This program is registering now for Summer 2017!

How can mindfulness  + social engagement reduce stress and increase joy?

Is our current political climate stressing you – or your teen – out?  Are other challenges making it difficult for you to concentrate, sleep, or connect with others in meaningful ways?  Do you ever feel overwhelmed, apathetic, anxious, or like you may be burning out?

This 6-week summer program for teens brings together Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Teens (MBSR-T) with social engagement.

Program Content Includes:

• Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for Teens
• Community Engagement
• Social Justice
• Projects that Inspire
• Skills that Sustain & Nourish

Priority enrollment is given to at-risk youth and families with currently experiencing personal  or financial difficulties.  Scholarships and work-trade are often available and no one is ever turned away for lack of funds.

Each class will include mindfulness and meditation plus projects and activities that  bring mindfulness into activity.  This program also aims to foster academic success and career readiness through strengthening attentional skills and executive function, affecting the development of brain architecture, and providing the foundation for learning, pro-social behavior, and health.

We’ll explore how mindfulness is helping diverse populations including professional athletes, performing artists, and technology innovators to find their optimal performance zone, excel in their fields of interest, and cultivate a stability of mind that is easily accessed during difficult times.

In a nourishing environment, the young people in this program learn mindfulness with developmentally appropriate methods including research-based curriculum from Mindful Schools, a leader in mindfulness education, and MBSR-T, a stress-reduction program modeled after University of Massachusetts Medical Center’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for adults, and adapted for teens by Gina M. Biegel, MA, LMFT.

When: Thursdays, July 6 – August 10, 2017 (6-weeks), 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Where: Open Sky Retreat Space in Sebastopol, CA.
Ages: 13-19 (if needed, we will split into age groups)

Cost:  $250-385, sliding scale.  No one turned away for lack of funds.  By paying at the high end of this sliding scale, you allow youth who may not otherwise be able to participate to join this program and help ensure that mindfulness education continues to grow in Sonoma County.

To register or for more information, contact Chelsea.

Joyful Mind Project is an approved Pathways Charter School vendor.  Pathways students may be able to enroll using funds from their annual school budget.

You can download the flier to share in your circles here.