Mindful Rewrites - Responding Instead Of Reacting

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a young girl named Scout is fighting with other children because they are critical of her father, attorney Atticus Finch. They make fun of him for defending a black man in the South in the 1930s. Atticus is a wise man, and advises his daughter, "you just hold your head up high and keep those fists down...No matter what anybody says to you, don't let 'em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change."

Mindful Rewrite

Mindfulness practice helps children to hold their head up high, their fists down, and to not allow others to "get their goat," instead using their head to handle disputes. The Journal for Family  (2013) reported that in a study of 400 children, mindfulness training resulted in significant increases in students' attention, self-control, classroom participation, and respect for others. There is increasing interest in using mindfulness practices for education. The UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center found improvements in self-regulation abilities of preschool and elementary school students after they participated in eight weeks of mindfulness training. Children who initially had the most problems with self-regulation showed the strongest improvements. Although it's ideal to start these practices at a young age, it is never too late to begin to increase your abilities of self-regulation, because our brain retains its plasticity for a lifetime. It is never too late to heed the advice of Atticus Finch by refusing to allow others to "get your goat.”

Practice 

One practice that has been researched with children is to have them focus awareness on their feet as a way to shift focus until they can “fight with their head.” This works at any age. Allow your awareness to drop into your feet and notice sensations or heaviness, paying attention to the way your feet feel as they touch the ground in your shoes. If you're not wearing shoes you can move your toes and notice the feeling as you twist your foot at the ankle. Flex it backward and forward, noticing the sensations as they come and go in the present moment. You may find that focusing your awareness on your feet can redirect aggressive energy and focus you more on the present moment. You might then be better prepared to make a good decision and respond rather than react.

You can also take about 30 seconds to focus on your hand, again noticing the sensations, the heaviness, allowing your awareness to move out of your mind and into your hand. This is a good practice if you're in a meeting when you feel yourself getting agitated. You can see this as an opportunity to reconnect with your bodily sensations in the present moment by focusing on your hand for 30 seconds.

When we are more relaxed, we are better able to think clearly, consider consequences, and attend to the point of view of others.