Don’t discredit mindfulness because it’s taught at Miami’s controversial Center Academy | Opinion

Centner Academy made national news recently when the media exposed its policy to not employ teachers who are vaccinated against COVID-19. In addition, Centner was described in several instances as a “mindful school,” a description bolstered by a video clip of co-founder Leila Centner speaking about their mindfulness approach, as well as a photo of people meditating.

The school’s anti-vax policy, however, is not based in mindfulness. It’s not grounded in science, and it’s not compassionate toward teachers who have been struggling through this pandemic. The emphasis on the “mindful school” label seemed intended to spotlight how “strange” or “different” this particular school may be from what we understand as mainstream education. While an inaccurate portrayal, this provides an excellent opportunity to raise awareness about what mindfulness is.

The concept of mindfulness needs to be decoupled from Centner’s anti-vax policy. Leila Centner admits that she has no evidence to support her vaccine-danger claims. Mindfulness, on the contrary, has been proven by decades of research to have great benefits for adults and children. Much of this research has been done using MRIs that demonstrated increases in gray matter in the brain and thickening of the prefrontal cortex. This results in greater focus and attention; improved sleep; a reduction in anxiety and symptoms of depression; an increase in compassion and sense of connection to others; a greater ability to understand correctly and respond appropriately to situations rather than reacting on autopilot; and a greater sense of well-being and happiness.

These findings were echoed in our recently published study by the University of Miami on the “Impact of Mindfulness Training on the Well-Being of Educators,” research done with Miami-Dade educators in partnership with Mindful Kids Miami.

For the past decade, Mindful Kids Miami has worked to bring the benefits of mindfulness to children in our community through teacher-training programs and mindfulness programs for adults and children. We have helped more than 10,000 people reduce stress and prevent burnout and trained more than 1,900 educators in Miami-Dade on how to integrate age-appropriate mindfulness activities into classrooms.

Our partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools to offer our programs as professional-development options, along with the recent bill passed by the Florida Legislature to implement a moment of silence at the beginning of every school day, demonstrates large-scale institutional acceptance of mindfulness-based practices as beneficial tools to enhance well-being.

Mindfulness is not religious. It’s not magical, and it’s not strange. It is simply being aware of the present moment as it is, without judgment. There are many practices that support and enhance the ability to be mindful in daily life. It does a disservice to all whose lives have been transformed by mindfulness practices to focus on the Centner Academy’s mindfulness philosophy in order to discredit the school for an unrelated, non-evidence-based, anti-vax policy.

Sandy Skelaney is executive director of Mindful Kids Miami.