Teachers: Cynthia Price, PhD MA LMT, Elizabeth Chaison, MEd LMT and Carla Wiechman, LMT

San Diego, CA

Little Flower Yoga is a New York based organization dedicated to making the tools of yoga and mindfulness available to all children and teens. Our classes are rooted in youth development principles and address children’s holistic wellness needs in a joy filled environment. LFY provides tools that help all children come to school ready to learn, and give parents and teachers strategies and support to reinforce these tools.

It’s summer time. A time for those of us who work on college campuses to take a deep breath and reflect for a moment on the school year just past, and make plans for the year a head.For me, this means thinking about our Koru Mindfulness program, looking at the number of students we served last year at Duke and contemplating how we can continue to expand our programming to meet the growing needs of students. Not surprisingly, this activity produces a surge of gratitude in me.

by Char Wilkins and Jan Chozen Bays

A two-and-a-half-year-old boy weighed 79 pounds, three times normal weight for his age, and he suffered from sleep apnea.

On college campuses across the country, ‘tis the season…to procrastinate. Mindfulness offers a strategy to get moving.

Albert Schweitzer said, “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”

Nowhere is this spark as bright than in the heart of a youth. Nowhere does there lay a stronger elixir to waken your purpose than in the sparkling enthusiasm of a child’s spirit. And nowhere is there a grander purpose than the need to ease the suffering of a child.

Adolescence is an extraordinary and vulnerable time. Teens face so many possibilities and opportunities and also pitfalls. The sad statistics point to the high incidence of depression onset during the teenage years, of bullying and stress. Despite being the healthiest time of life, adolescence is also the riskiest- with the highest risk of death from accidents and suicide.

by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. republished from The Huffington Post, Dec. 30, 2013

In these fast and furious days of digital overload, we parents often worry about our teenagers' interactions with one another on social media. Who hasn't seen a teenager deeply absorbed with a smartphone or breaking off a face-to-face conversation to take a picture for their friends on Snapchat? With heads down and screens lit up, watching our teens plug in can feel confusing, disappointing and even like rejection to us.

 October 2, 2013 Republished by permission of the Greater Good Science Center University of California Berkeley. Please click here to view the original article.

A new study suggests that training teachers in mindfulness not only reduces burnout but also improves their performance in the classroom.