Andrew Nance is a Mindful Practitioner who enjoys bringing the gift of using the breath to focus the mind and body to classrooms of students as young as four and five years old. And if you giggled just now trying to imagine a group of kindergarteners practicing mindfulness, you need to hear Andrew describe his experiences teaching children to breathe quietly, all the while thinking to themselves, “with this breath my mind grows stronger so I can focus a little longer.” Andrew relates the practice of mindfulness to his own experience with theater arts, and discusses pursuing his passion amid the practicalities of work in the nonprofit sector. He’ll also tell you a little about his upcoming line of children’s books, which might be able to teach all of us how to relate to our inner puppy minds.
Where to Find Andrew Online
Mindful Arts San Francisco: http://www.mindfulartssf.org/
Email: mindfulartssf@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrew.nance
Update: order a copy of Andrew’s Puppy Mind book: http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/541392/puppy-mind-by-andrew-jordan-nance/9781941529447/
Resources Mentioned by Andrew
The Science of Well-Being: http://www.cel.sfsu.edu/positivepsych/course.cfm?id=45309&subj=ce&term=fall
UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center: http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/
Rick Hanson Buddha’s Brain: http://www.rickhanson.net/writings/books/buddhas-brain/
Mindful Schools: http://www.mindfulschools.org/
San Francisco Education Fund: http://www.sfedfund.org/
Parallax Press – Plum Blossom Books: http://www.parallax.org/shop/childrens/
Eline Snel Sitting Still Like a Frog: http://www.shambhala.com/sittingstilllikeafrog
Daniel Reichtschaffen The Way of Mindful Education: http://danielrechtschaffen.com/mindful-education/
Mindful Magazine: http://www.mindful.org/magazine/
Mindful Schools Community: http://www.mindfulschools.org/
The Mindful Life Project: http://mindfullifeproject.org/
Thanks for this great interview, David, and for your wonderful work, Andrew!
The Mindful Schools “community” page Andrew mentioned is the organization page on Facebook for the non-profit which trained Andrew: https://www.facebook.com/mindfulschools/
Daily, we publish research, training tips, and articles for teachers, administrators, school counselors, and parents — anyone who’s interested in mindfulness in education, mindfulness with youth. It would be great if you’d clarify the link above.
Best wishes,
Betsy Hanger
Mindful Schools Content and Community Specialist
Thanks Betsy! I so appreciate Mindful Schools gift to me-
you all have helped me start this journey.
Very grateful!
Andrew
I enjoyed listening to this episode. The idea of starting each class with a 1 minute mindfulness practice is a great takeaway for anyone in the coaching or training business. I cannot imagine the great effect of mindfulness on these kids 20 years from now. Great guest with a charming voice. “Look where the energy is, not the should/want” this resonates with me. Thanks David
Yes, it sort of reminds me of one of your recent posts on coping with rejection at http://www.pierrestanleybaptiste.com/rejection/
Breath + focus = power
?
I really enjoyed this interview, and hearing about Andrew’s work and journey. His mindful minute reminds me a bit of “Centering Prayer” and I really enjoyed it’s shorter format. Thank you! 🙂
One of the most effective short-form meditations I’ve ever experienced. I’m so glad Andrew was willing to share it with all of us!
Sweet article about mindfulness and breathing. Really think this type of stuff will start to take off in the next decade and it’s awesome to see it being done with children at such a young age. Great post M. David!
I love this!!! Responding vs reacting, such a mindful process. Such an important tool to teach and even more powerful to start at a young age! I’d love to bring and continue to see this kind of teaching go into all schools across the globe! Thanks for sharing 🙂 Feeling inspired!
Absolutely LOVE that he has his background in Theatre Arts ❤️ I went to an arts magnet high school and was a theatre concentration back in the day. You learn so much about FOCUS within Theatre and I’m sure that influenced his work that he’s doing now ?