PASSION IN ACTION: Mind Body Awareness Program Passes On Positive Tools To Troubled YouthBy Isaiah Seret
What if every young person was aware of their intrinsic value and dignity as a human being? What if they knew how to respond to life's challenges with a calm, clear mind and an open heart? How different would our communities be? How different would our world be?
The Mind Body Awareness Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching essential life skills to at-risk youth through practices such as meditation and yoga. In juvenile halls, high schools, and group homes we meet with teenagers whose habitual behaviors are leading them down a road to substance abuse, crime, and violence.
Tragically, these young people are not being given any tools they can use to stop this dangerous and self-destructive momentum. The MBA Project was founded with the mission to teach youth life-saving skills they are not learning at school or in their homes. We teach them how to respond to violence with compassion, and how to reflect on a thought or emotion before taking action. Anchored in the values of compassion, integrity, and mutual respect we use time-honored practices from a variety of cultural backgrounds to help these youth reduce stress, manage anger, and avoid violence. There are no easy answers about how to address the challenges facing young people today but the awareness practices we offer provide youth with invaluable resources.
When we started this work we were a bit naive. While we each knew the benefits of meditation in our own lives, we underestimated the task of translating the profundity of these practices into the lives of these teenagers. Often times, we could feel ourselves selling to the kids and they knew it too-- a recipe for failure. We've become more savvy ourselves, meeting them where they are and in their words. If they want to think of meditation as a way to a natural highso be it (we are always fielding questions about how meditating compares to being high) that they are meditating and learning about themselves is the important thing. What we've realized is that our classes don't have to be pretty to be effective.
The Mind Body Awareness Project's core curriculum blends 4 distinct yet complimentary aspects of self care and participatory wellness adapted specifically to high risk teen populations. They are designed to support the developmental needs of teens, to enhance emotional intelligence, and to optimize the innate potential of youth crossing the threshold into adulthood. Here is an overview of the tools we pass on:
MEDITATION: The practice of meditation is simply the practice of remembering, of returning to contact with what is happening right now. In each moment, the future has not yet arrived and the past is already gone. Life occurs right on the tip of this moment. Each of our classes includes two 7-10 minute silent or guided meditation periods. The participants are taught how to sit still with their eyes closed and focus their attention on a single object. We teach basic mindfulness meditation based on breath, as well as related meditative techniques designed to bring awareness to specific qualities of experience.
MINDFULNESS (MBSR): MBSR goes far beyond what is commonly thought of as eduction and may be best described as tapping directly into the dimensions of human experience commonly described by words such as heart, spirit, soul, Tao, and dharma. In this way, MBSR can be thought of as a consciousness discipline: a profound spiritual discipline, aimed at deep self-reflection, self-knowledge, and liberation from confining views of self, others, and the world. Mindfulness is a way of learning to relate directly to whatever is happening in your life, a way of taking charge of your life, a way of doing something for yourself that no one else can do for you consciously and systematically working with your own stress, pain, illness, and the challenges and demands of everyday life.
YOGA: Yoga and meditation help to harness the energy of the mind so that the mind and body are united. The practitioner increases body awareness, posture, strength, flexibility, and calmness of spirit. Yoga and meditation invite you to be yourself and to embody yourself: to deepen authentic moment-to-moment contact with how it feels to be who you are, and what it feels like to be in your body. Each MBA class incorporates a period of yoga.
CHALLENGE LEARNING: The Challenge Day is a held off-site, and is a fun, powerful and rewarding experience that presents the guys with both individual and group challenges that often push them to their personal and collective limits. Although the content and structure of the day is unlike the rest of their days in the camp or on the out, the struggles and difficulties that arise here are very familiar. They must frequently confront their frustrations, fears, and potentially limiting beliefs about what is possible, while working within the confines of certain rules and structures. They must find creative ways to work together, genuinely support one another, and be true leaders, listeners, and teammates. They are highly dependent upon each other for both physical and emotional safety, as well as the chance for success. As they struggle to learn how to more skillfully relate to these experiences, there are many moments when it might seem easier to give up, or to give in to fear, anger, or apathy. These are the same internal challenges the guys are constantly grappling with in the midst of their everyday lives. Invariably, their words during the days closing circle speak to their feelings of gratitude, accomplishment, pride, satisfaction, enjoyment, and a (re)discovered faith in their wonderful capacities as individuals and as a team.
COUNCIL SESSION: We often begin and end our classes with a council session, a speaking and listening circle adapted from Native American ceremonial circles. In this format the teens sit in a circle where everyone can see everyone else. Council is formally opened with a dedication, during which a candle is lit to signify the formal beginning of the process. During council talking piece is passed around: whoever has the piece has the floor, and all other participants practice actively listening to them. The person with the talking piece is encouraged to speak in an unrehearsed way about what is true for them either in relation to a specific topic, or to simply share what is on their heart and mind. We encourage participants to speak without an agenda, and with sincerity. When participants have the full attention of the group and the opportunity to express themselves in a confidential and explicitly non-judgemental environment, they often find themselves speaking about deeply personal matters.
Our unique programs promote self-esteem, emotional competence, and self-care. Our aim is to empower incarcerated and at-risk youth with direct access to tools, competencies and emotional stamina needed to control impulses, manage aggression, and reduce stress. We provide youth with powerful new methods of responding to the challenges they face in the present, so they can build a foundation for healthy, productive, and fulfilling lives in the future.
Here are some comments from youth that have experienced the MBA program:
"The class helps me stay focused on my body and my soul and when I get frustrated I can take a deep breath. I love getting in contact with me on the inside. I always seem to find something new about me in class. Just having a place where you can be with you and just you is always great."
--Nicole, age 17, San Mateo Hillcrest Juvenile Hall
"I learn something new about myself every time I come here. It really helps me out." --Miriam, age 16, San Mateo Hillcrest Juvenile Hall
POEM by Miriam:
Where to go?
no where to hide.
I find myself in class
try to figure out my answers
to so many why.
oh, the bell opened my
eyes. What a wonderful
peace of mind I find.
"I feel a lot more calm about the things going on in my life causing me stress. I almost forget them. (I can use what I learn in this class) by just breathing and keeping calm and noticing how I feel when I get mad and concentrate on that instead of focusing on what's making me mad." --Jessica, age 17, San Mateo Hillcrest Juvenile Hall
POEM: MEDITATE by Jessica
Tingling sensations run through my body
As I sit with my hands resting on my thighs.
Breathing softly in and out, while
not opening my eyes.
My mind escapes the present and takes
a journey to another place,
I center myself, bring myself
back to the breath and meditate.
"To me the meditation and the practice was just a release, such a profound experience. At points when I was meditating, most the time, I even forgot that I was locked up. I forgot about all the things that were unimportant, and all the things that just made me feel bad in my life. Meditation got me to visualize all that there is to be grateful for...
I guess, in a way it's one of the greatest drugs I ever done. Metaphorically speaking. And not just because of the high, but just the consistency of how I can use it. Like everyday, whenever something is angering me to the point where I want to revert back to how I used to be, I just sit back, breathe, visualize all the things that are really important, and figure that what I'm angry at is. [... ] not even significant compared to the whole broad scheme of things."
--George
