Room to Breathe

Room to Breathe is a captivating 2013 documentary that retrospectively examines the importance of mindfulness in shaping the future of education. Directed by Russell Long, the film illuminates the struggles faced within the U.S. public school system, particularly highlighting the challenges of maintaining a nurturing and productive learning environment while dealing with increasing numbers of disruptive students. It uses the real-life narratives of troubled middle school students in San Francisco to underscore matters that the educational community struggles with daily such as classroom behavior, concentration, empathy, emotional regulation, and interpersonal relations.

Room to Breathe features Megan Cowan and Ling Busche, both of who bring insightful perspectives on mindfulness. Megan Cowan is the co-founder of Mindful Schools, an organization that brings mindfulness into schools. Ling Busche is a mindfulness trainer for the same group. The documentary’s central premise is the integration of mindfulness techniques into the classroom, propagated by these skilled mindfulness educators who bring in compelling narratives on the transformation of students’ lives.

The documentary keenly explores mindfulness as a possible solution to student disengagement and behavioral problems, resonating with calls from educators and parents alike for an educational system that caters not only to academic excellence but to the holistic growth of the students as well. Rather than focusing solely on punitive actions for behavioral issues, Room to Breathe shows how schools can employ positive reinforcement techniques, such as mindfulness, to create more balanced, focused, and empathetic students.

The film commences with an insight into the chaotic environment of Marina Middle School situated in San Fransisco’s troubled district where disrespect and distractions are standard. Teachers and administrators are depicted grappling with disruption, lack of respect, bullying, and general inattentiveness. The student group highlighted, one beleaguered seventh-grade class, is depicted as 'out of control'. The film lays out the groundwork for the dire need for a solution, and hence, introduces mindfulness as quite literally, a breath of fresh air.

As the storyline proceeds, the documentary presents Megan Cowan as she enters this challenging classroom with the intention to teach mindfulness, as a part of a pioneering experiment to see if teaching the students mindfulness can help them redirect attention, manage their emotions and make better choices. With her passion and dedication, Ms. Cowan takes on the incredibly daunting task of trying to implement a 15-minute mindfulness training daily.

While the film goes into detail showing the initial resistance from the students, it also showcases the surprising and encouraging acceptance of the mindfulness teaching by the students. But can mindfulness training help the students become calmer and more focused? Can it improve their academic achievements? Can it alter their outlook on life as well? These are the questions that Room to Breathe seeks to answer.

The film doesn’t shy away from showing the uphill battle that implementing mindfulness in a classroom setting can be— especially in the beginning stages, but it also shines a light on the many benefits and the potential of it being a vital tool in modern education.

One noteworthy aspect of Room to Breathe is its attempt to encapsulate the complexity of mindfulness and its impact on students. It brings about a hopeful message in an era where we are bombarded with numerous negative stories about under-performing schools, teacher lay-offs, and the constant emphasis on scoring higher on standardized tests.

Room to Breathe is a nuanced, compelling exploration of how mindful education can play a crucial role in changing the current curriculum of the education system. By tracing the transformation of students as they began to utilize mindfulness techniques, the film applauds the benefits these techniques can hold for students such as decrease disruptive behavior, increased focus, improved grades and even better relationships with their peers.

Room to Breathe not only entertains but educates and raises pertinent questions about the current state of our educational system. It is a compelling watch for anyone hoping to gain insight into mindfulness as a powerful tool that can transform classrooms and invariably, lives. It provokes active consideration for a future education system where the well-being of the students is just as important as academic performance.