Mathematics is Meditation?
If you are a teacher looking for solutions for your students to enjoy Mathematics, perhaps it’s time to make it into a form of meditation. Yes, you heard me right! It may not sound very credible if I were to tell you that Mathematics can help with mindfulness. After all, we can all agree that Maths questions can be frustrating. Many of us, including me, have had hair-tearing moments when dealing with a particularly hard question.
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Understandably, mathematics and mindfulness may seem as unrelated as chalk and cheese. Though it may look like that, there are efficient ways to integrate them to promote mindfulness and well-being. In fact, there are more mathematical connections to mindfulness and meditation than we think.
This post will cover Mathematics beyond the usual academic purposes and will give you ideas on creating a fun and relaxed space for students. These activities will still be aligned with the school curriculum but offer fun deviations to invoke mindfulness.
By creating this fun space, students are also encouraged to make mistakes. There are no right answers involving these Maths activities that only aim to let the students be in the present.
Mental Mathematics Exercises for Young Students
Teaching Maths to young students can be very challenging as their attention span is short. Once something fails to capture their interest, they get distracted and stop paying attention. Young children are more inclined towards games. However, the adrenaline from playing games can get them pumped up so much that their attention might waver from the topic. Instead, here are some activities that can both capture their interest and also keep them focused.
- Number-body counting – This simple and competitive game requires no objects. It improves cardinality and familiarity with numbers and is perfect for kinaesthetic young learners that need to move. These are some commands you can give your students:
a) Tug your left ear 8 times, then tug your right ear 2 times.
b) Touch each finger to your thumbs and count the touches.
c) Shrug your shoulders 9 times.
d) March in place 14 times.
e) How many knees and feet are in the room?
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- Reverse counting – This is a fairly simple activity that involves counting backwards. Counting backwards helps students with subtraction skills and familiarise them with the chronology of numbers. It also has various mental health benefits. For example, the brain is given this task to focus on something that is not related to anxious thoughts when counting in reverse.
Hence, it clears the mind of anxiety and makes the student more focused and calm. You can also spruce things up a little by creating a scenario where they have to count down in reverse. Perhaps, they could be astronauts ready for a launch or bomb specialists working against time.
- Mental Sums – Mental sums cultivate young students to have good concentration and fast calculation skills. It gently pushes them to engage in the present such that they can focus on solving the sum. You can present maths problems in the form of stories by creating relatable characters in scenarios that require mental calculations to find the solution. Some great materials to try out are SAP’s Mental Math series, designed for students to master mental calculation techniques.
- Fun Maths puzzles – In Maths puzzles, students are mentally engaged by thinking of different solutions for the puzzle. By paying attention to the number pattern and transformation of numbers, they get into a meditative state. You can hand out simple sudokus and Maths riddles.
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Mental Mathematics Exercises for Older Students
- Number Patterns and Sequences – Unlike younger students, older students can go beyond simple puzzles. Engaging in mathematical patterns and sequences can be a calming and meditative activity. Observing and contemplating these patterns can help quiet the mind and bring a sense of focus and relaxation.
You can explore number patterns like Fibonacci sequence and shortcuts to counting it. Students can also play around with Pascal’s triangle and come up with their own number pattern for fellow classmates to solve.
- Exploring Geometry – There is geometry in everything and contemplating the mathematical principles of geometry engages students in mindful exploration. One idea is to challenge students to take an interesting-looking shape and break it down geometrically. Dealing with geometry, in general, can help with mindfulness as students explore the limits of angles and shapes.
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- Experimenting known concepts – When we re-explore a familiar concept, the mind is no longer in the auto-pilot mode. We become consciously engaged in the concept by fully attending to what’s happening, what we’re doing and the space we’re moving through.
Educators such as yourself can take known Maths concepts and extend them to explore different scenarios or variations. You can modify the parameters, change the context and introduce new constraints to see how the problem adapts and evolves. This will also help develop a more robust understanding of the concept.
- Rubik’s Cube – You can encourage students to get a Rubik’s Cube. It is famously known to enhance mathematical reflexes and bring the mind to the present. Your mind cannot start wandering while you’re solving the cube because you lose track of the algorithms.
The cube is an anchor that helps students to embrace the present. Such complete undivided attention is hard to achieve but made possible with the Rubik’s Cube!
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- Mental Calculation – Just as mental sums with young children can help them with mindfulness and focus, this also applies to older students. They can be taught mental maths strategies such as breaking numbers apart, regrouping and using friendly numbers for mental shortcuts.
For example, when multiplying 38 by 4, they can break it down as (30 x 4) + (8 x 4) for easier mental calculation. You can also increase complexity by increasing the speed at which they have to solve.
Research on Impact of Mindfulness on Mental Health
Though we have gone through how these activities induce mindfulness, it is crucial to delve deeper to explore how it impacts mental health. Mindfulness is a form of activity that boosts and supports mental health. With the increasingly fast-paced environment that students face in the education system, the stress and pressure can cause a nervous breakdown. Let’s take a look at how infusing mindfulness into the classroom will help with students’ mental health:
- It teaches students how to reflect and identify their feelings and behaviour. This encourages a compassionate attitude towards themselves and they will be aware of distractions.
- It supports the transition to different learning engagements or environments. This helps in regulating their emotions to new situations.
- It gives students reflection and thinking time by helping them create an interval between experiencing a feeling and reacting.
- It increases students’ attention spans.
- It reduces stress and anxiety.
- It reduces students’ Maths anxiety.
Image Credits: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/04/less-stress-clearer-thoughts-with-mindfulness-meditation/
Finding the Time for Maths Meditation
It is easy to incorporate these activities in your classroom. They do not have to happen outside of classroom time and you do not have to artificially make time for it. After all, making students stay back beyond school hours will not be supportive of their mental health.
You can simply tweak the conventional methods of doing Maths with these techniques. Yes, you can do these activities in class time. Trying out sums that use mental calculation and giving them number-pattern quizzes are activities that can be easily incorporated into conventional questions. Likewise, you can encourage your students to get a Rubik’s Cube and other tools related to Mathematics.
It is possible that they will carry on with such activities after class and even after they leave the education system. Therefore, you could in fact be introducing them to a lifelong investment!
Tools to Enhance Mindfulness
The goal, as always, is to approach Mathematics mindfully and in the moment, paying attention to the ideas, patterns and one’s own thought patterns. You can develop your students’ focus, calmness and an appreciation for Mathematics’ beauty by using tools to enhance mindfulness into their mathematical exercises.
Classical Music – If you have not already discovered this nifty little trick, let me introduce you to the benefits of classical music. The usage of classical music has been proved to enhance concentration and productivity when studying. You can play this in the background when students work on a Maths problem.
Image Credits: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/State-anxiety-scores-pre-music-stress-and-post-music-or-silence_fig1_5880055
Deep breaths – This is a fairly simple one that requires nothing but oneself. You can guide students to take a deep breath from their nostrils and count to 6. Then guide them to slowly exhale from their mouths and count to 5. This helps them to reset their nervous system and feel more relaxed. This gives them the needed break from the stress of trying to solve a Mathematical problem. Therefore, deep breathing can be instrumental in reducing academic anxiety.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, Mathematics can play a significant role in fostering mindfulness and promoting a state of heightened awareness and presence. Do remember to try out these activities in your classroom and see the difference for yourself! A mindful student is a happier student and as educators, we can pave the way for a more breezy education system.
