Being able to observe the minds of teenagers in the MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy) sessions has made me think that we really do not give them space to be heard and to allow them to listen to themselves . By Josep Maria Gasset for MIMIND Space
For me it is a great experience to observe the mind of the adolescent, how little by little, through the weeks, it takes different forms, to end up connecting with the most essential of itself. same: breathing. In this group I have been able to observe the changes that arise by giving them space so that their mind can express themselves.
They arrive stressed to the sessions, after having risen very early, endured the urban trajín, the displacements and the classes.After having self-demanded and felt demanded by teachers and parents, all in a changing world that is very difficult to understand by their minds that they are forming a thought that hardly has consistency and very little space.
Through them they are showing me the neurotized mind of parents and teachers that do not allow them to express themselves and that they can hardly contradict. "You must do this", "behave in this way", "do not do", "you must" ... And little space for "what I feel", "how I feel", "what happens to me."
Heads full of meaningless content and with many concerns that they cannot express, feelings and despondencies of something they do not understand. Hormones and changing metabolisms, bodies that transform at a speed that cannot be swallowed by the life that blooms.
Minfulness for teenagers
I never thought that my Mindfulness learnings on the very wise walls of Oxford could bear these fruits with those minds in formation. Mindfulness for teenagers is one of the best investments to help these beings who must face themselves in the different stages of their lives and self-responsible for the different growth processes and in the completion of themselves.
Why is this practice so beneficial? Well first of all because we give them a space to breathe. Breathing and learning how to breathe allows them to reduce stress and anxiety levels and connects them with their essence. It gives them a rhythm and allows them to calm their mind and concentrate better.
Three weeks after the training in the round of questions, at the beginning of the session I asked them if they had noticed any benefit in their daily practices. And everyone responded that his mind was calmer and that they could concentrate better. Also that when there was some difficulty in class or at home, breathing through Mindfulness techniques had allowed them to overcome them much better. Some studied better or were not as nervous in class or with certain teachers, tolerated their classmates and their families better, since they could recognize what was stressing them and where it was deposited in their mind and body.
Of course, we must give them space to feel and express themselves, also to sit their way to meditate and to recognize their emotions in their body. And to be able to recognize in those bodies that are being formed in adults and that want to attract attention with their gestures and jokes, but that ultimately they just want to make a space in this world so difficult to manage as we are giving it to them.
One of these boys was a high-performance athlete, and it struck me how he was using Mindfulness to calm his mind during long workouts and even in his competition. Renowned American basketball and Australian rugby players, athletes and athletes use it successfully to achieve mental calm and concentration, which will lead them to flow in the competition. In one of the sessions we saw how Tom Cruise flowed from his training with the samurai and how until he did not abandon his mind and left himself in the hands of not doing with a beginner's mind, he could not fight with his adversary equally .
Recurring thoughts
Teens' mind is trained week by week to observe their mind and see if their mind is full, with congested traffic, or if their recurring mind is full of labels that make them unable to free themselves from patterns.
One day I asked them to make a list of recurring thoughts and their response was as follows: "I will not be able to", "I will not be able", "The others do not accept me", "The others judge me" ... But when we analyzed the consistency of the same, we saw that they obeyed patterns that they had learned, either from their parents, from their peers or with the teachers who had not been able to motivate them, and we began to dismantle these recurring negative thoughts from their illusory mind. Then we substitute these thoughts for those that they were able to recognize as their own and to which they could commit self-responsibility by themselves.
I have been able to observe that teenagers need different meditation techniques to calm their mind and connect with breathing, and also that short times are the best. That is why we resort to times of 2 or 3 minutes and a maximum of 7 minutes, although one day we explore 15 and 20 minutes. I advise that these long times only be made when there are very special conditions of your mind.
I see how the mind of teenagers is changing week by week, how the group supports and resolves, how they are able to make their mind visible and express their emotions. Little by little they get rid of their hearts and show their true nature, the true nature of the mind.
Some are teaching their parents, make them realize their stress and their nonsense by shouting at them or making them feel guilty for any fact. They are understanding, through the neuroscience that we teach them, how their brain and their thinking works, that is why I have become their student. I learn from them so that I can better understand my mind and my thoughts, so that I can then better transmit Full Attention.
The reasons of the teenager's mind, by Josep Maria Gasset
