Mindfulness: The Gateway Out of the Upside-Down
There are reasons why so many of our kids are obsessed with Stranger Things. First, the Netflix series offers a view of the world that today’s youth haven’t seen: a pre-internet 1980s set with kids riding around on their banana-seat bikes until dark. In the series, adventures take place within two separate realms, the “Real World” and the “Upside Down,” a darker version of reality. The two worlds are separated by a gateway that almost no one knows about. Second, youth can relate to this because the interior world they live in is shockingly similar to the “Upside Down” world.
Our children today live in a post-911 world, where the mental guarantee of national safety their parents grew up with does not exist. The No Child Left Behind policy has created endless pressure on school districts and educators for students to perform well on standardized tests while reducing youth to mere numbers. Social and emotional learning (SEL) and authentic student-teacher relationships have been stripped from schools while teacher and student burnout increases exponentially year after year.
The rising number of school shootings keeps school atmospheres in a constant state of fight-flight-or-flee response mode. It’s no wonder we are struggling with substance abuse and suicide epidemics among youth, as these cultural conditions create real trauma in students’ bodies and minds, as well as the school atmosphere—a darker, “Upside Down” version of the reality most of us would hope for our children.
Mindfulness is the lesser-known gateway to the realm of the “Real World,” as it creates resiliency to thrive within a trauma-laden culture through cultivating an inner landscape where thoughts can be regulated. When we pause before reacting and take a deep breath, we invite choice back into our lives; this pause changes the auto-response to a new neural pathway, essentially allowing us to create new, healthier habits. In addition to changing habits, mindfulness heightens sensitivity to others’ conditions, increasing empathy and compassion.
When educators practice mindfulness, the school’s climate and culture change into a safe, warm place where youth can thrive. When parents practice mindfulness, communication and compassion become more easily accessible, restoring the family unit and even the community because through relationships, trauma is healed.
As adults, it is our responsibility to mirror the way we want to see our youth interact with the world. With our example, mindfulness can help children transform their inner landscape from a dark, scary place to one of endless clarity, resiliency, and possibility. We can navigate our mental space from the “Upside Down” to a world in which we are excited to participate—a world in need of our attention.