By Dr. Amy Saltzman In the spring of 2010, when I spoke at the Mindfulness in Education Conference at Lesley University, I found myself repeatedly forming circles with both hands and moving them toward one another. Over and over, I spoke of circles beginning to converge. As a mindfulness educator, I continue to see a […]
Welcome to the Bridging Blog.
Here, we hope you'll appreciate the insightful contributions of our conference presenters, who've offered perspectives on mindfulness in education, clinical practice, research, and more.
A Somatic Approach Toward a Bully-Free Future
Research shows that children who are bullied often carry a posture and a story of victimization. Trauma, low self-esteem, learning disabilities and obesity also can set up a child for ridicule and rejection. As we’ve noted before, such children begin to walk and talk in a victimized way. They begin to form a story of […]
Kick off your conference experience by sharing and connecting with peers during Friday’s Morning of Practice and Connection (free of charge)
by Lisa Thomas Prince When I first transitioned from my role as a K-8 teacher of world languages to a teacher of mindfulness, I was thrilled to bring into my professional life what had been, until that point, my mostly personal practice of mindfulness meditation. But conveying to these squirrely preschool-aged kiddos in front of […]
Are you OK with a 2-and-a-half-year-old child undergoing bariatric surgery?
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. After his parents’ two attempts to control the boy’s weight through dieting failed, surgery was approved.1 A laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy was performed on the boy which involved removing the […]
Emotion Improv: an Exercise for Developing Mindfulness of Feelings
by Dr. Amy Saltzman Originally posted on Mindful Teachers A rectangular space is defined. Visual cues are used to designate 25 percent, 50 percent, 75 percent, and 100 percent of the distance from one end to the other. Participants are instructed to move forward, demonstrating an emotion at a given percentage. Because it is very common […]
Transformation of the wounded child’s heart begins with compassion
by LeesaMaree Bleicher The issues some youth face are multifaceted and complex, and the causes of their suffering are often left unnamed. And so as therapists, teachers, and caregivers, we often treat the only thing we can see: the symptoms. Meanwhile, the causes underlying the symptoms can get left behind. Our treatments are further limited […]
Synchronicity: The Real Reason We Keep Returning to the Bridging Conference
by Heidi Bornstein and Stephen Chadwick Founders, Mindfulness Everyday This year will be the third year that Steve and I will be attending the conference. Why do we keep going back? Aside from the obvious (a welcome break from our frigid Canadian winters), the conference brings together leaders in the field of mindfulness in education, […]
Teaching Mindfulness with Integrity: An Interview with Dr. Amy Saltzman
Reposted with permission from Mindful Teachers Amy Saltzman, M.D., director of the Association for Mindfulness in Education, is a pioneer in the fields of holistic medicine and mindfulness for youth. Dr. Saltzman is the author of A Still Quiet Place and the creator of a 10-week Online Practicum for K-12 Educators. Her CDs Still Quiet […]
THANKFUL: Appreciating Beautiful Gifts from Children and Youth
By LeesaMaree Bleicher 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 […]
Bullying and the Language of the Body
by Lynea Gillen, MS A wonderful anecdote from senior yoga teacher Patricia Walden recently caught my eye in a post at Yoga Journal. She recalled a statement BKS Iyengar made to her when she struggled with depression: “If you open your armpits, you’ll never get depressed.” She was in her early 20s then. She never […]