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Along with their backpacks and school supplies, your high school students often carry the burden of stress, anxiety, and depression with them from class to class. But unlike books and heavy bags, teens can’t always put these down so easily — unless they know how to regulate their emotions and connect with their true feelings.

Mindfulness is the practice of focusing on the present moment and the way your body reacts to it. From meditation scripts to breathing exercises to mindfulness writing ideas, this collection of mindfulness activities for high school students includes thoughtful ways to help students connect to how their bodies carry their emotions and to ease their emotional load before heading off to the next class.

Quick Mindfulness Activities for Task Transitions

Moving from one classroom task to the next can be discombobulating, and passing periods aren’t exactly relaxing, either. Incorporate short SEL brain breaks for high school students to get their bearings and to stay mindful of their feelings and surroundings.

• Scan your body: Where are students holding their anxiety? Teach them to perform quick internal body scans where they notice the physical sensations of their emotions.
• Take a breathing break: If your high schoolers come to class with their shoulders hunched and their stress levels high, take a moment between tasks to inhale and exhale slowly and purposefully.
• Schedule a yoga minute: You don’t need to teach gym to get teens moving! Show them a few standing or sitting yoga poses (think seated cat-cow) to release the tension they’re holding in hidden pockets of their bodies.
• Reflect on the last activity: How did students feel about that last lesson? Take a few seconds to lead an open-class discussion on whether your class today was straightforward or anxiety-provoking.

Give students a moment to breathe and re-center

The best mindfulness activities for high school students are quick and simple to learn (and teach). Use these easy-to-implement resources to help teens listen to their bodies and center their experiences in a matter of moments.

Mindfulness Exercises: Mindfulness Mandalas and Task Cards Activity Pack
By Kiddie Matters
Grades: 5th-10th
Subject: School Counseling, School Psychology

A collection of mindfulness mantras and task cards keeps students aware of their surroundings and practicing self-awareness. From breathing exercises to focusing on the environment around them, each activity is an artful way for students to remain grounded and self-regulate. 

Brain Break Activity for After Test – SEL or Mindfulness Middle or High School
By Innovative English Instruction
Grades: 6th-12th

Keep test anxiety at bay and ensure everyone stays quiet with after-test mindfulness activities. Relaxing coloring projects, sudoku puzzles, doodling prompts, and folding pages ensure everyone has a way to cool down after a test without disturbing their peers.

Mindfulness Writing Activities for High Schoolers

For some students, writing can be an effective way to truly connect with the here and now of their emotions. From daily SEL check-in writing prompts to longer essay assignments, these activities work in ELA, social studies, or any other class where students need a moment to reflect.

• Keep a stress journal: Are Mondays more stressful for students than other days? Do tests make them feel anxious all day? Have them keep track of their stress levels in your class and throughout the week with SEL journal prompts and a stress monitor level.
• Assign SEL check-in writing prompts: Before you begin classwork for the day, give students five minutes to reflect on how their day is going so far. They may be able to leave some of their worries on the page, making them more open to learning from you.
• Write a sensory poem: There’s nothing like poetry to make you feel like you’re living in the moment. Take students outside and encourage them to write down what they see, hear, smell, and feel as they sit in one place with their feelings.
• Track areas of growth: Stress isn’t always an accurate indicator of how someone is doing. Have students set a goal for an area of improvement, such as a specific grade or skills, and encourage them to track how much they’re growing.

Help students write about their thoughts and feelings 

What’s the difference between a thought and a feeling? Help students decipher each with writing prompts and activities that focus on the physical sensations of feelings, the ways thoughts can lead to stress, and how to calm their bodies when experiencing strong emotions. 

Mental Health & Mindfulness Journal (A collaboration with @caffeinateandeducate)
By Donut Lovin’ Teacher
Grades: 5th-9th
Subject: Classroom Community, Social Emotional Learning

Teach students to identify what they’re feeling, how their thoughts affect them, and how their body reacts with a series of journal prompts and interactive digital activities.

Mindfulness Meditation Activities for Teens to Try

Although some consider meditation in high school to be controversial, it can really be as simple as taking a moment in class to center your mind and body. Guide students through the process of meditation to keep them mindful and alert for the rest of the period (and their day).

