Teachers who practice "mindfulness" are better
able to reduce their own levels of stress and prevent burnout, according to a
new study conducted by the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds (CIHM) at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Center.
The results of the study, led by Assistant Scientist Lisa
Flook, were recently published in the journal Mind, Brain and Education.
Mindfulness, a notion that stems from centuries-old
meditative traditions and is now taught in a secular way, is a technique to
heighten attention, empathy and other pro-social emotions through an awareness
of thoughts, external stimuli, or bodily sensations such as breath.