Mindfulness and Healing in a Time of COVID-19 - Free Live Stream with Jon Kabat Zinn

Looking for some support in this time of need.? Jon Kabat-Zinn offered a Free Live Stream that explored how to address, anxiety, depression and mental health issues as we all “stay at home” or “shelter in place.”

More than ever, it is important to create a home practice of mindfulness and meditation. Learn how to better care for yourselves and how to care for others in this difficult time. There will be a mediation by Jon Kabat-Zinn followed by a talk and Q & A.

Thanks Jon Kabat-Zinn and Wisdom 2.0 for hosting a free live meditation on Wed. March 25rthat 1pm (PST) and 4pm (EST)

 Great news: Wisdom 2.0 will also be holding more of these with Jon.

Have Friends Who Want to Join?

Feel free to spread the word! They can Sign Up Here >>>
 

Learn more about Zoom access and adding to calendar below.

https://zoom.us/j/92482566387

Time: Apr 20, 2020 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
        Every day, until Apr 24, 2020, 5 occurrence(s)
        Apr 20, 2020 11:00 AM
        Apr 21, 2020 11:00 AM
        Apr 22, 2020 11:00 AM
        Apr 23, 2020 11:00 AM
        Apr 24, 2020 11:00 AM
Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.

Daily: https://zoom.us/meeting/tJYpf-utqD0pEtPD3PZ2MVekZTC6jmTUsw4K/ics?icsToken=98tyKuCqqjMoH9KTsxGARowQBoqga-_wpiFej7dtuEzVOXJ-VAb9DNZhZLhyJO3D

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/92482566387

Past Sessions

The full sessions can be accessed here >>>. You can also see them and various highlights on our Youtube page.

Jon Kabat Zinn, PhD is an author, scientist, and mindfulness teacher . He is professor of medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he founded the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society in 1995, and its world-renowned Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Clinic in 1979. He is the author of 14 books, including the bestsellers Full Catastrophe Living; Wherever You Go, There You Are; and Mindfulness for Beginners, and the new four-volume update of Coming to Our Senses (2108/2019).

Please note: If you cannot join us live, we will share the video of the session after so all can enjoy, even if you are not free at this time.

Mindfulness at School

October is here, and my kids are in full back-to-school mode. Math, Reading, and Science are all part of the curriculum at our school, and so is mindfulness.

While there are many mindfulness programs aimed at adults, more and more schools are bringing Mindfulness, Kindness, and Social Emotional Learning into the classroom.

Why kids need mindfulness?

The school environment can be very stressful as kids deal with issues from home, bullying, and performance in class, etc. Having a mindfulness program in school can help change this environment. 

At my children’s charter school here in Truckee, CA, we are lucky to have a program called Life Ingredients, which empowers kids to navigate their days with a greater sense of calm. Life Ingredients provides daily audio lessons that teachers play for their students. Each morning my kids listen to a five-minute audio session to start their day. 

Life Ingredients founder Deb Kelly, lives here in Truckee, but you can sample her audio lessons for free here. Life Ingredients also provides an amazing mindfulness program for parents and kids to listen to together at home. By giving our students the tools to live a more intentional, purposeful, and self-aware life, we can change the future

Bring mindfulness to your school

Mindful.org offers ways to contact the teachers and administrators in your school to add mindfulness to your school’s curriculum, but, as always, the best way to teach children to be mindful, is to demonstrate mindfulness in our own homes and in our daily lives. 

Does your school offer mindfulness program?  We would love to hear about it.

Mindful Apps for Kids

The Election night has gone differently than many expected and has brought strong emotions to the forefront for both adults and children.  My kids have had a lot of questions and are feeling very nervous about the election results and what happens next.  So, I thought I would pass along some apps suggestions to help with the fear and uncertainly that our kids may be feeling.

Here are a few apps that I like that can help kids relax. They feature simple to follow mediation techniques that calm anxiety in these uncertain times
 
Smiling Mind - This app helps the 7-to-18 year olds tackle everyday stresses through psychologist-developed mindfulness meditations.  Each session starts with a quick series of questions to focus the mind, followed by simple, easy-to-follow meditation exercises. It is based on the principle of being aware of taste, touch, sight and smell to be in the moment.  It’s free and adults can use it too.

Mindfulness for Children - This free meditation by Psychomotor Therapist and certified mindfulness teacher Pia Holgersen and App developer Jannik Holgersen.  The App provides step by step easy to follow audio instructions on how to meditate.
http://mindful-app.com
 
Sleep Mediation for kids - Bedtime can be a great time to talk about emotions and get your kids to calm down, with help from celebrated yogi, Montessori teacher, and Calm for Kids founder, Christiane Kerr. The guided meditations (the app is preloaded with four meditation stories, extras can be purchased) are designed to relax children of all ages.

 Calm - Calm is a straightforward app that teaches mindfulness. It is free to download and contains plenty of content, including more than 20 soothing audio/visual nature backgrounds, trackable timed sessions, and free guided meditations, such as the 7 Days of Calm series. This is a good app for teens
 
We may feel anger or sadness at the election results and other political challenges that will arise, but meditation can help us sort out those feelings and understand that love and compassion will rise above election polls.