Thought for the Day: should mindfulness be taught in schools?
The long summer holidays are almost over and school is back just next week. How many children listen to Thought for the Day on the Radio 4 Today programme at 7.50am as they pull on school uniforms and pack sports kits and musical instruments at the start of a new school day? I’m guessing probably not that many… But they miss out on some good stuff about them! Last Thursday I was in my kitchen piling fresh sandwiches into my lunch box as Vishvapani Blomfield read his latest Thought for the Day . I was stopped midway between slicing camembert and beefsteak tomatoes by some very thought-provoking words. Vishvapani is a Buddhist writer and mindfulness teacher based in Cardiff. According to his Wise Attention website his work explores how “time-honoured Buddhist practices such as mindfulness and meditation can be accessible forces for social change in the modern world”. My rhubarb yoghurt hit the lunch box. And Vishvapani was on to the recently published The Good Childhood Report – r...