Amanda returns after a long hiatus, excited to start a new season focused on mindfulness, neurodiversity, equity, and student engagement. In this special episode, Amanda shares a recording of her first mindfulness class from her practicum, which is part of her Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher Training Certification Program (MMTCP). The class includes a 10-minute talk on the challenges of slowing down, followed by an 8-minute meditation. Amanda discusses the significance of breath as a tool for calm and peace amid the chaos of life, particularly for teachers. She also introduces various breathing techniques and their benefits. The episode concludes with a guided meditation exercise aimed at helping listeners find tranquility.

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome Back!

01:00 Introducing the Practicum

04:35 The Power of Breath

10:05 Personal Meditation Journey

13:09 Breathing Techniques

19:39 Guided Meditation

28:01 Closing Thoughts

Transcript: 

Amanda: [00:00:00] Hi, it’s Amanda. It’s been so long since I’ve recorded an episode, actually since July of 2024, and a lot has happened since then. I’m, it’s April 20th. Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate. Um, so I am back and I am planning on, uh, recording and putting out episodes weekly again. So think of this as a new season.

I’m really excited to be back because I have a lot to share with you about the topics that this podcast, I want this podcast to cover, which is content about mindfulness, content about neurodiversity. Equity student engagement, all the good stuff you’re interested in, and this episode today is actually really, really special to [00:01:00] me.

It is the first class. That I taught for my practicum. Uh, I did a two year program. I finished it, and this is part of the reason I’ve been so absent from the podcast, uh, to become a meditation teacher. It’s called, um, mindfulness and Meditation Teacher Training Certification, M-M-T-C-P, and in this program.

I had to do a four week practicum, well, I had to do two actually. So eight weeks I taught about mindfulness and meditation. And the recording you’re gonna hear today is the very, very first class that I taught. So it, it’s a 10 minute talk that I did about breath and. I, I’m really honest about how challenging it can be in our culture, and especially in this teaching [00:02:00] profession to slow down.

And so I tried really hard in this class to normalize the challenge of that. And then after the talk, uh, I, I facilitate about an eight minute meditation and so I really hope that you enjoy listening to this. It was a class of three, so I had three of my dear good friends come my house and we all sat around a fire outside.

It was. Actually about a year ago, uh, this month, April, that I, uh, hosted this class and, uh, it was called Nurtured in Nature. So I invited everyone I knew to come to this free class and. Um, originally I meant to host it in the woods, but the, the first day the class was supposed to happen, it was raining.

And so we ca they came to my house and we sat underneath a [00:03:00] covered canopy, uh, with blankets and tea and, and it was, it was a beautiful experience and I’m, I’m just really happy to share it with you all today. And I know as the school year comes to a close. It can be really, really hectic and just this transition between just the fast paced school year and then all of a sudden summer break and everything comes to a screeching halt.

I don’t know about you, but that transition is really, really hard. Um, and, uh, and I, I really do believe that the tools that I’ve learned through this two year program can be so. So helpful, um, to. Teachers in particular. So I, I really hope that you enjoy it. And, uh, if you do, feel free to contact me@amandarightnow.com and just click contact and [00:04:00] let me know what you thought.

Thank you so much, and as always, I really appreciate your reviews and I appreciate you sharing this podcast. Now that I’m back, please, please share with your teacher, friends or others as well. Thanks for listening. Welcome to the Empower Students Now podcast. A podcast about equity, neurodiversity, mindfulness, and student engagement.

There’s a lot that needs to change in our education system. The good news is teachers have the power to make these changes. Now,

by the end of this talk, I hope you’ll come to understand that your breath. Is one among many powerful tools that you can utilize to access what you all want from this class, which is calm presence, uh, peace amongst the chaos of life that you were naming. Jude, because let’s be real, [00:05:00] life is chaotic, uh, especially for women and mothers.

Uh, we’re constantly bombarded. And, and in this tech world with information just coming at us and all of it is out of our control, most of it’s out of our control, our kids’ behavior. Um, and a lot of things are not even within our conscious awareness because it’s impossible to pay attention to everything or control everything that occurs within one moment.

