Bringing Mindfulness Practice to Children Grades K-12 Co-Sponsored by Mindful Schools
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Mindfulness is a meditative technique that fosters inner calm, increased awareness, and a sense of well-being. Over the past three decades, the practice of mindfulness has been taught to adults in hospitals and clinics to assist in pain management, stress reduction, and healing. Now mindfulness is being introduced into school curriculums.
The new field of teaching mindfulness in our nation’s schools is a profoundly beneficial development for the education of children from grades K through 12. Research shows that mindfulness decreases stress, attention deficit issues, depression, anxiety, and hostility in children, while benefiting their health, well-being, social relations, and academic performance. Children can easily learn these techniques, and when learned young, they become lifelong tools.
Omega has drawn together several leaders in this important, emerging field to offer educators not only practical techniques for teaching mindfulness, but also instruction for teachers, administrators, child care providers, family therapists, and parents who want to cultivate their own mindfulness practice for greater stress relief, presence, and emotional balance.
During the weekend we enjoy our own mindfulness retreat, as well as talks and demonstrations from cutting-edge researchers in the field, instruction in practical application, question-and-answer sessions, and guided movement and music. In breakout sessions we also explore:
Introducing the value of mindfulness to public and private school administrators
Teaching mindfulness to teens
Working with diverse student populations
Leading mindfulness movement and songs
Recommended reading: Kabat-Zinn, Coming to Our Senses; Lantieri, Building Emotional Intelligence; and Winston, Wide Awake.
A limited number of scholarships are available; contact the Lineage Project at info@lineageproject.org.
Faculty
Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, is perhaps the nation’s leading pioneer in exploring the connection between personal well-being and mindfulness meditation. He is the author of several books on the subject, including Coming to Our Senses.
Gina M. Biegel, MA, LMFT, is a psychotherapist who teaches MBSR to adolescents, children, adults, teachers, and health and business professionals. She is currently exploring brain imaging work at Stanford University with adolescents who practice MBSR and is actively bringing mindfulness into the school system while at the same time studying its effectiveness in that setting.
Linda Lantieri, MA, has 40 years of experience in education as a former teacher, administrator, and faculty member at Hunter College in New York City. She is coauthor of Waging Peace in Our Schools, editor of Schools With Spirit: Nurturing the Inner Lives of Children and Teachers, and author of Building Emotional Intelligence: Techniques to Cultivate Inner Strength in Children. Currently she serves as the director of The Inner Resilience Program.
Daniel Rechtschaffen teaches mindfulness in K-12 classrooms and trains teachers and organizations to institute mindfulness curricula. He works in the San Francisco Bay area as a marriage and family therapist intern, offering mindfulness-based therapy for children, adults, and families.
Betsy Rose is a singer, songwriter, and peace activist/educator. Her musical programs for children and educators focus on Earth care, conflict resolution, diversity, and mindfulness. She was introduced to mindfulness practice by Thich Nhat Hanh in 1987. She is a resource teacher in the family practice program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California. Her songs of mindfulness, being peace, and connection to all beings are recorded on her new CD, Calm Down Boogie.
Cosponsors
Joining this program are Meagan Cohen, Laurie Grossman, and Richard Shankman from Mindful Schools, formerly known as Community Partnership in Mindfulness in Education, a program of Park Day School (mindfulschool.org), and Beth Navon, Stan Grier, and Leslie Booker from The Lineage Project (lineageproject.org).
Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, Inc. is qualified as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions are tax-deductible, as allowed by the law.
