MIND and BODY
If the apostle Paul were to visit one of Scotland’s schools today, I think he would say:
“I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and observed your classes I saw many indications of your concern for the spiritual wellbeing of the children. I saw mindfulness sessions and yoga classes taught by caring teachers…” (Paraphrase of Acts 17. 22-23)
It isn’t hard to see evidence of the hunger we have for something or someone beyond ourselves in spite of the protestations that school is “religiously neutral.” Nor is it hard to see that generally people will prefer to satisfy their spiritual appetites without reference to the God of the Bible. The preacher in Ecclesiastes 3.11 sums up our current situation well: “God has set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
What should my attitude be when Mindfulness and Yoga become part of the school day? Mindfulness is rooted in Buddhism, Yoga in Hinduism. Both are often secularized for our schools though delivery will depend on the individual teacher. Plenty has been written about each of these topics in the secular and Christian press expounding the merits and pitfalls of these practices.[i]
That I have a clear responsibility for the health and wellbeing of each of the pupils entrusted to my care is beyond doubt. As a Christian teacher how will I help the children and young people in my care to have healthy minds and bodies?
And what about my personal responsibility to honour God with my mind and body?
Jesus commands me, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” Luke 10.27
What does it mean to love God with my mind?
We want to train our minds in healthy practices so that we are neither overcome with grief about the past nor paralysed by fear of the future. It is a biblical principal to live in the moment with thankful hearts (Isaiah 43.18, 1 Thessalonians 5.18) focussing our minds on what is beautiful. That perhaps sounds rather like “mindfulness” and so like Paul on Mars Hill in Acts 17 I can share a common ground with my colleagues when this topic is raised!
Unlike many of my colleagues though, I am wanting to soak my mind in God’s Word; my thinking is then shaped by His truth. Our forefathers were good at this and there is doubtless much we can learn from the Desert Fathers. Philippians 4.8 instructs us: Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.
Next we come to our responsibility to our pupils. Clearly helping them to train their minds and develop healthy thought patterns is an important part of our care for their wellbeing. When my colleagues teach their version of Mindfulness is it neutral? When I teach Mindfulness will I be neutral? I can be fair, even-handed, generous to all faiths, but I will never be neutral. No-one is! Knowing that mind and body belong to God and are intended to be used in His service influences everything I do. It would be inappropriate to lead the children towards an experience of buddhist mysticism just as it would be inappropriate to chant ancient celtic prayers but there are plenty of activities I can enthusiastically teach to develop healthy thought patterns.
Dr Kate Middleton of the Mind and Soul Foundation speaks helpfully about Mindfulness in school in her talk entitled Mindfulness and resilience, weathering the storms of childhood and adolescence. She envisages that teachers will help children learn strategies to improve their emotional wellbeing but cautions against leading mindfulness sessions without adequate training.
Dr James May of the Christian Medical Fellowship speaks about Mindfulness and describes the differences between eastern meditation practices and biblical ones in a very helpful talk which you can listen to here: https://www.cmf.org.uk/resources/media/?context=entity&id=56eedfc84a268ff283e2aba0e01ee144b0382be4 Dr May challenges us to consider whether as Christians we have been influenced by zen-like elements in our culture. We need to seek solitude as Jesus did, but the word “withdraw”, in the context of Jesus spending time alone with God, has the sense of strategic reframing on a battlefield! Activities that help our pupils develop emotional resilience can be enthusiastically taught by the Christian teacher.
And what does it mean to love God with all our strength? How do we help our pupils to have healthy and relaxed bodies? Personally, I don’t want to seek a mystic hindu experience of being yoked with the divine in yogic postures. I certainly wouldn’t want to encourage my pupils to do that. What we may cautiously practise as adults is different from what we would teach young children to do. Some low impact aerobic exercises, breathing exercises and stretching exercises we could all enjoy for our mutual benefit.
When the Christian teacher is convinced that mind and body belong to God; that we have the ability to move and to think because He enables us (In Him we live and move and have our being Acts 17.28) we can be the best teachers of mindfulness and of breathing and stretching exercises in the school!
Resources for improving children’s resilience and wellbeing:
HEARTSMART https://church.heartsmart.school/
HEADSTRONG https://www.youthscape.co.uk/services/headstrong
EMOTIONAL LOGIC CENTRE https://www.emotionallogiccentre.org.uk/
Note for parents: As no education is neutral you will want to talk with the head teacher of your child’s school if you are concerned about the way Mindfulness is being taught or if Yoga is practised in the school.
[i] Examples of articles on mindfulness and yoga. There are LOTS more!
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-cult-of-mindfulness-
https://www.reformation21.org/articles/mindfulness-or-the-mind-of-christ-1.php
https://www.e-n.org.uk/2018/10/features/mindfulness-is-it-useful/8172d/
Megan Patterson, CVE Scotland Vice-Chair, October 2020