So for example, like in this moment, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s birds chirping. There’s the pond, the waterfall. I, I hear an airplane. Uh, there’s a little bit of wind. I just heard a cr cricket. Um, there’s the feeling of the ground on your feet. I’m pretty cold. My hands are cold there. Your blood is flowing.

You’re breathing right now. Uh, you’re blinking. Even your own thoughts are completely out of [00:06:00] your control most of the time. I woke up in the middle of the night last night practicing what I was gonna say during this class, and I was like, I’m supposed to be sleeping. Why am I thinking, you know, like, what is going on here?

Um, and so, and it just happens, you know, it’s natural, it’s our bodies. Um, you might even like replay events from the past in your mind without even realizing you’re doing it. Um, so this is the definition of mindfulness, uh, that I came up with. Mindfulness is the continual practice of intentionally choosing to direct your attention toward an anchor, such as your breath.

’cause an anchor right holds a boat down. Uh, the physical sensations in your body, like your feet on the floor or your fingertips. Um, sounds, I love focusing on sounds. I know Dana is. Loves music. Um, and so just focusing on sounds [00:07:00] even a mantra.

Or movement, just yoga. You know, focusing on the way your body’s feeling when you’re moving or walking meditation. So these are just a few anchors that are available to you and you get to pick what works for you and you get to experiment. I think one of the misconceptions about meditation is that you have to do it a certain way and you don’t, you don’t have to do it a certain way.

I consider crying in my car, meditating. I really do. I’m like, okay, it’s time to meditate. ’cause I feel it, I feel the, the crying coming. And, um, and so all of this, like picking one anchor, uh, can really, um, bring your attention. Um, what do I have here? And anchor helps still your attention among all the waves of information.

Um, like it helps a boat stay still in choppy water. [00:08:00] The trouble is that breath is so insignificant. It just happens. Uh, we take it for granted, uh, because it’s just so automatic and it’s invisibly omnipresent. When I was a kid, adults would tell me to breathe when I was upset. And I think we tell kids that all the time and they don’t understand usually.

Um, I say I, I would say when I was a kid, I am breathing, you know? And like my kid says that too, like. I know how to breathe already. You don’t have to like tell me to. It was one of the most frustrating things adults would say to me. But today as a parent and a teacher, I try to convey the importance of breath to my daughter and my students and to myself.

Um, and they make these same frustrated faces and sometimes I do too. And comments that I used to. I think this is because everyone comes to the understanding of the power of their breath. In their own time, [00:09:00] in their own way, and for their own reasons, I discovered its power in my late thirties. I’m 41, when I was desperate for anything to help me cope with tremendous burnout, stress, anxiety, perfectionism, and self criticism.

I am still struggling with all of those things. Like I don’t have everything figured out at all. Um, and sometimes I feel like an imposter sitting here trying to teach all of this, but it’s helped me so much and that’s why I’m doing this because I want to spread awareness about these tools because they do help when you remember to use them.

You know, and when and when you feel like you can. Because sometimes you can’t, sometimes you, you, you just have to be mad and upset that you’re in pain and like, you know, so just like, that’s the self-compassion part. Um, so, [00:10:00] uh, this is about, I think like seven years ago, eight years ago when I started meditating.

I would get to school early and I would lay on my yoga mat in a closet in my classroom. I think you all have heard this story before. I don’t know if Jude has, and I would listen to Headspace. I don’t know if you, you all know that, that app, but I would listen to Headspace. It was a really simple guided 10 minute meditation, and the meditations always began with a few deep breaths, a short body scan, and then a simple process of counting my breaths up to 10 and then beginning again.

And I would, my practice was to notice when I was lost in thought or like I lost count, or I, all of a sudden was on 32 and I’m like, wait, I was only supposed to count to 10. Um, so when my thought strayed, I was instructed by the app to bring my attention back to my breath. Some days in that closet trying to count my breaths, I would be lost in thought about all the things I had to [00:11:00] do, all the things I had to get ready for my students.

And I was kind of mad and angry, like, well, I don’t wanna do this. This isn’t even happening. Um, and I would be wondering like, when the heck is the timer gonna go off? Like I, I can’t, like, I don’t want it anymore. And sometimes I would even get up before the timer go because I was too stressed out, and then I would beat myself up for complaining and not using the downtime more wisely.

