Why we meditate at Nora

Several students have come to me to ask why we’re spending time each week in mindfulness meditation during morning announcements and going through the .b mindfulness program. Their concern was a helpful prompt to more fully think through and articulate why I think this is an important program and a valuable use of time, and I’d like to share those thoughts here.

Learning to practice mindfulness will not train you for a specific job, but neither does a lot of what we do in school. While not everyone who studies Algebra will become a mathematician or engineer, and not everyone who studies biology and chemistry will become a nurse or doctor, it’s important that you have a broad base of knowledge about the world in which you live. Your own mind is a big part of that world, and in fact constructs reality from the information it receives from the world. Having some insight into how your mind works, how it affects your body and your emotions, learning to be aware of that effect in times of stress, and having some tools to manage that stress is eminently practical on whatever path life takes you.

Meditating in a group setting is an important exercise in creating community. While you may not choose to meditate, I ask that you not be looking at or making faces toward other people, as that is disrespectful of their space. You can focus your mind on other things: conjugating verbs, remembering last night’s readings, solving the quadratic formula, but you owe it to your friends and other members of your community to offer others the opportunity to practice without distraction. Being part of a community means sometimes taking the lead, sometimes following, and always being respectful. While I hope that you will practice meditation beyond the little bit we do in school, and increasingly be mindful in all your actions, at the very least by the end of this course you will be aware of this tool and hopefully return to it when you need it.

While the .b classes take some time away from class, you’ll only miss one or two classes this quarter. We also miss class time for snow days, community service, assemblies, and field trips. We can make up snow days if this is a real concern, and we can look at whether or not we should be doing a host of activities that are “non-academic” rather than purely academic. Would we really prefer practice SATs on Wednesday afternoons instead of assemblies? Or regular academic classes? Or a study hall? Should we drop Intersession, which is non-academic? There are lots of things that take class time away, but we don’t make these choices lightly.

We choose these “non-academic” activities because we believe that education is about more than just taking tests and learning math. In fact, if getting a job is your only definition of what your education is about, you’re pretty much finished. You’re capable right now of  pushing the “hamburger” button at McDonald’s, but do you really feel that your education is complete? Teachers are available at lunch and after school to give you any help you need. There is no lack of opportunity to succeed academically at Nora, but education and life is about more than just reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic.

We want you to leave Nora with the intellectual bandwith to be able to think critically, to evaluate the thinking of others, to work creatively, to be able to synthesize the creativity of others, and to have the capacity to connect and grow your thoughts with those of others.

Beyond Algebra and US History, education is about fostering curiosity and taking on challenges... hopefully not just while you’re a teenager but for the rest of your life. If you’re lucky your education never concludes, because the world is far too interesting a place to reach a dead end. The thing is, you never really know what you’ll be curious about until you’ve tried it, even if just a bit. If we hadn’t built a darkroom in this school I might never have gotten interested in photography. In any learning community, everyone will be struck by different things that spark curiosity. For some it will be English literature, others science, perhaps learning to play soccer, or even meditation. We want to challenge you, and we want you to be unafraid to challenge yourself. You may have arrived at Nora loving to read but scared of math, but allowing Hedy to challenge you makes you a more fully human being. You may not be able to draw a straight line, but working with Nic you’re able to express some ideas artistically.

We want you to have a life of the mind, which includes having a healthy body to support that mind, to have fun to stimulate your mind, and to have the ability to be thoughtful about your mind, the last of which is the point of mindfulness.

Far too many people engage life in a mindless way... I do not want you to be among them. Living on autopilot is no way to engage the world. Being aware and appreciative of the gifts you possess in the present moment, being able to regulate your emotional life, managing healthy relationships with others, and with yourself, are pretty important goals that overlay everything else you do in life. Whether you’re ready now or need more time, I want you to have this tool at your disposal for whenever life requires more of you than you think you’re capable.