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‘Let’s be Still’: A school psychologist delivered stillness meditation program for wellbeing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2021

Rachel Yerbury
Rachel Yerbury*
Affiliation:
Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Rachel Yerbury, University of Wollongong, Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, Northfields Avenue, KeiravilleNSW 2522, Australia.Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

School counsellors implement preventative programs to build student resilience and coping skills to counteract the rising mental health needs of children in Australia. School-based meditation programs are effective for individuals and groups, with documented benefits. Most literature examines mindfulness meditation, and the current, exploratory study aimed to add to the research breadth by considering stillness meditation. The stillness program ‘Let’s be Still’ is a 10-week, class-based program that was conducted between 2015–2020 by the school psychologist in a regional, independent New South Wales school. Data were collected from questionnaire responses of 169 Year 2 (7–9 years) and five teachers to document what the children had learnt and how it helped them. Thematic analysis of the responses revealed an emphasis on stillness promoting positive emotions and behaviours. Both students and teachers articulated that learning and practising stillness provided the students with tools to be calm, relaxed and settled, to deal with conflict and to have a break from the busyness of the school day. While the study design does not allow generalisability of the program’s effectiveness, this study may offer input for school counsellors considering the implementation of a school-based meditation program.

Keywords

Stillnessmeditationpreventative programpositive emotionspositive behaviours
Type
Practitioner Paper
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 31 , Special Issue 2: Actioning Research within Schools: Key Processes for Planning Successful Interventions , December 2021 , pp. 227 - 237
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Copyright
© The Author 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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