Other days, I would burst into tears. Not sure exactly why I was crying. Other days I was able to notice more easily when my attention drifted away from counting my breaths. I used this app for about two years, fairly regular, regularly, and at that point I knew from my own personal experience with this practice how incredibly powerful breathing could be for a person like me.

Um, and I’m getting emotional. Um. You know, I, you all know that I was diagnosed [00:12:00] with a DHD like a year ago, two years ago. I don’t remember. Um, so like I’ve gone my whole life, like not knowing that I, you know, had this issue. Um, and it’s the hyperactive type. So I’m just someone who just like, can’t sit still very well.

Um. And I’m still like that. Like yesterday, Eric and I got into a fight because I spent the whole day like going here, going there, doing this, doing that. Like, like by the time it was time to relax, I was still, you know, just all over the place. Um, and I was like, I’m gonna go take a shower because like showers help me calm down.

Um, so since learning to find more space to just be with my breath, and for some reason in the shower, it’s really easy for me to like breathe. I’ve learned the importance of experimenting with the tools that resonate most with me at any given moment or time in my life was when I first learned [00:13:00] meditation and mindfulness.

I needed a lot of guidance and simple structure and consistency, and that app Headspace did the trick. But as time went on, I learned about other breath, breath techniques such as pranayama, which you’re doing. Breath retention is what that means. So like holding. So, and I’ll do this all the time, so I’ll, I’ll breathe in for four, like I’ll breathe in for four, and then I’ll hold my breath for seven and then I’ll breathe out for eight.

And it doesn’t even have to be it just breathing in, holding my breath. And then the, the out breath is long. It’s very long. Um, and that actually, there’s scientific studies that show that that actually, um, uh, triggers your vagus nerve, which is part of the parasympathetic nervous system. [00:14:00] It’s the longest nerve in your body.

I don’t know if you all have ever heard of it, but it goes from like. Up here all the way down to your gut. Um, and it, it’s a really important Oh, great. I went over my 10 minutes. Um, just two more minutes. Uh, it’s a really important nerve that stimulates, um, it, it stimulates all sorts of things so it, it makes your heart rate slow down.

So when you hold your breath like that and then you breathe very long, it, it slows your heart rate. And your heart rate becomes regular. Your blood pressure decreases. Your muscles relax. And when the vagus nerve informs the brain of these changes, your brain relaxes too. Um, and it increases feelings of peacefulness.

Uh, so that’s pranayama. Uh, I learned other fun breathing techniques too, such as lion’s breath, which is inhaling through your nose and sticking your tongue out as you exhale to make a ah, sound. [00:15:00] So we could do it together. I just saw Aria and she looks so grown up that I thought it was a adult. Oh my gosh.

That’s wild. And by the way, if anyone needs to go to the bathroom or get anything, like go, you can’t do, you have to go to the bathroom. Okay. And we could take a little break too, um, after my talk. But the lion’s breath is like this. You inhale through your nose and then you stick out your tongue and you go.

It’s really fun. Yeah, it’s a fun one. There’s also alternate, no nostril breathing. When you close one nostril, you breathe into one, and then you take a full inhale through, and then you close your uh, or wait, wait. So you take one inhale and then you exhale through the opposite. Oh no, I’m, I’m, I’ve got, I got some stuff coming up and then you can switch back and forth.

Um, [00:16:00] I’m glad I’m making you laugh. That’s my favorite thing to do as a teacher. Okay. Belly breathing is awful. Also helpful to relieve stress. All. As with all the other breathing exercises, you start by inhaling through your nose, exhaling through your mouth, and paying close attention to, and even exaggerating the expansion of your belly.

Making it big, um, making your belly big and so when you exhale, you make it big.

You can even put your hands lightly on your stomach or even place a tissue box on it if you’re laying down. I like to do laying down meditation so you can be aware of your belly re rising and falling. With this breathing exercise, you can breathe out through your mouth. At least two or three times as long as you inhale.

