Please forward to staff members responsible for pastoral care

Invitation to the 2013 International Mindfulness in Schools Conference

As someone responsible for the wellbeing of the young people with whom you work, I wanted to encourage you, and any staff who might be interested, to join the 800 or so other educational professionals attending the

Mindfulness in Schools Project Annual Conference on 27th March 2013 in London

The Mindfulness in Schools Project's .b programme is now taught schools throughout the UK and beyond, including the USA, Australia and Thailand, by specially trained teachers

.b is shorthand for ‘Stop and Breathe/Be.’

.b’s evidence-base, from studies conducted by Oxford, Cambridge and Exeter Universities, is compelling: Learning .b’s basic mindfulness techniques is associated with significant improvements in secondary school students’ psychological and physical wellbeing in terms of:

• attention
• management of exam anxiety
• peer relationships
• and performance in school work
• sport
• music

The recently developed Primary .b curriculum and a .b course for adults are anticipated to be associated with similar outcomes for younger children and teachers.

The conference will feature Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Medicine at University of Massachusetts’ Medical School, who pioneered secular mindfulness training in clinical settings, laying the foundation for increasingly popular and significantly effective public and educational programmes.

Other presenters include Professor Willem Kuyken of Exeter University, speaking on the outcomes of a recent controlled trial of .b across schools. We will also be hearing directly from some of the 1,000+ pupils who have been introduced to mindfulness through the .b programme, and Chris Ruane, MP.

You may be interested to see this recent article about .b mindfulness programme from The Guardian, and to see .b author Richard Burnett’s TEDxWhitechapel talk the Mindfulness in Schools Project:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/mar/04/mindfulness-based-stress-reduction-meditation;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mlk6xD_xAQ

Please do not hesitate to contact me cd@mindfulnessinschools.org should you need any further information

Hope to see you there!

Claire Kelly
Mindfulnessinschools.org

Mindfulness in Schools Project, 36 Benthal Road, London, N16 7BX.