From Chaos to Calm: How a Simple Mindfulness Practice Transformed Our Teaching

Teaching can feel like a never-ending race: lesson plans, behaviour management, emails, meetings… and somehow, you’re expected to stay calm through it all.

We get it. When we first started practicing mindfulness, it wasn’t because things were peaceful... It was because we were this close to burning out.

That school year was so challenging that we knew something had to change if we wanted to keep teaching with joy and purpose.

That’s when we started setting aside just a few minutes a day to breathe.

At first, it was simply a way to stay grounded. But something amazing happened. Our calmer state began to ripple into the classroom.

Even before introducing mindfulness to our students, they could feel the difference. The energy shifted. The class felt more focused, more connected, more at ease.

If you’re ready to experience that calm for yourself and share it with your students, we’ve created a free resource to guide you every step of the way.

👉 Get the SEL & Mindfulness Foundations for K–12 Classrooms — it’s free forever!

Practicing mindfulness doesn’t require a lot of time. Just a couple of minutes each day can help you:

And here’s the best part: instead of taking away time from your day, mindfulness gives you time back. You’ll feel more productive, efficient, and better equipped to meet your students’ needs without running on empty.

As we've shared often in The Balanced Educator Podcast, the more grounded we are, the more our students learn from our energy.

Calm is contagious. When teachers regulate their nervous systems, students co-regulate right alongside them, creating a ripple effect of focus and emotional safety in the classroom.

Mindfulness isn’t just a buzzword. It’s an evidence-based practice backed by neuroscience and social-emotional learning (SEL) research. Studies show that mindfulness helps both teachers and students lower stress levels, improve attention, and strengthen emotional regulation.

When we take even one minute to pause and notice our breath, we activate the body’s relaxation response.

Over time, this simple practice rewires the brain for calm and resilience.

If you’re thinking, “That sounds amazing, but I barely have a minute to myself outside of school,” you’re not alone, and that’s okay.

Here’s the good news: you don’t have to carve out extra time at home to benefit from mindfulness. You can build your own practice right into your classroom routine.

When you take mindful moments with your students, even just a few deep breaths before a lesson or after recess, you’re supporting your own mental health and teaching your students valuable self-regulation skills.
It’s not an either/or; it’s a both/and.

By caring for your own nervous system in the moment, you model emotional regulation for your students and create a calmer learning environment for everyone.

That’s why integrating short, daily mindful moments, even 2–5 minutes, can transform the classroom environment. It’s not about perfection; it’s about consistent practice.

If you’d like a structured, ready-to-use way to build these moments into your school day, our free SEL & Mindfulness Foundations for K–12 Classrooms program gives you one month of evidence-based, no-prep lessons to bring calm and focus to both you and your students.

Choose a consistent moment each day that feels natural for you.

Will it be first thing in the morning, before you head to school, or right after the final bell? Maybe in your car before stepping into the building?

Or maybe with your students first thing after announcements?

The specific time doesn’t matter. What matters is consistency. When the school year gets hectic (and it will!), you’ll already have a grounding habit in place to help you return to calm.

If you’re new to mindfulness, begin simply.

Set a timer for five minutes. Sit comfortably, straighten your back, and close your eyes.

Bring your full attention to your breath — the inhale and the exhale.

When your mind wanders (and it will — we call this “puppy brain”), gently guide your attention back to your breath, without judgment.

If five minutes feels too long, start with one or two minutes.

What matters most is consistency, not duration.

(If you plan to practice with your students instead of on your own, which we highly recommend, use our guided audio mindfulness practices here.)

Bring that calm energy with you into the classroom.

Plan short mindful moments throughout your day, maybe before transitions, during prep periods, or right after your students leave the room.

We love taking a few deep breaths before our students walk in and again once they’ve left. These simple pauses help us reset and stay grounded, no matter how busy the day gets.

Or taking deep breaths with our students between activities or after recess.

When we committed to just five minutes of daily mindfulness, everything changed.

We felt calmer, more centered, and more in control, and our students mirrored that calm right back to us.