Difficulty: Summiteer (Level 3)
The primary school pupils at Roberta T. Smith Elementary School had only a few days until the summer holiday, but they were focused. They were ready for one of their favourite parts of the day: meditation.
The children closed their eyes and traced their thumbs from their foreheads to their hearts as they were led in an exercise called the shark fin.
Schools in the United States are using yoga, meditation and mindfulness exercises to help students manage stress. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention last year endorsed schools’ use of these practices, as student struggles with mental health became clear after the pandemic.
Research has found school-based mindfulness programmes can help, especially when students face high levels of stress or trauma.
