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Mindfulness Practice

Ken Breeding

Becoming More Mindful

We do not simply live in reality; we live in our perception of reality, and that perception is not fixed; it is constructed moment by moment by the brain, shaped by our attention, beliefs, and past experience (Clark, 2013; Barrett, 2017). This construction influences everything: our stress levels, our emotions, our behavior, even our physical health (Crum & Langer, 2007; Davidson et al., 2003).

The implication is profound. If perception helps create our experience, then learning to work with perception changes what is possible. Mindfulness is the discipline of doing exactly that. It trains us to see more clearly, to pause before reacting, and to respond with greater awareness. In doing so, it gives us a powerful, practical way to influence not just how we feel, but how we live. This grounded way of approaching our task of guiding children is crucial and allows us to successfully implement all of the skills and strategies discussed in this book.

Mindsight  

Mindsight is a term coined by Dan Siegel and described in detail in his book, Mindsight (2010). Mindsight is in many ways the same thing as mindfulness, but it can be defined a little more specifically. It’s a focused attention that allows us to see the inner workings of our own minds. Mindsight builds on mindfulness by adding the capacity to observe and understand the processes of the mind itself.

Mindsight is a unique human ability. It allows us to closely examine the processes by which we think, feel, and behave. It allows us to reshape and redirect our inner experiences, so that we have more freedom, more control over our choices and our everyday actions, and more power to create the future in intentional and purposeful ways.

The mental and emotional changes that we create through the cultivation of this ability, to really look at our mind processes, are transformational at the very physical level of the brain. When we engage in developing this mindsight and doing things that strengthen mindsight, we actually physically change the hard wiring of our neurons and their connections.

We’re all familiar with the five senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Physical ways we take in information about the world. There’s a sixth sense, which is a perception of our internal bodily states. Since the 1800s, Charles Bell and later William James, the father of American psychology, used the term, the sixth sense, to discuss and talk about our ability to perceive internal things, like proprioception, our ability to tell if we’re tilted, upright, or upside down, as well as the sense of hunger and thirst. Those things all comprised a sixth sense.

Dan Siegel suggests that mindsight really is a seventh sense. It’s another way of perceiving, not with our bodily functions or the five external senses, but rather an internal process of looking at and perceiving the mind. Being aware of our own minds is a very useful thing.

I have recorded a guided meditation that will help you understand these concepts and begin to be able to consciously engage in mindsight. You’ll need to find a comfortable place to listen to it, a time and place with as few distractions as possible. Doing it right now would probably be the most useful, but you can come back and do it later if that seems more appropriate.

As you listen, you’ll explore what Siegel calls the “Wheel of Awareness.” Mindsight emanates from the center of our mind, from the empty hub of that wheel. This hub of our mind is always available to us right now. It’s from here that we can enter a compassionate state of connection to ourselves and feel compassion for others.

Exercises

Take time to engage in the following meditation led by Ken Breeding. This will allow you 20 minutes to connect with your inner self.

Fundamental Principles of Mindsight

Now that you’ve taken the time to consciously engage in mindsight, here are the principles that fundamentally improve our sense.

  1. Mindsight can be cultivated through very practical steps.
    • The thing we just did, that guided meditation, is one way of stretching that muscle. It’s like working out at a gym. Our mindsight, or that ability to be mindful, can be developed in many different ways. The more regular and routine our practices become, the more developed mindsight becomes. The more it is integrated into our lives, the more effective it will be.
  2. When we develop this ability, we actually change the physical structure of the brain and the biochemicals and processes that are going on in it.
    • We can actually change the physical structure of our brains to be better prepared for anything life brings to us. Just as bigger muscles make lifting heavy things easier, a physically more mindful brain makes managing the behavior of children easier. All those things that we do as teachers for young children are best done from a mindful position with a bigger and more efficient foundation in our brains.
  3. Well-being and health emerges when we create more mindfulness.
    • With the ability to understand our minds, we can use that to achieve and maintain integration not only within ourselves, but with our connections to others as well. We are not solitary beings; we are intricately connected to others. Mindsight facilitates those connections and integration with others.

