3 Week Teen Series on Reducing Anxiety starts after Thanksgiving Break

#justbreathe - Mindful meditation and movement series for teens or tweens that are in a never-ending cycle of stress and anxiety from testing, academic performance, after school commitments, homework, and extra curricular activities (music, sports, dance). Not to mention the social stresses of school, peers, and social media.

Mindfulness, mindful meditation, and mindful movement (yoga) are gaining more and more traction as the go-to method for reducing stress and anxiety, increasing attention, improving relationships, and strengthening compassion in teens. tweens, and children (adults too!) as research continues to flood in. (http://www.mindfulschools.org/about-mindfulness/research/)

With tools as simple as using their breath, children, tweens, and teens are able to calm their minds and their bodies effectively and without anyone else taking notice, with the ultimate goal of being able to recognize negative or detrimental thoughts and emotions as they arise and observe them without immediately reacting to them (https://childmind.org/article/the-power-of-mindfulness/). What does this mean for you and your child? Less explosive outbursts, taking teenage emotions head on and acknowledging and dealing with them, not sweeping them under the rug to come bubbling out later resulting in self harm or suicide attempts or other detrimental behaviors, connection of mind and body, exploration of the consequences of our actions, just to name a few.

We will explore what it means to be mindful, to use mindful meditation, and incorporate gentle stretches and movement to help calm the body and mind, to help us wind down after a long day. The majority of these tools can be used in school (and elsewhere) at any point in time - prior to test taking, before a presentation or event, after a stressful confrontation - whenever a situation arises. We will also look at several mindfulness tools that can help to foster a growing practice into habit as we continue using mindfulness in our everyday lives. Take-home information for parents will be provided as well on how to start their own practice and nurture their child's continuing mindfulness practice. Let's help them, and ourselves, break the cycle and just breathe as the year finishes out and the holidays ramp up!