010.
BBC South East Discusses Mindfulness
Mindfulness in Schools – Tonbridge
Trial examines mindfulness-based cognitive therapy’s effect on anxiety
Faculty members at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine will collaborate on a clinical trial designed to gauge the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on children and adolescents with anxiety symptoms or mood dysregulation. Read the full article here.
Teacher’s Digest: Mindfulness in Education By Kevin Hawkins
Educators around the world are beginning to see the potential that mindfulness can have for their students. At a time when there are growing concerns about children’s capacity to pay attention, depression and anxiety rates are rising, and the wonders of technology may be adding to our propensity for distraction, courses in mindfulness can help students cultivate focusing skills. Read the full article here
A Focus on Mindfulness
Article • June 2014: Amanda Bailey discuss how mindfulness can help children in particular to grow and develop.
Claire Kelly joins Team Renaissance for Podcast 30
Renaissance Podcast • [Listen]