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This is a guest post from Tara Hupton
This past summer I took a six week online course called Introduction to Mindfulness. This course gave me insight into just how beneficial and necessary mindfulness is in the current society of technology and instant gratification.  I was challenged to slow down and enjoy the little things (and the big things) in everyday life while giving me tools to do so.  It also taught me how to take breaks from the constant stress, anxiety, worry, planning, thinking, etc., that I felt regularly.  Going into the school year I feel better equipped to juggle all the balls thrown at us a teachers.  I will still feel stress, but I am more confident in my ability to effectively manage it.  I plan to pass along much of what I have learned and many of the resources with my own children and my students.  In fact, I bought a couple of books on the topic for my kids.  I can share the titles with anyone who is interested.  I will continue to practice mindfulness in the way that it fits into my life as a working mother with young children and I encourage anyone who has an interest or curiosity about it to try this course and find the right way to fit mindfulness into your life.  (For more information on this course, go to http://www.mindfulschools.org/)  (Tara added this additional information on the resources she mentioned)....The first book is The Grouchies  by Debbie Wagenbach…my daughter (4 yrs old) loves this book and we have read it to her often.  It talks about a grouchy kid who goes through his day being grouchy at people and realizing at the end of the day that being grouchy with people (friends, family, siblings) didn't get him anything positive in his day.  He realizes that he doesn't have to be grouchy and can be more positive and people will react more positively to him.  The Moody Cow is the second book.  We haven't read this yet to the kids because it's pretty long with a lot of text, so I can't recommend this one personally.  I haven't read through the whole thing yet.

Tara Hupton  teaches  6th grade Social Studies and 7th grade Early College Prep at Highview Middle School.

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