A Variety of Mindfulness Practices

Mindfulness is not a single technique, but a set of trainable capacities that can be developed through a wide range of practices. These practices differ in form; some are still, some involve movement, some are structured, and others are woven into daily life, but they share a common purpose: strengthening our ability to attend to present-moment experience with openness and awareness.

Virtually every culture has developed some form of practice that harnesses, or tries to harness, the power of mindfulness to cultivate well-being and development. We often think of this as an Eastern or Buddhist approach. But it’s integrated into every Western culture and religious tradition as well. There are energy things like yoga and tai chi, etc., but there are also devotional practices like centering prayer, chanting, saying the rosary, or any of those rituals that are designed to help develop this sense of concentration, of mindfulness.

Research suggests that mindfulness can be cultivated through both formal practices (such as meditation) and informal practices (such as everyday awareness). Consistent engagement, rather than any single method, is the key factor in developing this capacity (Lutz et al., 2008; Garland et al., 2015).

Examples

Below is a comprehensive overview of the most well-supported approaches.

Sitting Meditation (Formal Practice)

One of the most widely studied approaches is sitting meditation. In this practice, individuals typically focus their attention on the breath, bodily sensations, or sounds, while noticing thoughts and emotions as they arise without judgment. When the mind wanders, attention is gently brought back to the chosen anchor. The anchor can be just the focus on the breath, a word, a short affirmative statement, or an image.

Over time, this strengthens sustained attention and helps individuals recognize thoughts as mental events rather than facts. A large body of research shows that this kind of mindfulness meditation reduces stress, anxiety, and depression while improving emotional regulation and attentional control (Goyal et al., 2014; Tang et al., 2015; Hölzel et al., 2011).

This practice is foundational because it directly trains the ability to observe experience rather than automatically identify with it

Walking Meditation (Mindfulness in Motion)

Mindfulness can also be cultivated through movement, as seen in walking meditation. In this practice, attention is brought fully to the physical experience of walking, the sensation of the feet making contact with the ground, the shifting of balance, and the rhythm of movement. Unlike sitting meditation, walking meditation emphasizes grounding awareness in the body while in motion.

Research suggests that walking meditation can improve mood, reduce stress, and enhance overall mindfulness, even when practiced for relatively short periods (Ma et al., 2022). It demonstrates that mindfulness is not limited to stillness; it can be integrated into everyday activity, expanding the range of situations in which awareness can be applied.

Yoga and Mindful Movement

Yoga and other forms of mindful movement further deepen this integration of body and mind. These practices combine physical postures, controlled breathing, and focused attention, encouraging individuals to notice internal sensations and bodily states with greater precision. People may think of yoga as just poses or physical stretching, which yoga does include, but the word yoga actually comes from a word that means “to yoke or to bring together.” So, it’s an intention to bring together all of our experience, which can be a kind of spiritual thing even for people without a religious tradition. The important thing in all yoga is the bringing together of that deep breath that is the essence of life.

By bringing attention to the body, yoga strengthens the connection between perception and physical experience, helping individuals become more attuned to subtle shifts in tension, emotion, and energy. Research indicates that yoga can reduce stress, improve emotional regulation, and enhance overall well-being, in part by activating the body’s relaxation response and increasing interoceptive awareness, the sixth sense we discussed with Mindsight (Benson & Proctor, 2010; Gard et al., 2014).

Breath-work and Physiological Regulation

Closely related to both meditation and movement practices are breath-focused techniques. These practices emphasize conscious control and awareness of breathing, often slowing and deepening the breath. Because breathing is directly linked to the autonomic nervous system, it provides one of the most immediate pathways for influencing physiological state. We’re always breathing. Focusing on that breathing and all of the sensations connected with it can happen anywhere for any length of time. It’s always available as a tool to help us practice mindfulness.

