Mindful Awareness Program

Cultivating attention, compassion, and social-emotional intelligence with students kindergarten - 12th grade

Supporting mental health and personal growth

in K- 12 students.

School-aged kids are discovering the world and their place in it, and it's one of the most difficult processes they will ever go through.

That entire time, they are asked to explore subjects whose relevance to their current problems is questionable. Of course, the subjects taught in school will prove useful in time, but geometry is not going to help alleviate a student's burgeoning anxiety at the prospect of their future, their place in a social environment, or facing global climate change.

For students to have success in building their capacity to navigate a complex inner and outer environment, they must rely on an adept use of their mind. But "how to use the mind" is not typically taught as a class in itself. We don’t presume to know everything about the mind’s proper use, but we know the process of cultivating attention, compassion, and social-emotional intelligence is a long and fruitful one.

Flourish innovates ways to make this process fun and engaging for young people. Through open discourse, mindful games, and reflective practices we empower young people with resources they can use for the rest of their life to support personal and collective well-being.

When we engage a school in the Mindful Awareness Program, we travel in-person to classrooms and lead students and teachers in conversations that introduce relevant concepts like introspection, inner happiness, and interdependence. We further contextualize and deepen the understanding of these concepts with mindful games and activities. We always strive to make our content as relevant as possible to the lives of the students. Finally, we lead each class in a mindfulness practice, which at the beginning of the year may consist of finding a peaceful place or watching the breath, and at the end of the year culminate in a robust practice of cultivating compassion, or honoring our basic goodness.

Mindful Awareness classes share the responsibility with parents, teachers, and administrators in inspiring our youth to become attentive, thoughtful, and caring global citizens.

Interested in learning more, reach out to paige@flourishfoundation.org