Watch, Read, Listen

• Mindful Monday

  Anxiety is a natural feeling. Humans, like all animals, are built to survive. Anxiety is how we physiologically deal with threats. We have not yet evolved from this threat being a lion or a bear ambushing us as gather berries or get water. Those threats are not so present in our lives anymore, but the physiological make up to deal with them is.

  Walking has been shown to provide relief from anxiety. There are hypotheses that this is because, when we walk, our senses send information that there is, in fact, no lion nor bear. There are actual tools for anxiety which include eye movement to replicate this scan for threats.

  I always recommend doing any mental work with breaks. I usually set a timer for 45 minutes of work with 15 minutes of rest. This is a good approach whether you have anxiety or not. If you do have anxiety around the task you are involved in – math for those of you with math anxiety – this 15 minute rest period could be a short walk. This will give you the physiological signals that calm your anxiety.

  Here is a great article on walking and how it can help with stress: https://www.bluecrossnc.com/blog/healthy-living/fitness/benefits-of-walking

• Mindful Mondays

  There are loads of apps available to help with anxiety. I use a few myself. I have one called “Mindfulness Bell” which randomly rings a bell on my phone. When it rings, I stop and take a deep breath and focus on the present moment. Here is a short list compiled by Harvard:
  
  https://sdlab.fas.harvard.edu/mindfulness-apps

• Mindful Monday

  https://www.the-mommyhood-chronicles.com/2021/12/how-mindfulness-can-decrease-math-anxiety-and-improve-math-ability/

• Mindful Monday

  “Many schools around the world are introducing mindfulness programs as a way to empower learners by explicitly teaching self-management skills and reduce stress. Research from Harvard and Oxford suggests that mindfulness education can reduce stress and increase attention spans in the classroom. Mindfulness programs teach students strategies to calm the mind and body so learners can engage and be present in the classroom.”
  
  See full article here: https://educationblog.oup.com/secondary/maths/ten-ways-to-infuse-mindfulness-into-the-maths-classroo