Respira e não pira: um roteiro prático de mindfulness no contexto escolar

Abstract

The mental health of high school students, especially those enrolled in Professional and Technological Education (PTE), has emerged as an urgent demand in Brazilian schools. Pressures related to academic performance, double workloads, uncertainties about the future, and the emotional challenges inherent to adolescence converge into a scenario of overload and silent psychological distress. In this context, it becomes imperative for the school environment to offer more than disciplinary content: it must welcome, listen to, and promote emotional balance as an integral part of holistic education.

It was from this concrete need that the educational product Respira e Não Pira: A Practical Mindfulness Guide in the School Context was developed. This pedagogical guide is designed to support the implementation of mindfulness workshops with students in Professional Education. The proposal aims to be an accessible, replicable, and context-sensitive tool for public schools, offering educators a structured pathway to work with mindfulness, conscious breathing, inner awareness, and self-care practices with their students. More than a punctual intervention, it represents a possibility for everyday transformation.

Inspired by the contributions of Kabat-Zinn (2003), Shapiro and Carlson (2017), and Goleman (2019), the project engages with scientific evidence that demonstrates the benefits of mindfulness in reducing stress, improving concentration, and strengthening emotional intelligence. The guide was implemented at the Federal Institute of Acre (IFAC) – Rio Branco Campus, with students from Integrated High School, based on the understanding that this group experiences intense technical and academic demands within the PTE curriculum, making them more susceptible to physical and mental exhaustion.

The workshops were conducted during the inter-shift break, taking advantage of the period when students remain at school after lunch. This approach allowed for a voluntary, non-invasive experience that was harmoniously integrated into the institutional routine. The organization of the sessions favored active and reflective methodologies, focusing on youth protagonism and the creation of a safe environment for listening and shared experience. At the end of the cycle, students themselves reported increased self-awareness, improved emotional regulation, and a desire to continue the practice.

Respira e Não Pira is therefore more than a symbolic name: it is a call for schools to become territories of health, pause, and presence. The positive results obtained at IFAC demonstrate that it is both possible and necessary to integrate emotional care into everyday school life with lightness, scientific grounding, and intentionality. This pedagogical guide does not aim to exhaust possibilities, but to open pathways. It is a proposal that can be adapted, expanded, and implemented in different educational contexts, contributing to a truly holistic, humanized, and transformative education.