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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Students at Canfield Village Middle School tried out several techniques to achieve mindfulness while being advised by Shannon Galvin, a certified advanced yoga teacher with a degree in Occupational Therapy.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Shannon Galvin demonstrated several techniques for students to achieve mindfulness during her visit to Canfield Village Middle School on Aug. 28. Galvin is a certified advanced yoga teacher with a degree in Occupational Therapy.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Shannon Galvin, a certified advanced yoga teacher with a degree in Occupational Therapy, visited students at Canfield Village Middle School to teach them about mindfulness and awareness on Aug. 28.
By ABBY SLANKER
Canfield Village Middle School welcomed Shannon Galvin as she visited the school to present a program on mindfulness and awareness on Aug. 28.
Galvin is a certified advanced yoga teacher and has a degree in Occupational Therapy and has been practicing yoga and meditation for more than 20 years. She has worked with individuals all over the world teaching yoga, meditation and mindfulness.
CVMS Principal Judd Rubin opened the assembly.
“Welcome to our traditional beginning of school assembly. Within the first couple days of school, we like to bring in a special guest to talk to you and we are very excited to have Shannon Galvin here today to teach us about mindfulness and awareness. Please give a warm welcome to our guest,” Rubin said.
Galvin took the floor and told the students they each have a journey.
“Every single one of you has a journey. Do I know your journey? No, I don’t. When the sun rises on a new day, you have the opportunity and ability to wake up to a new day and do something first, whatever your first is,” Galvin said.
Galvin then moved onto explaining the meaning of mindfulness.
“Mindfulness means being mindful in the moment. To come into focus of one point and be present in that awareness. Wherever we are, such as sports, music, art, reading, focus on the one thing you are doing at that time. If you are mindful of yourself, you can learn to be mindful of others,” Galvin said.
Galvin’s program included her teaching the students techniques to achieve mindfulness and she asked the students to follow along with her as she demonstrated the techniques. She also gave the students several tools to use to help them.
“These techniques will help you create a harmony in your body system. You can store these tools in your own personal tool box and can use them any time of day and you can continue to add to your toolbox,” Galvin said.
As she gave the students their tools and techniques, including breathing exercises, she explained that they could use them to deal with stress.
“You can use these techniques to deal with stress. All of these tools are for the benefit of you. Nobody else. You can control of your body. If you are in a situation and not feeling quite right or feeling anxious or nervous, you now have a tool to help relax yourself,” Galvin said.
To end her presentation, Galvin had the students lay on their backs and close their eyes.
“Now lay on your backs and close your eyes. Learn to be aware of your whole body. Feel your whole body on the floor. See if you can focus enough to hear the sounds in this space and start to become aware of them and listen to the them so you can be aware of the sounds around us,” Galvin said.
Galvin thanked the students for inviting her to their school.
“It was my honor to be here and present to you tools of living mindfully and in the present moment. It is my life mission to share this knowledge and help bring about the joy and peace that lives within every one of you. Thank you,” Galvin said.