Building a Sustainable Mindfulness Program
By Sarah Goldman
Interview with Lina Paumgarten on November 7, 2022
“I started my own mindfulness training at the American School The Hague because I could see the value for others but was skeptical of meditation myself.” Lina Paumgarten is Wellness Coordinator, High School Counselor, and Varsity Athletic Coach at the International School Nido de Aguilas, Chile. Her hesitancy towards mindfulness is something many of us can relate to. Research says a regular mindfulness practice for both adults and children can support emotional regulation, decrease stress, anxiety and depression as well as the ability to manage it, increase focus and boosts working memory. But for some of us, the entire idea seems a bit too new-age or hokey to be anything worth pursuing in a real way.
Lina gives us another perspective, “Mindfulness is really just self-regulation tools. It’s about strengthening muscles that we need later on. What we resist in mindfulness is usually a muscle that needs to be worked. I once had a student say that he didn’t have time to sit and meditate, so together we explored what that tells us about a need our brain has. Sitting still is our brain’s ability to be patient, when we sit mindfully we are practicing patience, so that when we need that skill in a difficult moment we can access it .” The practice itself is just that- practice. We may not see the results until later. In an age where we are hooked on instant gratification, it’s difficult to play the long game.
“Mindfulness is really just self-regulation tools. It’s about strengthening muscles that we need later on. What we resist in mindfulness is usually a muscle that needs to be worked.”
Lina’s turning point came when she began to invest in her own practice, and overtime noticed her ability to sit in difficult moments and respond rather than react. She needed no more convincing and spent the next 9 years at Nido de Aguilas International School building a Mindfulness Training program to support wellness.
Here is what she learned about building a successful mindfulness program in schools.
1.Build your own practice first:
“I read all the research, but once I started my own practice- that was all the convincing I needed.” Said Lina. We can only assume the role of expert if we have practiced ourselves. Lina adds, “ We are the scientist and the experiment. There is a difference between teaching a mindfulness curriculum and teaching mindfully.”
2. Get administration onboard:
Logistics was a huge roadblock to building a sustainable program for Lina. It was hard to compete for space on a regular basis. Building a wellness center at the school gave her program a home. Mindfulness became a mandatory 10-week course for all 9th grade students which they would attend once a week during their Health block. This meant that within 4 years, all high schoolers had gone through the program. Keep in mind it is important to be aware of trauma informed mindfulness practices when offering mindfulness as a mandatory course.
3. Make it sustainable by involving the community:
Lina’s long term goal is to make the program sustainable, so that it continues without her. This is particularly important in international schools where teachers are transient- we need to keep training so that powerful programs like these sustain turnover. It is important to train the adults in the common language and practices of mindfulness so they can be additional supports and expand the impact of the training on the students. She offers an 8-week course for staff and parents. “It would be ideal to offer a course where parents and teachers can take mindfulness together, but logistically it is difficult.” Lina also advises having another adult in the room when teaching students. In her own journey this provided her with a thought partner after each lesson and the participating teacher was then able to teach the next cohort of mindfulness.
4. Be patient
You don't always see the impact at first, kids come back years later saying they need those skills now but didn't realize it at the time. You have to plant the seeds and know you won’t always be around to see the garden.” Lina mentions a quote that has inspired her own patience, "When the student is ready, the teacher appears". This quote feels very pertinent also, as we try to plant seeds throughout the school year and the lifetime of a child. We don't know who will have the bigger impact and when that moment will be. If all educators are trained to practice and use Mindfulness, then "when the student is ready" the teacher will be there regardless.
The self-regulation competencies are a critical part of CASEL’s SEL framework. For support in your own SEL initiatives please see our programs and visit our website or contact us at Sea Change Mentoring.
