Cambridge teen behind new school program, 'Mindful Mornings'

A new program started at Preston High School is now enlightening over a hundred students across Waterloo Region District School Board to the power of mindfulness against stress.

Mindful Mornings is not a traditional mindfulness program. It is a voluntary program which runs twice a week in the mornings. Students who participate in the program are guided through a video exercise, with different exercises to help students find one that works best for them. 

“Students get the time in te class to do these activities so they can follow along and relax during the day,” said Shubham Patel, a Grade 12 student and organizer behind Mindful Mornings. “Because high school is one of the most stressful periods for a teenager, and this program is supposed to help them feel less stressed during school and have fun.”

The idea for Mindful Mornings came after Patel began participating in the Peace Innovators Scholarship and Mentorship Program offered at the University of Waterloo. In this program, students have to choose a specific issue within their community and create an event which would address the concern.

“I was focused on trying to help with the issue of mental health in our community, and I did not know what I would do exactly,” said Patel.

After speaking with experts and doing research, Patel realized he could help teach high school students to deal with stress through mindfulness. As a student himself, he said school is a stressful period for teenagers.

“The need is a lot,” Patel said about mindfulness, “being a student myself, it has been hard to get on top of our work and feel relaxed at school. It is important to take a few moments from your day just to breathe and relax.”

Patel, who has also been practicing mindfulness for five years, adds he has seen the impact stress has on students. 

“I know many friends of mine who have skipped classes often because they are not feeling well, and I know people who are very stressed because of exams,” he said. “I saw the need for this a lot during the last two years because of the pandemic, and I wanted to do something.”

After launching the program in two classrooms in February, it is now being used by approximately 160 students. Collecting feedback from participants in the program, he said roughly 70 per cent of students felt less stressed after each session and more relaxed after participating in Mindful Mornings.

“A lot of the students are also using these resources in their own time, whether they wake up or right before a test or anything like that,” said Patel, who plans to speak with more teachers about using this program with their students. 

While he plans to continue Mindful Mornings, Patel mentions developing this program has also inspired him to start a non-profit focusing on climate awareness and climate action.  

“They connect a lot, especially since there is a lot of climate anxiety right now,” Patel said about climate change and mindfulness. “I think it’s really important there to relax your mind as well and take very small steps to make change.”

“Through this project I’ve realized that I can actually bring change and make an impact, and this success has made me motivated to keep going in the future.”