What would your life be like if you had learned mindfulness practices as a child? Picture a world where emotional resilience, self-awareness, and kindness were cultivated from an early age—where students enter classrooms equipped not just with academic knowledge but with the tools to navigate their emotions and thrive. Enter Empowered Minds, a nonprofit with the mission to address the critical need for social-emotional learning (SEL) and well-being in today's educational landscape.
Our journey began in 2008 with a simple yet urgent observation: as academic pressures mounted, opportunities for movement and play diminished, leading to a rise in inattention, fidgeting, and emotional challenges among students. To counter this trend, we introduced yoga and mindfulness classes in Charleston County schools as a means to promote physical activity and promote self awareness and emotional regulation skills.
Over the years, our program has evolved in response to the escalating stress levels faced by students and teachers. We recognized that academic success is not solely dependent on cognitive abilities but also on the ability to navigate challenging emotions. In fact, a 2023 report from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) emphasized six key strategies for schools to address growing mental health challenges and cultivate learning-ready classrooms, all of which align closely with the mission of Empowered Minds. These strategies include increasing students' mental health literacy, promoting mindfulness, fostering social, emotional, and behavioral learning, enhancing connectedness among students, staff, and families, providing psychosocial skills training and cognitive-behavioral interventions, and supporting staff well-being. Empowered Minds' programming stands out with longstanding experience and is equipped to deliver these vital skills.
What makes Empowered Minds unique is our commitment to provide evidence-based body-focused techniques that are necessary to emotional wellness. While many current SEL programs focus on cognitive strategies alone, we emphasize the crucial role of the body in emotional regulation and self-management. By teaching body-based tools, our programming compliments and supports schools’ cognitive-based SEL programs. Teaching both approaches to students is a more holistic and effective approach for empowering students to develop self-awareness and the ability to navigate their emotions.
Hearing from our students and teachers drives our mission. Students often express how our program helps them focus before tests, giving them the confidence to succeed. One student shared, 'It helps me get my mind focused before the test – like I can do it. I like it and I wouldn’t want to trade it for anything else.' Meanwhile, teachers highlight the tangible benefits of our programming, noting how students independently use stretching, breaths, and yoga poses throughout the day. One teacher remarked, 'By the end of the year, my students were independently connecting what their body and mind needed... I highly recommend using these amazing tools!' In a time where academic pressures can overshadow mental health needs, one teacher's testimonial captures the essence of our mission: 'There is a parallel between academic growth and social-emotional growth... I don’t really know what I would do without it.'
Since 2008, with the support of more than 200 volunteers, over 9,750 students and their teachers have benefited from our weekly yoga and mindfulness classes. As we look ahead, Empowered Minds is inviting passionate individuals to join us as volunteers for the upcoming 2024-25 school year. Volunteers are not required to be yoga certified, just be committed to childrens’ well-being, mindful practices, and community service. As a volunteer, you'll have the opportunity to teach weekly yoga and mindfulness classes to students in Charleston County's public schools.
Volunteering with Empowered Minds is a rewarding experience that goes beyond the classroom. You'll receive comprehensive training in yoga and mindfulness techniques suitable for children, as well as guidance on trauma-informed approaches and lesson planning. Join our community of dedicated individuals and make a tangible difference in the lives of children. Together, we'll co-create learning-ready and compassionate classrooms where every child has the opportunity to grow both academically and emotionally.
For inquiries about joing the volunteer team, please reach out to leigh@empoweredminds.org.
For more information on our program check out our About Us video.
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