Last week, I was invited to speak to 100 high school students about mindfulness and social emotional learning. We did some mindful practices together, and watched some PSAs. But what was really special to me was that some of the kids came up to me afterwards and thanked me. They told me personal stories of hardship and depression, anxiety and eating disorders, and one person spoke of suicidal thoughts, and said that mindfulness saved his life. Each one asked me not to stop doing what I’m doing, not to stop working to get mindful programs into schools. That’s my mission, and I promise them that I have no plans on giving it up.
We spoke about emotions, stress, how to cope, and one person asked about starting a KAME Club in their school (Kids Assn for Mindfulness in Education), which was really cool. It was nice to be able to kick off MKPS with an in-person event (Mindful Kids Peace Summit), and to get to interact with other teens. I am so grateful that my work has helped them, but they really helped me too because although I hear lots of positive feedback from the adults in my industry, and I don’t often hear it from other teens, so it was great to hear.
And I also was at a high school event with my friend, Knellee Bisram of AHAM Education who trains the teachers in mindfulness. It’s really important to train teachers, parents, and kids all at the same time, so that they can support each other, and the practices can be sustainable as a life choice.