• Start class with a meditation minute: Imagine a moment of the day when students aren’t responsible for writing something down or turning something in! Devote the first minute of your class period to silent meditation, allowing students to relax before they even take out their pencils.
• Create a meditation playlist: Music can help even the most anxious student practice mindfulness. Play calming, meditative music as students work or during a moment of reflection before they pack up for the day.
• Use guided meditation scripts: Help students stay mindful and grounded with guided meditation scripts that encourage them to observe their own breath, body reactions, and sensory experiences of the moment.
• Quiet your inner dialogue: Describe the ways that negative self-talk can sometimes dictate our inner dialogue, and model ways to observe thoughts without judgment or distraction.

Take a meditation break to emotionally regulate

Busy teens often don’t have a moment to spare throughout the day, so you’ll need to carve it into their schedule for them. Use these mindfulness activities for high school students to practice the art of meditation and to connect the way their body feels with their emotional awareness.

Mindfulness Meditation for Teens – Social Emotional Learning – Audio and Script
By Mondays Made Easy
Grades: 5th-12th
Subject: School Counseling, School Psychology
Standards: CCSS.SL7.1, 7.5, 7.6; SL.8.1, 8.5, 8.6; SL.9-10.5, 9-10.6

A CCSS-aligned resource guides students through a seven-minute visualization meditation script to help them increase focus and self-awareness, and decrease stress and anxiety. Along with the script, the resource comes with an audio recording in different digital formats for students to meditate and emotionally regulate.

Inspiring Mindfulness Improvements to the Classroom Environment

Being mindful is all about being aware of your surroundings, and in high school, those surroundings may include busy bulletin boards, noisy classmates, and distracting posters. Use your classroom itself as a mindfulness tool to calm students’ emotions and lower their stress levels.

• Decorate with SEL strategies: Whether it’s reminders of breathing activities, coping skills, or positive affirmations, add mindfulness activities for high school students to your classroom walls or bulletin boards.
• Use calming colors: Trade out bright reds and oranges for cooler tones, such as blues and greens, to keep your classroom peaceful and help students focus.
• Put up growth mindset mantras: Helpful for stressful test days as well as everyday moments of anxiety, posters with growth mindset mantras remind students that today is just one step in a journey toward their personal growth.

Adorn your classroom with positive affirmations

Keep negativity out of your classroom by hanging positive affirmations on the wall. Students can incorporate these sayings into their internal dialogue, making their learning environment an important part of their mindfulness practices.

Mindfulness Bulletin Board Affirmations Card FREEBIE!
By Counselor Clique
Grades: 6th-12th
Subject: Health, School Counseling, School Psychology

Perfect for display in the classroom, office, or hallway, this mindfulness bulletin board resource emphasizes the importance of self-care and developing a growth mindset. A free list of affirmations helps students practice positive self-talk, while a full bulletin board kit includes coping mechanisms, stress management strategies, and ways to improve self-awareness and mindfulness.

Benefits of Everyday Mindfulness for Teens

Staying mindful in everyday situations is a skill that teens can use long after they leave your class, especially as their maturity deepens and their lives get more complex. That’s why the everyday implementation of these exercises can be one of the most important aspects of your curriculum, both now and in the future. The short-term and long-term benefits of high school mindfulness activities include:

• Alignment to the National Health Education Standards, including analyzing healthy resources and setting goals for supporting mental and emotional health
• Improved focus and attention in class, leading to higher skill retention and grades
• Reduced stress in all areas of life, whether it’s academic or personal
• Stronger executive functioning and study skills for high schoolers
• Better emotional regulation and behavior choices
• Closer relationships with family members and peers

Focusing on mindfulness also builds a stronger sense of classroom community. When students are more aware of their own emotions, they can understand their peers’ perspectives and engage in fewer conflicts as the year progresses.

Staying Mindful Before, During, and After Class

Introducing mindfulness activities to high school students doesn’t need to take up extra instructional time. In fact, a class focused on mindfulness may be able to get through a lesson with fewer distractions, which makes your instruction even more effective and impactful. 

Find ways to build in more SEL activities for high school, including emotional vocabulary lessons and team-building projects. You can also incorporate more high school mindfulness resources for stressful times of the year, everyday check-ins, or ways to reach students whose anxiety is keeping them from enjoying these important teen years.