BREATHE FOR JUSTICE: Mindfulness & Yoga Youth Teacher Training Initiative

This initiative serves high school youth with a special focus on students who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color from often overlooked populations. These youths are from historically marginalized and minoritized populations, comprising ethnically diverse families and a mix of genders. The program trains 100 high school youth from underserved communities annually by equipping them with mindfulness tools to improve their well-being and alleviate stress by developing moment-to-moment awareness and consciousness. We equip youth with the skills to recognize the connections between healthy movement, well-being, motivation, performance, fulfillment, emotional intelligence, collective care, and love while understanding their roles and responses to systemic oppression and trauma.

Mental health issues have been increasing among adolescents since 2005, with as many as one in five youth suffering from mental illness and many more experiencing psychological distress (Molavi et al., 2018; Twenge et al., 2019) Furthermore, low-income and ethnically diverse youth exposed to chronic environmental stress have been shown to have higher rates of internalizing and externalizing disorders (Grant et al., 2006) relative to their economically advantaged peers (Keenan et al., 1998). Environmental stressors have also contributed to higher rates of poor academic performance, school dropout rates, and negative social outcomes (e.g., juvenile arrests) among socioeconomically disadvantaged youth (Reynolds et al., 2001). Despite their need for mental health services, low-income and ethnically diverse youth are unlikely to be connected with high-quality mental health care (Hodgkinson et al., 2017). Barriers to seeking and accessing high-quality mental health care for underserved youth include the stigma associated with help-seeking (Abdullah & Brown, 2011), differences in ethnic and linguistic backgrounds between clinicians and clients (Bauer et al., 2010), clinical staff turnover, and burnout leading to poorer quality services (Aarons & Sawitzky, 2006), as well as the availability (or lack thereof) of state and federal funding initiatives that determine what kind of services are available (Aarons et al., 2011.)

Ivy Child believes that the promotion of mindfulness-based practices is essential to cultivating social-emotional competencies, which will be useful for improving the accessibility and quality of care for diverse youth facing mental health disparities. Ivy Child International’s Yoga & Mindfulness Youth Teacher Training Initiative is a 200-hour yoga and mindfulness certification program for high school students, followed by a year-long apprenticeship and mentorship program. The program is accessible to youth with a special focus on working with POC, LGBTQIA+, and youth from other diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The initiative is grounded in mindfulness as an effective evidence-based intervention for at-risk youth braiding in mindfulness and yoga into the fabric of the educational environment of youth which fosters the development of the next generation of yoga and mindfulness instructors through culturally and linguistically inclusive training preparing these students to utilize embodied practices to confront the systems of oppression that operate in their lives and communities. By combining a social justice framework with yoga philosophy and practice, the Youth Yoga and Mindfulness Teacher Training Program is embedded with the belief that transformation begins from the inside, and with the help of a safe community, young people can catalyze individual, collective, and systemic transformation. Based on research conducted with adults, yoga, meditation, and other mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) promote increased attention and awareness, which have beneficial effects on the ability to respond to stress without adverse psychological outcomes (Brown & Ryan, 2003.)

• • Equip youth, both the trainees and the peers they impact, to increase emotional intelligence, and decrease impulsivity. 

  The decisions our youth make in a moment can change the trajectory of their lives in some cases. Therefore, this program seeks to improve youth decision-making, engagement, attendance rates, and completion standards, and widen the gap between impulse and action. Success will be demonstrated through improvements in these behavioral outcomes and attitudes within the student population served.

  • Promote physical, psychological, and emotional health in communities and help youth succeed academically and professionally by preparing them to recognize the connections between healing, well-being, performance, collective care, and love.
  • Prepare youth leaders to be conscious and caring agents of change in their communities with first-hand training and experience working with peers and adults to build healthy practices that enhance personal well-being and transform intergenerational suffering into intergenerational well-being.
  • To give 100% of our youth a source of financial support and stability since they will be able to work in the field as trainers and as Yoga and Mindfulness facilitators. This is also possible because we intend to employ our interested youth who complete the training as trainers for the next Cohort; hence the “train the trainers model”

• This program serves the youth of color. Through this initiative, 100 Youths of Color are trained and certified annually.

• Ability to identify positive and negative thought and behavioral patterns
• Integration of healthy habits through daily mindfulness practices
• Increase in social-emotional awareness 
• 97% report a reduction in stress, anxiety, and depression
• Skills developed to train other youth and kids in their local communities
• Commitment to daily Mindful Action Steps to advance social justice