LOCAL 12
CINCINNATI (WKRC) – Thousands of students are starting each school day with a moment of silence.
It’s part of a growing program called Mindful Music Moments that aims to fight anxiety among kids.
“It’s been so appreciated by parents, by teachers, by students as having a moment just to take a breath, take time to calm, take time to focus. That’s the really good news,” creator, Stacy Sims, said. “I think the sad is that it is so, so needed. There’s just a lot of stress in our world and we’re super happy to be able to provide that morning ritual.”
Sims works with more than 40 school districts in the Cincinnati area and more than 160 schools across the country.
Jean Bode, counselor at Wilson Elementary in the Forest Hills School District, says the program is making a difference and setting a tone for the day.
“It gives them a moment to come in from wherever they’re coming from and walking into our building to sit and be still and be silent and be quiet and reset to get ready for the day,” Bode said.
Each morning, a few minutes of classical music, typically recorded by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra or the Cincinnati Opera, is played over the intercom. Students are encouraged with a prompt each day, maybe to imagine being a conductor or just to sit in silence.
“They learn how to practice slow breathing. They learn how to practice noticing when they’re nervous, when they feel calm and once you have that capacity to notice, you have the agency to shift so that’s really what we’re providing,” Sims said. “There’s the mindfulness aspect which is the noticing and then the music aspect. There’s all kinds of beautiful research about the power of music to really shift mood, to help with healing, to help with stress so it combines both of those things.”
Students say they can focus more easily on the rest of the day when they start it by relieving stress.
“I like just listening to the good music and it’s really nice to just calm down and relax,” fifth grade student, Julia Bredel, said.
When a school signs up for the program, parents get access to it as well.
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