By Jane Olivier
I received a bell from a friend while attending a summer re treat with Thich Nhat Hanh. I received the encouragement I needed to use the bell in my class during my discussion group with educators.
Six hundred elementary school students attend my music classes. As students arrive, many need to be quieted and focused. First I ask them to sit silently in a circle. I request them to sit like a mountain.
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By Jane Olivier
I received a bell from a friend while attending a summer re treat with Thich Nhat Hanh. I received the encouragement I needed to use the bell in my class during my discussion group with educators.
Six hundred elementary school students attend my music classes. As students arrive, many need to be quieted and focused. First I ask them to sit silently in a circle. I request them to sit like a mountain. I tell them that when they sit like a mountain, they are being the best that they can be. I tell the students when they are aware of their breathing, they will learn to sing and play instruments very well. Before ringing the bell, I ask them to think “in” when they breathe in and “out” when they breathe out. When the bell stops vibrating, a student brings the bell to my desk. Students love this. It calms me.
Does the bell and the breathing consciously help me teach music? It reminds me to be in the present moment and it seems to do the same for my students. My class is very focused but filled with fun. Students play recorders, Orff instruments, tin whistles, and percussion. They sing and dance. The reminder of the bell helps us all to be in the present moment.
Jane Oliver is a music teacher in the Barrington Elementary School, Barrington, NH.
Robert Harrison, photographer, has just finished high school and will enter college to study photography this coming fall. We appreciate his many photos from Plum Village that he has contributed to the Mindfulness Bell, especially his photos of young people and young monastics in Plum Village. Robert’s photos appear on pages 22, 43, 46, 47, 53 and back cover.
