The "Pause" Challenge teaches people of all ages about how to use mindfulness in their life. You can take this free course right now, on your computer, and get access to books, videos, and more resources to help you with your mindfulness journey.
Alright, a little orientation. How this works will be as follows: We'll be providing resources and then offer a google form, "test" afterwards to make sure you got everything you needed to know from those lessons. After each test, you will get a digital badge that will be sent to you via email, and once you complete all the tests, you will receive a completed badge. If you are a teacher, feel free to use our handouts and videos to teach your students the power of mindfulness!
Alright, a little orientation. How this works will be as follows: We'll be providing resources and then offer a google form, "test" afterwards to make sure you got everything you needed to know from those lessons. After each test, you will get a digital badge that will be sent to you via email, and once you complete all the tests, you will receive a completed badge. If you are a teacher, feel free to use our handouts and videos to teach your students the power of mindfulness!
Before you get started, here is a survey adapted from the MAAS Mindfulness awareness survey. You will get your first digital badge from this survey! Along with the digital badge, your mindfulness score will be sent to you. You will take this survey at the end of the course again to see how you've improved.
Week One: Lesson One
In this lesson, we will be learning about the brain and how it relates to stress and the body. We will also be covering what mindfulness is.
First, let's understand how the brain and stress works by looking at this video:
If you can't access the video for some reason, here is the script:
The Brain & Stress | |
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The phenomenon "Paper Tiger" is explained in this document:
Paper Tiger | |
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Classroom activity: You can make an origami tiger bookmark with the video here:
Here is an activity for the classroom or groups of people to demonstrate what stress is like:
Stress Introduction Activity | |
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A more detailed video on stress is below - use it to answer questions in the form for this week!
Next, here is a file summarizing what mindfulness is.
To go off of your knowledge of mindfulness, here is a mindfulness situations worksheet. There is an answer key at the end as well, for teachers in case this is being done in a classroom.
Mindful or Unmindful worksheet | |
File Size: | 49 kb |
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To test your knowledge about what we learned in this lessons, take this survey and get a digital badge!
Presentation
Week One: Lesson Two
In this lesson, we will be learning about autopilot vs. awareness, and how that relates to being mindful. We will be providing resources for activities such as mindful eating and a game to get off of autopilot.
Start out by looking at this video about autopilot vs. awareness:
Start out by looking at this video about autopilot vs. awareness:
If you'd prefer, here is a file containing the same information:
What is autopilot? | |
File Size: | 365 kb |
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Here is an activity to get people off of autopilot - it can be imitated in a classroom, or with groups of people.
"Get off Autopilot" Activity | |
File Size: | 29 kb |
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Next, try out this activity - Mindful Eating. We will be eating an orange slice mindfully. You can follow the audio track below:
Additionally, if you are trying this activity with another food, you can take the file below and replace "orange slice" with something else.
Mindfully Eating an Orange Slice | |
File Size: | 16 kb |
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To test your knowledge about what we learned in this lessons, take this survey and get a digital badge!
Presentation
Week Two: Lesson Three
In this lesson, we will be learning about mindfulness, and the different ways of doing it. There is no one right way to do mindfulness, and we will let you try multiple ways to see which one fits you best. We will be covering meditation mindfulness and deep breathing.
First, follow the audio track below to do a quick sitting meditation:
First, follow the audio track below to do a quick sitting meditation:
Next,
To test your knowledge about what we learned in this lessons, take this survey and get a digital badge!
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Week Two: Lesson Four
In this lesson, we will be continuing to learn about mindfulness, specifically, delving deeper into different strategies such as the body scan and mindful movement.
Here is link to an audio track for a short body scan, good for five to ten minutes of free time on the weekdays or longer on the weekends.
The Calm app and Insight Timer app both have short body scan guided meditations for you to use to reconnect with yourself for a few moments.
Here is link to an audio track for a short body scan, good for five to ten minutes of free time on the weekdays or longer on the weekends.
The Calm app and Insight Timer app both have short body scan guided meditations for you to use to reconnect with yourself for a few moments.
Presentation
To test your knowledge about what we learned in this lessons, take this survey and get a digital badge!
Week Three: Lesson Five
In this lesson, we will be learning about informal mindfulness - and how it enhances your everyday life. You can be mindful anywhere - whether you're a student going between classes or waiting at the bus stop, to an adult in the car driving to work.
Presentation
Here is the survey for this session:
Week Three: Lesson Six
In this lesson, we will be learning about how to be mindful via gratitude and a different mindset. We will be leading you through activities such as gratitude journaling and how negative and positive thoughts affect your mindset.
Presentation
To test your knowledge about what we learned in this lessons, take this survey and get a digital badge!
Week Four: Lesson Seven
In this lesson, we will be covering how to incorporate mindfulness into your everyday life, and we'll be providing various resources to establish a regular mindfulness schedule. We'll also provide an additional resource for students to handle school stress: a schedule.
Presentation
To test your knowledge about what we learned in this lesson, take this survey and get a digital badge!
Week Four: Lesson Eight
In our last lesson, we will be learning about a creative side to mindfulness: do-it-yourself activities for de-stressing, including making glitter jars, bullet journaling, and more! DIY Mindfulness.
The following are DIY mindfulness crafts and instructions on how to complete them.
1. Glitter Jar
Here is an instructional video:
The following are DIY mindfulness crafts and instructions on how to complete them.
1. Glitter Jar
Here is an instructional video:
If you can't access that, here is a file with instructions:
2. Bullet Journaling
Here is an instructional video:
Here is an instructional video:
If you can't access that, here is a file with instructions:
To test your knowledge about what we learned in this lessons, take this survey and get a digital badge!
Final Survey
Please complete this survey to see how much more mindful you have become by participating in Panther Pause!
When You are Done...
Here are links to other amazing websites where you can learn more about mindfulness.