Intentional Stillness: The Brain and Intentional Stillness Primary
Students explore the neuroscience behind the actions for stillness. This lesson explains how intentional stillness affects the brain — from reducing stress hormone levels to strengthening neural pathways associated with focus, emotional regulation, and wellbeing — giving students a scientific foundation for the practice.
Learning Outcomes
Outcome 1:
Explain the basic neuroscience of stress and relaxation responses
Outcome 2:
Understand how intentional stillness and mindfulness affect the brain
Outcome 3:
Identify the brain regions involved in stress, focus, and emotional regulation
Outcome 4:
Connect scientific understanding to personal experience of stillness practices
What's included
A quick look at the classroom-ready resources that come with this lesson.
Available after purchase
Available after purchase
Contributing Experts
People who helped produce this lesson.
Amy Bradshaw
Amy Bradshaw is an strategic school leader with 20+ years experience. Multi Academy Trust Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead and teaching experience at every stage. Qualified Mindfulness practitioner for adults and children and Bounce Forward Associate Trainer. Amy is passionate about making mental health the golden thread that runs through the heart of school and communities.
About the Organisation
Bounce Forward is the UK’s psychological-fitness charity.
We help children and young people — and the adults and environments around them — develop the understanding, skills and shared language to regulate, recover and adapt through challenge, change and everyday life.
Our work brings together mental resilience and emotional wellbeing, shifting the focus upstream: building capability before crisis, rather than waiting for something to go wrong. We translate evidence from psychology, resilience research, cognitive behavioural approaches and positive psychology into practical learning that can be taught, modelled and used in real life.
From evidence-informed curricula and staff development to family support and whole-community approaches, our work recognises that young people do not develop in isolation. What happens around a young person shapes what becomes possible within them.
Everything we create is practical, grounded in evidence and designed to build something that lasts — psychologically fit people and communities, better prepared to meet life.