The Creative Sparks Music and Mindfulness Programme was born from my vision of nurturing calm, focus, creativity, wellbeing and empathy within the whole school environment – that’s the pupils, teachers, support staff and parents - using mindfulness and music.

It seems that there’s more pressure than ever these days to perform well at every stage in order to net the ‘perfect’ life, which often creates anxiety and stress even before the end of primary school. And what with children constantly rushing from one activity to the next both before and after school, andat weekends, there’s barely a chance to catch their breath.

They need a Pause Button. This is where regular practices, games and musical experiences designed to foster a mindful approach to life come in.

And it’s not only the children that need to pause. There’s a load of pressure on the teachers to get results from the pupils, and more and more of them are dealing with the pressures of Ofsted, the pressure of more children with special needs, and probably other pressures too numerous to mention here.

Parents need support too, as they are also supporting their children behind the scenes, holding down a job, running a home, and trying to maintain their own peace.

What is mindfulness?

It’s very, very simple. Mindfulness means paying attention on purpose to what is going on in the present moment, without judgment – that means letting whatever is be whatever it is.

What are the benefits of mindfulness?

When you learn mindfulness, this paying attention on purpose cultivates awareness of the self. So, in the context of this book, i.e. for children, developing an awareness of themselves and their internal weather patterns can help them to notice when they are starting to become overwhelmed, understand that these feelings are OK to experience, and know how to take charge, calm themselves and self-regulate in that moment. Through this they develop kindness towards themselves – and are able to transfer that compassion towards other people - a much-needed skill in today’s fast-paced digital world.

The benefits of regular practice are evidence-based – it can actually change the structure of our brains in a positive way and has been shown to promote greater wellbeing, focus, creativity, self-compassion and reduction of stress and anxiety, amongst other benefits.

Importantly, learning to use mindfulness can help to protect children’s developing brains from the negative effects of excessive stresses.

Planting the seeds right now

We don’t know what the future is going to bring in the next ten or twenty years – therefore we’d do well to equip our children with such practical strategies to build resilience, empathy, creativity, focus, calm and many other aspects that a regular mindfulness practice can offer.

Email me : lorraine@mindfuelinspirations.co.uk to chat about how I could work with your school.