Research shows that slow, controlled breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, reduces stress, and enhances emotional regulation (Jerath et al., 2015; Zaccaro et al., 2018). In this way, breathwork illustrates a central principle of mindfulness by changing how we attend to a simple, ongoing process like breathing, we can influence both mind and body.

Daily Routines (Morning and Evening Practices)

In addition to these formal practices, mindfulness can be strengthened through intentional daily routines. Beginning the day with a brief period of reflection, meditation, or intention setting can shape how experiences are interpreted throughout the day. Similarly, ending the day with reflection or gratitude can influence how events are processed and remembered.

Research on neuroplasticity suggests that repeated patterns of attention strengthen neural pathways over time, meaning that consistent daily practices can gradually shift baseline levels of awareness and emotional regulation (Tang et al., 2015; Lutz et al., 2008). These routines help transform mindfulness from an occasional activity into a stable trait.

Informal Mindfulness (Everyday Awareness)

Beyond structured practices, mindfulness can be integrated into everyday life through informal awareness. This involves bringing full attention to ordinary activities such as eating, listening, working, or interacting with others. For example, mindful eating involves noticing taste, texture, and bodily signals of hunger and fullness, while mindful listening involves fully attending to another person without preparing a response.

This kind of practice is my personal favorite. By fully paying attention to the activity or experience at hand, the enjoyment of that experience increases exponentially. While driving, I like to try to fully be aware of the beauty all around me, to be fully present to whatever the road ahead offers. Whether it’s the variety of colors and shapes of cars stuck on the freeway with me or the trees, plants, and nature that can be found along most of our paths, truly seeing them allows for a focus on the present moment and an experience of beauty and peace.

These practices reduce “autopilot” behavior and increase presence in daily interactions. Over time, integrating mindfulness into routine activities helps sustain awareness throughout the day and reinforces the habit of returning to the present moment.

Retreats and Intensive Practice

For those seeking deeper immersion, retreats offer an opportunity to engage in extended periods of mindfulness practice, often in silence and with minimal external distraction. These experiences can range from a single day to several weeks and typically involve a combination of sitting meditation, walking meditation, and mindful movement.

Research suggests that intensive practice can produce significant improvements in attention, emotional regulation, and self-awareness, often more rapidly than shorter, less frequent sessions (Lutz et al., 2008). By reducing external input, retreats allow individuals to observe the patterns of their own minds more clearly, accelerating insight and learning.

Mindset and “Micro-Mindfulness” (Moment-to-Moment Awareness)

Finally, mindfulness can be understood as an ongoing, moment-to-moment commitment, a way of relating to experience rather than a specific activity. This includes brief “micro-practices,” such as taking a single conscious breath before responding, noticing thoughts as they arise, or intentionally shifting attention back to the present moment throughout the day.

Even small moments of awareness, repeated consistently, can strengthen meta-awareness and cognitive flexibility. Emerging research suggests that these brief practices, when integrated regularly, can contribute meaningfully to reductions in stress and improvements in well-being.

Conclusion

Across all of these approaches, a clear pattern emerges. Whether through stillness, movement, structured practice, or everyday awareness, each method strengthens the same underlying capacity: the ability to notice experience as it is, rather than automatically reacting to it. Because perception plays such a central role in shaping our thoughts, emotions, and physiological responses, practices that refine perception have the potential to fundamentally change how we experience and respond to the world.

These practices allow us to thoughtfully and purposefully respond to children’s behavior, to manage that behavior in the most productive way for the child and the group, and, more importantly, to take advantage of every guidance opportunity as a precious chance to achieve our ultimate goals, to increase children’s social and emotional competencies.

If mindfulness allows us to shape our own perception and response, then it becomes equally important in how we guide and teach children. The same processes that influence our experience are actively developing in them. We can directly influence that development.

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