The Power of Consumption - A Positive Shift In Student Health

Format

Individual Presentation

Format

Individual Presentation

Presenters

Malcolm Xavier Boone, Rabun Gap Nacoochee SchoolFollow

First Presenter's Institution

Rabun Gap Nacoochee School

First Presenter’s Email Address

mboone@rabungap.org

First Presenter's Brief Biography

I’m a New York native and former collegiate & professional basketball player turned elementary school teacher. The opportunity to play professional sports has delivered me invaluable life lessons that I’ve continued to share with the world. Everything from discipline to consistency to being coachable. It’s all been life-changing. As for my teaching career, I have taught both inner city education in NYC and in rural communities at private institutions. For the last seven years, my focus has been on holistic health for students and adults. I have always aimed to enhance the overall quality of others’ lives through proper nutrition, physical activity, and my personal favorite, mindset and breath work. After seven years of sharing my passion of positive affirmations, mindfulness, and breath work with my students and communities I’ve been a part of, I’m honored to now be teaching this life-changing skill full-time. In a world that shares such a heightened and high-stress energy, my goal is to help others become aware of this pandemic and deliver in the moment coping strategies to relieve such an intense feeling. We do this through mindful breathing. 90% of all illness and disease are stress related. I’m ready to share what has worked for both myself and so many others with the communities around me. Breathing is a superpower. It becomes an unstoppable force when utilized the correct way.

Submitter

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

Location

Scarbrough 3

Strand #1

Health: Mental & Physical Health

Strand #2

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Relevance

When it comes to Health and Wellness with my students, my approach is to help them access tools they already possess. By being alive and here, we can access our breathing and increase our ability to be mindful. When we develop the awareness with how we breathe, many other factors in our world shift. Things such as our energy levels, our mindfulness, our focus, our emotional regulation, our nervous systems, and our overall well being. In addition, the thoughts we tell ourselves have a significant impact on the energy we receive and put out into the world which is why it's important to consume resilient content where possible. Both we and students will be better for incorporating these three pieces into our daily lives.

Brief Program Description

I will aim to share practices around different breathwork techniques that are known to reduce stress within the mind and body. In addition, I will help attendees further deepen their understanding of powerful affirmations and how it can change the confidence and resiliency within a student. I will share mindfulness tips that help others focus on the here and now.

Summary

Kids are the future of this world.

With our society facing some of the biggest challenges mentally, emotionally, and physically we’ve ever endured, it’s critical that we continue to educate our students on the importance of holistic health. Health isn’t about glamorizing the six pack abs or who the fastest runner is, as it may appear all over social media. Health is about what we consume not just through our mouths but through our minds. It’s the messages that we tell ourselves day in and day out that ultimately shapes who we become as individuals. As a former 3rd Grade teacher, a minor focus but huge passion of mine was to always implement mindfulness, breathwork, meditation practices, and affirmation routines with my students. Transitioning out of this role and into a new role of The Coordinator of Health & Wellness for my school, this is my sole focus and I’ll be able to reach more students and staff through this very important work. The testimonials I’ve received from students have been powerful. They’ve mentioned that these practices have changed their lives and that, will always fill my heart with joy. Our world moves fast for us and arguably even faster for our students so what better time to help them focus in on the present moment through breathing, then now? What better time to help develop their young minds through positive affirmations, then now? What better time to help them understand the power of being more mindful in a world that moves so mindlessly, then now?

My focus? Let’s regain control of how we breathe, tune into the thoughts we’re telling ourselves, and take a minute to pause and bring ourselves fully into the present moment in order to enhance our overall well being.

Evidence

https://positivepsychology.com/daily-affirmations/#research

https://www.news-medical.net/health/The-Science-of-Mindfulness.aspx#:~:text=A%20growing%20body%20of%20evidence,perspective%2Dtaking%2C%20and%20more.

https://backline.care/science-breathwork/

Learning Objective 1

PWBAT practice different breathing techniques that can potentially help reduce stress

Learning Objective 2

PWBAT utilize different mindfulness practices that can bring them deeper into the present moment

Learning Objective 3

PWBAT share affirmation strategies to help both themselves and their students build more self-confidence and resilience.

Keyword Descriptors

Breathwork, Mindfulness, Resilience, Affirmations, Mindset, Meditation, Stress

Presentation Year

2025

Start Date

3-5-2025 11:15 AM

Recommended Citation

Boone, Malcolm Xavier, "The Power of Consumption - A Positive Shift In Student Health" (2025). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 86.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2025/2025/86