Students & Teens: A regular mindfulness practice can help ease stress and anxiety, while building focus and resilience. Here are some practical tips and resources to support you:
Feeling Stressed at School? Explore these resources: 10 Tips for Minimizing School Stress
Steps to help you calm and focus before starting homework or taking a test: Mindful Homework or Test Taking Practice
In this video, teens and young adults share how practicing mindfulness has supported different areas of their lives: Mindfulness by Youth Voices video
In this video, middle school students talk about what causes them stress and how mindfulness has helped them cope: Release by Julie Bayer-Salzman
Mindfulness Apps:
Insight Timer-Meditation Timer: Includes a meditation timer plus hundreds of guided meditations and talks to choose from. https://insighttimer.com/
Smiling Mind: A free, easy-to-use app with short introductions to mindfulness and guided practices tailored by age and interest. https://www.smilingmind.com.au/smiling-mind-app
Down Dog: Offers customizable practices in Meditation, Yoga, Barre, and more - and students get one free year with a school/college email! https://www.downdogapp.com/schools
Calm: A popular app with guided meditations in a variety of lengths, so you can fit mindfulness into any schedule. https://www.calm.com/
Three Good Things: Focuses on gratitude instead of meditation. Simple and effective - developed from Duke University research showing that writing down three good things daily boosted happiness more than Prozac! https://oatmealapps.com/three-good-things
Tips For Being More Mindful When Posting / Commenting / Messaging On Social Media - Try These 4 Steps:
Reread what you have written before you hit send or post.
Pause for a second or two before you hit send or post to make sure you want to share this.
Ask yourself if the message you are going to send has been thought out, is not rushed, and has a purpose.
Check in with how you are feeling emotionally and physically right now. What emotions are you having? What signals, red flags, or cues is your body giving off?
And Remember: If you are feeling jealous, angry, frustrated, sad, or depressed, or experiencing any other negative emotion, consider pausing and NOT messaging or posting in that moment - you can always send something later.
(modified from StressedTeens.com)
-Morgan Harper Nichols