Word from the Wise

Meditation will work on anyone who has a functioning human nervous system. All you need is the intelligence to follow simple instructions. Even children as young as 4 and 5 have been taught to meditate successfully.

Deepak Chopra
Author, public speaker, pioneer and advocate of integrative medicine in health.

It is fascinating to see the brain’s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life.

Dr Britta Hölzel
Neuroscientist at University of Munich, Justus Liebig University and Harvard Medical School.

We cannot create observers by saying ‘observe’, but by giving them the power and the means for this observation, and these means are procured through education of the senses.

Maria Montessori
Italian physician, educator, and innovator, acclaimed for her educational method that builds on the way children naturally learn.

Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.

Margaret Mead
American cultural anthropologist, author and public speaker.

Mindfulness in a nutshell is the practice of becoming aware of what is happening in the present moment and of learning to relate more skilfully to thoughts, emotions, body sensations and impulses as they arise.

Jon Kabat-Zinn
American molecular biologist

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.

Thich Nhat Hanh
Zen Buddhist monk known for his practice of mindfulness meditation, or present-focused awareness.

Stories are fundamental to learning and we have been learning through stories for hundreds of thousands of years. The brain is designed to store five to seven pieces of information at a time, so seven pieces of information in one story can be remembered.

Nathan Mikaere-Wallis
Lecturer Canterbury University NZ. Neuroscience presenter and trainer – Brainwave Trust, Director of X-Factor Education, Child Protection trainer.