Panel of Educators May 10

The panel of educators, moderated by Doug, last night was the most interesting for me. First to speak was Julie Berensen from the UK. She started using tiny bits of mindfulness with her class of 5 year olds. They loved the three breaths, the bell to stop. When they moved on the next year, the teacher who had them was asking as the kids had requested they sing some of the songs, use the bell, etc. So Julie shared with that teacher and the program has seemed to grow. Older siblings of her former students made requests so she did an after school program with them. Julie was very articulate and I enjoyed hearing her.

The next speaker I had seen before. Anja Traub, a violinist professionally with the Munich chamber orchestra and had played with Phap Lindh, on cello, and Sister Trai Nghiem, on violin, when I visited EAIB in Waldbrol, Germany, a couple of years ago for the German retreat and for the formal opening ceremony of the remodeled first floor of EAIB (European institute for Applied Buddhism). They called themselves the Plum Village Chamber orchestra! They played wonderfully!

Anyway she is from Alicante area in southern Spain and has started a very small school using mindfulness for about 16 students I think I understood. It's under the UK auspices as it was too difficult under Spanish schools to start a school where you need PE programs, athletic fields, etc. (so Eon had asked the question why not Spanish?).

Then there was Miles Dunmore, who teaches in London, high school at an American International School. He talked about using mindfulness with some difficult students and again how the word had spread among teachers because of the change, positive change, in students. I ran into him later and introduced myself. He raved about how wonderful and brilliant Doug is. He said Doug had stayed with him and his wife a month or so ago when he and Michael had visited the school in Brighton that will adopt mindfulness as a whole school in the fall. They were doing some preliminary work with teachers this spring.


The next speaker was Valerie Brown, who I think, was supposed to have been my roommate but they must have found an extra room and given her her own. She got our attention by saying two good things happened to her back after she had gotten herself out of Brooklyn, before it was upscale and gentrified! Gotten through college and masters degree and then law school. She was out to succeed and make a bundle of money. and she did! Then her husband asked for a divorce, said she never listened to him! And she said he was right! She knew all the answers! So that was a wake up call. The second thing was on a vacation out west she discovered the BLUE sky and clouds. She'd lived her life so out of tune with nature and focused on succeeding in 1995 she made her way to Plum Village, I guess having read some of Thay's books and became a member of the Order of Interbeing. This is a special step for lay people who are in sanghas (group) that follow Thay and also take the Five Mindfulness Trainings (no alcohol, tobacco, meat, etc).  It's kind of like an ordination and some of them, too, have the Lamp Transmission and become teachers of the dharma as well. They wear brown short robes when at a retreat to identify them.

Anyway, she now works with superintendents and other school officials, as well as legislators in Pensylvania and Congress advocating for changes in educational laws and programs. Her book will come out this summer with tons of research showing the positive effects on students' education of mindfulness training. She was a very effective speaker. I ended up meeting her at breakfast yesterday and chatted for a bit with her. Don't know if she is staying for the course this week or not.

The last speaker was Pilar Aguilera, the main organizer here in Barcelona of this whole series of events. She's a professor here at this branch of Univ. BCN out where I'm staying and where the five day course will be given. I didn't catch a lot of what she said as she spoke so fast and I think the translator wasn't able to keep up.

The panel gave some wonderful examples of how to use mindfulness with students. By the time it ended it was 8:30 and I headed back for the 20 minute ride to my room.