Helen is running these courses in 3 schools currently. If you are interested in talking to her about courses or “taster” workshops for your school, please contact her on 087 205 5733 or email her on helen.byrne@mindfulness.ie.

A post-primary teacher since 1980 Helen trained in Learning Support in 1987.  She is now working in schools with teachers and students in addressing stress, lack of focus and concentration, depression, behavioural and other issues which can make school life difficult. She has developed “Mindfulness School” Programmes which use yoga as the conduit for teaching mindfulness to teenagers and their teachers.

Most of us live the greater portion of our lives on automatic pilot. We react habitually to events and people in our lives without being aware of these reactions. We are so busy that we don’t have time to appreciate the precious moments of each day which together form our actual life, not the life we wish we had, the life we plan to have some day or the life we would have if only this or that were different…

Mindfulness teaches us to wake up to our lives and to experience each moment, no matter how difficult, no matter how seemingly mundane, with clarity and ease. We learn to respond with wisdom and genuine appreciation to the events and people in our lives. We develop greater self-knowledge and we become more active in the management of our health and happiness. Mindfulness means learning to live in the present moment with an attitude of kindness and non-judgment towards ourselves and our experience.

The Tasks of Adolescence:

Adolescence can be a time of great stress and insecurity for many as they negotiate their way from childhood to adulthood, physically, emotionally and psychologically. This stress can lead to difficulties in sleeping, making friends, concentrating on studies, coping with exams and so on. It can lead to angry reactivity, defensiveness or withdrawal. There may be an on-going and ever-changing tension between the desire for more independence and the continuing need for adult support. Teenagers are often managing the demands of school and exams and thinking about their future while trying to find out who they are and to develop friendships and relationships. It can be a time of isolation, of feeling misunderstood by parents, teachers and peers.

Parents and teachers are often at a loss as to how to reach the young people in their care and assist them in their growth towards healthy, happy, confident adulthood.

Mindfulness and Teenagers:

The teenage years can be a wonderful adventure if teenagers can find a calm, still centre to keep them grounded. Mindfulness can help them to find this stability in the middle of the turmoil of thoughts and emotions. In a mindfulness course young people have the opportunity to learn to manage this stress better, to develop their intra-personal and inter-personal skills, learning to recognize and own their feelings and to respect the feelings of others. They learn to take better care of themselves.

Research into Mindfulness Interventions with adolescents shows that cultivating mindfulness leads to:
• reduced stress, anxiety, worry & depression;
• improved sleep & capacity for relaxation;
• greater self-awareness leading to
• less reactivity, anger and frustration;
• increased self-confidence; enhanced relationships with peers, teachers and parents;
• greater capacity for focus and concentration leading to
• better learning outcomes;
• greater levels of enjoyment in life, in self-reports and reports by parents and teachers.