Page 160 - YBAM 50th Anniversary Souvenir Magazine

Chart 3 shows the number of students feeling ‘Calm’ when checking in and out of
each session. The average number of students who check-in with ‘Calm’ is 1.5 and
6.6 at checkout; an average of 5.1 stickers.
Chart 3: Calmness level of each Session
of wakefulness of mind, alertness- an
intrinsic awareness. Mindfulness practice
is usually directed to a specific ‘anchor’
such as the breath, body sensation or
mental content which serves as a means
of ‘coming back’ to the present moment
and may further leads to calmness and
stability.
Loving Kindness is a ‘state of mind which
aspires that all sentient beings may enjoy
happiness’ and compassion, ‘the wish
that all sentient beings may be free from
sufferings’.
Loving Kindness Meditation (LKM) is a
technique to cultivate and habituate the
mind to have good will towards self and
others especially in the mist of suffering.
The commonly used method is to focus
on good will and send good wishes by
generating silent phrases such as ‘May
I/you be well and happy’, ‘May I/you be
free from fear and worry’. It is a way of
learning to soothe oneself and feel safe
158
WY: 谢谢你教我怎么让自己轻松 (Translation:
which helps one to develop a kinder intra
and inter relationship. While Mindfulness
meditation creates a ‘still quiet place’,
LKM enhances this place with warmth
and love and so enables one to stay
longer in this quiet place.
The Programme
M.I.L.K. was conducted twice-weekly over
eight weeks, with a total of 60 minutes of
activity-based learning per week. It has
three key components namely, calming
In written letters at the end of the
programme, the children appreciated the
experience for helping them to be ‘calm’,
‘peaceful’, ‘happy’, ‘rest’ and ‘relax’.
Below are some of their narrations:
DS: Thank you for teaching me to love myself
and relax, please come back!
YX: Yes, I like the lesson because it makes
me peaceful….I am managing myself tire.
[managing my tiredness]
for planning and organising effectively.
Thank you for teaching me how to relax myself) Not only does it affect their learning but
also the wellbeing of a growing child.
BE: I like mindfulness class because I can learn
to keep my mind calm. I like the part where we Children who identified their emotions
lie on the floor and rest, that can keep me calm as ‘lousy’ or ‘don’t know’ (unsure of their
and peaceful. I feel happy and calm every time emotion) tended to link these mental
at home and in school. I can manage myself states to being sleepy and/or tired in their
when I am angry. narrations. These qualitative data showed
that some children were exhausted, which
XY: I love the mindfulness class ~ I like the potentially would be detrimental not only
mindfulness eating, I am happy and relax at to their learning but also their quality of
class and at home. life in school. Because at that time, these
mental states were felt ‘internally’, and the
Some Unseen problems children did not display any behavioural
The study highlighted a worrying problems, their ‘voices’ would often have
observation. In their choice of ‘Worried’ been unheard and hence their issues
sticker, the children were worried to be would have been left unattended. This
late for school and the impending school means that these children could be at risk
tests/examinations. While some degree without any display of disorder and would
of stress may be helpful for academic be suffering without any help. This is an
achievement; studies show excessive area that certainly calls for further probing.
and sustained stress damages the
architecture of the developing brain which
handicaps the abilities for learning, for A full copy of the thesis can be obtained at email:
holding information, for reaching flexibility shifaxun@yahoo.com.sg
and creatively, for focusing attention, and
159
50 YEARS OF DHARMA PRO PA GATION CO NTINUING THE MIS SION IN THE 5G ER A