Playing with the Present is a new mindfulness curriculum developed by Iwan Brioc, drawing on his 30 years of experience in training educators internationally in creativity and mindfulness.

Aimed at ages 8+ Playing with the Present is a modular course guided by the principles of creative, participatory, and experiential learning. This program explores what cutting-edge neuroscience has to teach us about our mental well-being, in particular, Prof. Richard Davidson’s Emotional Styles and the ‘four pillars of well-being’ – Outlook, Attention, Resilience, and Generosity.

The curriculum introduces learners to some useful methods to develop healthy habits of mind that they can draw on for the rest of their lives.

Trained teachers construct lessons by combining activities that use three kinds of approaches –

Presenting/Cognition – We follow Bessie the Brain’s journey from being anxious and a little depressed to being happy and confident as she learns from her teacher about the four pillars of well-being.

Participating/Recognition and Self-Expression – Activity sheets offer the teacher a range of creative ways to involve learners in Bessie’s journey. Group processes help learners practice bringing awareness to the patterns of brain activity associated with each style as they enact everyday scenarios in which they find themselves.

Presencing/Embodying -Learners are introduced to mindfulness techniques that help strengthen the neural networks related to these styles in the brain: circuits that also map on to the four different kinds of meditation – concentration meditation, loving-kindness, open awareness, and compassion meditation.

The flexibility of the curriculum allows teachers to combine materials to meet the specific needs of their students and through an online portal, share with other teachers how they progress through the curriculum.