Sunday – March 6th from 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Hajjar STEM Center
For Parents and Students Grades 6 – 8
For Students Grades 9 -12

The Forum provides a basic overview to mindfulness–what it is and some of the basic science around how it benefits brain & body. Participants will have the choice of selecting from several workshop – see topics below. Students and Adult learners will workshop separately; however, registration for this program is open to parents and students (Grades 6-12) who attend Dwight-Englewood School as well as public and private schools in our area. Workshop selections will take place at the time of check in on the day of the Forum.  To complete the online registration form for the Mindfulness Forum, click here.

Workshops for Students:

  • Mindfulness for Stress & Anxiety: Finding Calm (Session A & B)

  • Mindful Movement: Keeping the Body in Mind (Session A & B)

  • Mindful Communication: Engaging with Others and the World (Session A & B)

  • Mindfulness for Positive Mindset: the Surprising Benefits of Gratitude and Kindness (Session A)

  • Mindfulness and Attention: Understanding the Mind and Working with our (Many!) Thoughts (Session B)

Workshops for Parents:

  • Mindfulness and Self-Care: Caring for Yourself so You Can Care for Them

  • Mindfulness and Attention: Helping Adolescents Learn to Sustain Attention

Mindfulness for Stress & Anxiety: Finding Calm (Session A & B) ♦ Lead Workshop Facilitator – Argos Gonzalez

We all experience stress and anxiety–from the pressures of school, friends, parents, extracurriculars, and beyond.  In this workshop, we will discuss how our body understands stress and look at several practices to help us find calm in the moment.

Mindful Movement: Keeping the Body in Mind (Session A & B) ♦ Lead Workshop Facilitator – Kula for Karma

With the business and distractions of our daily routines, we often don’t pick up on some of the things that are happening in our own body.  In this workshop, we will explore paying attention to the physical sensations in our body–through yoga and other gentle movement practices–as a way to connect to what’s happening in the present moment.

Mindfulness for Positive Mindset: the Surprising Benefits of Gratitude and Kindness (Session A) ♦ Lead Workshop Facilitator – Alan Brown

In recent years, studies have shown that practicing gratitude and kindness have a significant effect on our well-being.  In this workshop, we will explore ways to cultivate these two important habits of mind and incorporate them into our daily life.

Mindfulness and Attention: Understanding the Mind and Working with our (Many!) Thoughts (Session B) ♦ Lead Workshop Facilitator – Alison Cohen

Our minds can go in so many different directions all at once that it can be overwhelming.  This workshop will explore practices for noticing, labeling, and ultimately loosening the grip of those frequent, obsessive, or difficult thoughts.

Mindful Communication: Engaging with Others and the World (Session A & B) ♦ Lead Workshop Facilitators – Zach Hodges & Dhari Noel

We spend a great deal of time focused on ourselves and the things we are interested in or have to get done.  This workshop will explore mindfulness as a tool for connecting more with and positively impacting the world around us, using partner-based practices that help us be more attentive and compassionate listeners.

Mindfulness and Self-Care: Caring for Yourself so You Can Care for Them ♦ Lead Workshop Facilitator – Alison Cohen

As parents, we often spend so much time and energy caring for our children that we put ourselves last.  Unfortunately, without recharging our own battery, we are less able to show up for our family.  This workshop will explore practices for self-care that allow us to be present with our own needs and those of our children.

Mindfulness and Attention: Helping Adolescents Learn to Sustain Attention ♦ Lead Workshop Facilitator – Alan Brown

We are raising children whose attention is being pulled in many directions, but the good news is that focus is also something that can be learned and cultivated–in our children and in ourselves.  This talk will explore some of the ways to help foster different kinds of attention in young people as well as the ways we can offer them the gift of our own attention.