Balancing Minds and Bodies: Integrating Outdoor and Indoor Wellness Initiatives to Enhance Teacher and Student Well-being

Format

Individual Presentation

Format

Workshop

Presenters

Courtney Toledo Ed.D., Georgia Southern UniversityFollow
Ariah Lewis Ms., Georgia Southern UniversityFollow

First Presenter's Institution

Georgia Southern University

First Presenter’s Email Address

ctoledo@georgiasouthern.edu

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Dr. Courtney Toledo is an Instructor in the Department of Elementary and Special Education at Georgia Southern University. Her research focuses on the use of experiential learning activities to support pre-service teacher development and the integration of mindfulness and wellness initiatives to support both teacher and P-12 student well-being and social-emotional growth.

Second Presenter's Institution

Georgia Southern University

Second Presenter’s Email Address

ariahlewis@georgiasouthern.edu

Second Presenter's Brief Biography

Ms. Ariah Lewis is the Coordinator of Student Wellness and Health Promotion at Georgia Southern University. She has experience within the field of psychology, specifically, experimental psychology. She has 4 years of research experience and is currently writing a Master’s thesis. She currently works in the Office of Student Wellness and Health Promotion where she plans, facilitates, and hosts educational wellness initiatives/events on campus for students.

Submitter

I am submitting this proposal as one of the presenter(s)

Location

Ballroom D

Strand #1

Health: Mental & Physical Health

Strand #2

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Relevance

This proposal relates to Strand IV: "Health": Promoting the mental and physical health of all children and youth as we share the benefits of integrating wellness initiatives inside and outside of the classroom. This includes promoting the mental health of children, youth, and adults through mindfulness activities such as journaling and meditation as well as promoting the physical health of children, youth, and adults through mindful movement both inside and outside of the classroom. Participants will leave with practical activities that they can implement in their daily lives and within their school community to promote the mental and physical wellness of everyone in their community.

Brief Program Description

Our presentation will share the benefits of meditation, mindfulness and movement activities for children, youth and adults. Attendees will engage in mindfulness activities, such as mindful journaling, movement, breathing techniques, and a guided meditation in order to learn how to implement these practices into their daily lives and within the classroom.

Summary

This presentation will begin with a descriptive overview of meditation and mindfulness followed by sharing the benefits of meditation, mindfulness, and movement activities for children, youth, and adults. Participants will engage in discussions and activities throughout the presentation to develop a greater understanding of how to incorporate mindfulness into their everyday lives as well as traditional and nontraditional educational spaces. This will include mindful journaling, mindful movement, breathing techniques, and more. The presenters will model how to incorporate these strategies into their everyday lives and educational spaces for a variety of age groups, including children, youth and adults. Participants will learn about the differences between utilizing classroom spaces and outdoor or nontraditional educational spaces to incorporate these activities. The presenters will share Georgia Southern University’s Educators on the Green program, which the presenters developed to support pre-service teacher well-being. The specific events for the program will be described and preliminary findings about the participant’s experiences will be shared. Specifically, we will share some of our field notes and feedback from the participants on their experiences with the various wellness initiatives and explain how this program can be reworked to address the needs of children and youth of all ages. The presentation will conclude with a brief guided meditation.

Evidence

Mindfulness has been defined as “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 2003, p. 145). Prior research has shown that meditation activities have resulted in reduced stress, improved sleep and focus, and improved mood (Ramasubramanian, 2017). For children and youth, negative stressors in childhood are linked to poor mental health outcomes; therefore teaching them alternative ways to cope with stress can mitigate the maladaptive strategies that they may form to cope with those stressors (Perry-Parrish et al., 2016). Mindfulness activities can be adapted for all ages and are not only linked to improved coping skills, but also reduced blood pressure, improved attention, executive function, and self-awareness. Utilizing outdoor and nontraditional educational spaces has also been shown to support children and youth in gaining positive outcomes from mindfulness activities (Bluth et al., 2016). This research suggests that educators should consider the physical space in which mindfulness activities should take place.

Participating in mindfulness activities, including yoga and breathing exercises, has resulted in teachers using these and other relaxing activities more frequently in their everyday lives (Hepburn et al., 2021). This research suggests that when individuals are exposed to mindfulness activities, they are more equipped to incorporate them into their everyday routines. Mindfulness-based practices have the potential to mitigate stress and increase self-regulation in pre-service and in-service teachers (Birchinall et al., 2019; Lomas et al., 2017). In addition, educators engaging in mindfulness practices together helps them build community and allows them to “deal with stress more skillfully” (Hwang et al., 2021, p. 2975). Combining what we know about youth and adult responses to mindfulness can support us in creating school communities that support relationship building on top of improved mental and physical well-being. The presenters will also share preliminary findings from their current study focusing on the use of mindfulness activities to support pre-service teachers’ social-emotional well-being, including stress reduction and improved mood.

Learning Objective 1

Participants will be able to explain the benefits of incorporating wellness initiatives into the everyday lives of children, youth and adults, including within and outside of the classroom.

Learning Objective 2

Participants will be able to engage in mindfulness strategies to improve mental and physical well-being.

Learning Objective 3

Participants will be able to identify mindfulness strategies to use in and out of the classroom.

Keyword Descriptors

Mindfulness, meditation, yoga, mental well-being, outdoor spaces, community building, physical well-being

Presentation Year

2025

Start Date

3-4-2025 1:00 PM

Recommended Citation

Toledo, Courtney Ed.D. and Lewis, Ariah Ms., "Balancing Minds and Bodies: Integrating Outdoor and Indoor Wellness Initiatives to Enhance Teacher and Student Well-being" (2025). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 47.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2025/2025/47