Middle School Mindfulness

This week marked the first Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction session for Middle School students to engage in during their Affinity and Wellness time. Students and adults alike were invited to join the session and take time to practice mindfulness under the guidance of Space Between.

“We are so excited as a school and under our strategic plan pillar of well-being to be able to bring in the expertise of Space Between to work with our students in a small setting educating them on mindfulness,” says Dr. Samantha Hillyer (’01). Space Between works to introduce mindfulness to school-aged children. The strategies Kim Armstrong, from Space Between, and her team are bringing continue to add tools to our students’ toolboxes to help be present, combat stress, and increase executive functioning for the students and therefore help increase their overall well-being. 

During this week’s session, students got the chance to put ideas into practice as they were guided through exercises and encouraged to focus on remaining present and notice how their minds and bodies were feeling. By practicing these strategies as a group, the goal is that students will be able to apply these strategies when they encounter stressful situations at school or in their personal lives as they grow at Overlake.

Armstrong and her team will return to Overlake to lead future mindfulness sessions for our Middle Schoolers and will continue to broaden the toolbox our students have to tackle everyday challenges. To learn more about the work Space Between does, click here.