Schools - Growing up Mindfully is a unique program that teaches children to pay attention. In a series of mindfulness exercises students are taught to focus their attention on sound, their breath, movement, and various other parts of their daily experience. This teaches students to be and to stay in the present. It helps make them more aware of their thoughts and feelings.

This awareness gives students an understanding of their emotions and emotional reactions, allowing more control and the ability to make choices in response to difficulties, rather than habitually reacting.

The tools students gain from mindfulness can potentially provide an essential underpinning for academic success and can create a foundation for every other program they are offered. The skills children acquire through the mindfulness program can help students cope more easily in challenging times and thrive in good times, in all areas of their lives.

I am currently teaching a comprehensive school based mindfulness program at the West Oakland Middle School.