In September 2007, Mariela Silveira (@dramarielasilveira), Clotel’s technical director, discovered a revolver in Gramado’s central square. A bank is robbed and she almost witnesses a gunfight. Disturbed by what she saw, Mariela began thinking of strategies to reduce the violence. In writing for a scientific journal, he found that meditation practices in Detroit schools were contributing to a reduction in violence in that North American city. She sought out Gramado, the school where she had studied all her life, and proposed a pilot project. I work with teachers to incorporate very simple breathing and meditation practices at some point in their students’ daily routines.
The results of the project surprised everyone. Mindfulness exercises provided students with a greater sense of security, increased respect between students and teachers, and had a positive impact on practitioners’ Portuguese and math test scores.
In order to spread this project to as many schools as possible, the Mente Viva project (@mente.viva) was born, an NGO that brings mindfulness practices to children and adolescents in educational institutions across the country.
Since its founding in 2007, more than 480,000 children in Brazil and 10 other countries have practiced the exercises developed by Mariela and her team. The scope of Mente Viva’s texts and exercises has expanded with the arrival of the sweetly articulate Paulo Moura, lawyer, educator, playwright, poet, education administrator, children’s author, and now the overall coordinator of the project. He and Mariela wrote a book called 365 Practices and Meditations. The book contains one exercise for each day of the year, is aimed at young people and children, and has an instructional video on YouTube (worth checking out the Mente Viva page). He has also developed a series of picture books encouraging meditation for children and young people, which have already been translated into English, Spanish, French and Khmer, the language spoken in Cambodia.
—Having well-explained and accessible practical materials is very helpful in incorporating this idea into the daily life of the school, — said Paulo Moura.
Mariela also partnered with the Brain Research Institute of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS). Research from the institute has shown improved working memory, reduced impulsivity, and increased empathy among people who practice the Mente Viva exercise.
— Since 2007, the world’s largest universities began researching mindfulness and discovered that its practice changes the circuitry of the brain. Today, Mariella said, mindfulness is understood by these researchers as a powerful public health tool.
Currently, 11 municipal schools in Gramado, Canela, and the region are participating in the Jornada Nas Escolas project, where trained teachers from the Mente Viva team provide daily mindfulness activities to students. The project is also the focus of a large-scale study covering 30 regions in Rio Grande do Sul, in partnership with the Center for Evidence-Based Education.
— Evaluate the program’s impact on learning rates, school climate, and IDEB. The study is expected to be completed in 2026, Mariela said.
Next is one of the breathing exercises that starts every Mente Viva practice. Recommended for all ages:
Please sit comfortably. Relax your arms and legs. Place your hands on your legs. It keeps your back straight but is very comfortable. Close your eyes and imagine that you are smelling the flowers and breathing in the air. slowly. Next, exhale the air through your nose, like blowing out a candle. When you smell a flower, your stomach must be big; when you blow out a candle, your stomach must be small. Shall we do it again? Very slowly. And again. Repeat 3 times.
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