The practice of Mindfulness can help students manage themselves so that they are not overwhelmed by the ups and downs of life.

1. Mindfulness -
The key to self management

2. How do we make choices ?
• What to eat, drink ?
• What to wear ?
• What to do ?
• What to say ?

3. How do we make choices ?
• To increase pleasant feelings and
avoid unpleasant feelings ! –
pleasure pain principle ……
Freud !!
• Instinctive behaviour …
evolutionary programming of human
brain!

4. Pleasure – Pain principle
• A great impediment in facing life as
we grow up !......
–Increasing addiction among youth
–Inability to face unpleasant situations
… road rage, aggression, violence
=>Lack of self control
–Inability to distinguish between
“pleasant” and “good”

5. Traditional approach of self control
• Moral Education
• Limitations of didactic approach
• Example from Mahābhārata
जानामि धिमि् न च िे प्रवृति
जानामि अधिमि् न च िे तनवृति

6. Mindfulness -- the key to self management
• Need for addressing the root
cause
• Root cause of lack of self control:
– instinctive tendency to seek
pleasant feelings [craving] and
avoid unpleasant feeling [aversion]
How do feelings arise ?

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Modes of Interaction with the world
Human
being
Mind

8. Mindfulness -- the key to self management
• People react differently to stimuli
–we react to feelings, not external
objects reaction => either of craving or
aversion
–role of perception, past conditioning
• Self management =>
• reducing the influence of pleasure-
pain principle & avoid instinctive
reaction
• responding to the stimuli wisely

9. Mindfulness -- the key to self management
• Training of Mind
–understand feelings are impermanent
–not to react to feelings:
–Neither run away nor run after feelings
just observe them with equanimity as
these change in their natural course
–Creating a space for wise
response
• Need for practical training

10. Mindfulness -- the key to self management
• Practical Training
– Benefits of using bodily sensations as an
anchor for training the mind
– Strengthening the mind to develop the ability
to feel subtle sensations
• Vipassanā meditation
• Systematic scanning of the body to ‘feel’
the bodily sensations and training the
mind not to react to them.
• Using breath as an anchor to raise
concentration … Ānāpāna meditation

11. Meditation process in nutshell
Select object of
meditation
Notice any
reaction --
Relax
Noticing
attention has
wandered
Attention wanders
Return the
attention to the
object
• Moment by
moment
• Open Curiosity
• Non-judgmental
• Non -reactive
Let us practice for a few minutes

12. Benefits of Practice
Let us see the feedback from a school

13. Benefits of practice
• Increase in concentration & efficiency
• Ability to resist temptations, distinguish
between ‘urgent’ and ‘important’ ; and say NO
• Ability to face ups-downs of life
• Proper self-appraisal- knowledge of strengths
and weaknesses
• Improvement in relationships

14. International Acceptance of
Mindfulness practice in
Education

15. Thanks !!
Any Questions ?