I also learned to take deep breaths at just a name, but in con uh, but consistent times throughout the [00:17:00] day. So for some reason I’ve like learned to always take a breath before I exit the shower in the morning. Like I’m always taking deep breaths right before I get outta the shower. Uh, when pulling up to my house and turning off the car, I always take a deep breath.

Um, when I’m feeling anxious about being late, ’cause aria’s a slow poke, I just try and take deep breaths or just any sort of negative emotions come up. I, if I remember, I always take deep breaths. Not always, but if I remember. So on this journey, coping with burnout from living such a hyperactive like driven, achievement oriented life, I’ve learned about the multitude of instructions that can prevent someone from accessing breath.

Illness, chronic conditions, trauma. Just a few things that can really obstruct your ability to access your breath, but thankfully you can use other tools that I’ll talk about in this class. Um, sound movement, [00:18:00] mantra visualizations. Um, yoga Ninja is so beautiful. I don’t know if you all are familiar with that.

Loving Kindness Meditations, sending love and kindness to yourself of sending love and kindness to others in your life and to your community and the world. Animals, petting them. Um, all of these are tools that can bring presence and peace. It’s important to mention this, that there are times when breath is not the best tool, uh, not something you should force onto yourself.

This should be a really gentle, um, practice. Which is hard too, you know, being compassionate with yourself. But it’s something, and it’s something you have to be motivated to do and kind of ready to do. Uh, and it seems like you all are people who are ready for this, um, and willing to experience this. So I just wanna end with a Pema Chodron, um, [00:19:00] quote about breath.

If we pause and breathe in and out. Then we can have the experience of timeless presence of the inexpressible wisdom and goodness of our own minds. We can look at the world with fresh eyes and hear things with fresh ears. I love her. Okay, so we only have like 15 more minutes of class. Do you want to do a guided meditation on your breath?

Are you ready? Sure. Yeah. All right. You all are amazing student. I’m like, I don’t know. I feel so, so much gratitude. Okay, so first as always, and this is about eight minutes, so, um, I always like to know how long the meditation is because it, like, sometimes I’ll be thinking like, how long is this gonna go?

How long is it? Like, I, I think you know what I mean? Like, if someone doesn’t tell you, it’s like, ah. Okay, so it’s about eight minutes. Um, so first [00:20:00] you’re gonna, as usual, and I noticed Dana just do this, uh, establish a comfortable posture in which you are both relaxed and alert.

Now, bringing your attention to just the fact of your body breathing. Notice that. It’s always breathing quite naturally.

Maybe take a few breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.

Begin noticing where it’s easiest to feel the breath. [00:21:00] It might be a coolness you feel in your nostrils

warmth. On the upper lip with the out breath,

or maybe a swirling tingling in the back of the throat.

It might be the rise and fall of your chest or your belly.

It might be the sensations of the whole body breathing.

Wherever you find the breath, easiest to feel or [00:22:00] most pleasant,

rest your kind attention there.

If the breath is subtle or hard to feel, you can always place a hand on your belly or your chest and feel the rise and fall with the palm of your hand. It’s a beautiful way to stay with your breath.

Now I’m gonna pause for a bit and I just want you to let yourself feel the next three to five breaths, and as you feel them and draw your attention to that anchor, [00:23:00] let the mind calm.

And the body relax.[00:24:00]

Continue with this relaxed, calming attention on the breast.

Each time the attention wanders and you notice. Gently with kindness, bring it back to the breath,

like training a puppy. No judgment, simply a kind return, sit, stay.[00:25:00]

This breath. Just know

it’s helpful. You can try to notice the beginning, middle, and ending of the breath. In

and out.[00:26:00]

Notice the space between breaths.

Notice where your attention is now. If it’s drifted [00:27:00] gently return to the sensations of breathing.

Let your mind calm and your body relax fully, hear awake, and at ease.

Notice the sounds around you

would go your fingers or your toes

and open your eyes.[00:28:00]

Thank you so much again for listening. I appreciate you and I. Really, really hope that this calmed your nervous system and that you found some, some peace. ’cause we all know that teachers, we really, really, we crave that, don’t we? Don’t [00:29:00] we?