A 16-year-old created this “Tree of Strength” to illustrate some of the qualities that make up her resilience.

What would your tree look like?

How We Work

Plenty of research demonstrates that ongoing mindfulness transforms mental and physical health by supporting nervous system regulation, self-awareness, skillful decision-making and deepening resilience. 

At the heart of our teaching approach was our collective attunement and honoring of all the ways that traumatic experiences impact the brain, body, and nervous system. From informal peer teaching to forging vocational pathways inside our own organization and the broader wellness sector, we supported young people to recognize and share their inner strengths, and individual/collective resilience strategies. We taught mindfulness not to erase or bypass traumas and challenges, but to honor the constant interplay between what's happening inside our students, their day-to-day realities inside of systems, and at society at large.

We teach mindfulness for real life. Our students are experts in their own experience. We are there to share what we know about mindfulness and somatic practices that can support their wellbeing and help them cope with difficult situations, and to help them recognize, honor and share the strengths and strategies they carry inside themselves and their communities.

We don’t treat mindfulness practice as a cure-all. It does not erase the harms caused by oppression and structural violence but we know — and the science backs up — that it can help mitigate the impact of toxic stress. We continually study how traumatic experiences impact the brain, body, and nervous system, infusing this knowledge into every dimension of our work. 

We believe that feeling a sense of belonging is vital. We tailor our classes to the needs, interests, and abilities of the students in the room. Students learn ways to help regulate their nervous systems, strengthen their self-awareness and decision-making, and build community bonds. Unlike NYC’s wellness sector at large, our staff is majority people of color. And we are actively creating pathways for alumni of our programs to become Lineage teachers. 

We share simple practices that are easy to do anywhere, anytime. Our goal is to share resources that our students can call on over and over again, without needing a yoga mat, an “expert” teacher, or a pricey yoga studio.

We teach in-person, hybrid and virtual programs. We are here to meet our students and our site partners where they are.

Our Core Programs

We offered fee-for-service programs across New York City for young people and adult staff in schools and in the court, foster care, psychiatric care, shelter, immigration and suspension systems.

Our programs are relationships, not transactions. We build our programs collaboratively with our partner sites, and tailor them to the needs, strengths, and culture of our partner sites. Our programs can consist of a combination of the following components:

• Drop-in mindfulness classes for young people;

• Professional development workshops for staff;

• Family and caregiver workshops;

• Cohort-based mindfulness intensives, called community programs:

• Whole system programs, in which we work with young people and staff inside institutions

Testimonials

Young people in four mindfulness intensive cohorts—10-12 week programs consisting of 90 minute classes, independent research projects and group collaborations—shared the following about their experiences:

“In sophomore and senior year I was battling a lot of personal issues that had me feeling stuck. Mindfulness saved me in a lot of ways. It  helped me to accept and take situations as learning experiences. I learned grace for others and myself, and I am still learning. Mindfulness has also taught me to be more acceptant, humble and accountable. Mindfulness makes me feel fuzzy, like life feels good. Everytime I left the room after the program I felt less heavy and more light and clear.  I can feel this in my chest and in my head. I learned through mindfulness to unravel my thoughts and communicate them. It helped me to change the way I say things. It's still a process but I’m always trying to listen more and acknowledge how I feel. This program teaches you how to be a better person even when you don’t want to be. It pushes you out of your comfort zone. It feels like therapy. It helped me learn skills on the way you go about people and yourself. Very reflective.” —J.A.

“Since I started doing mindfulness I have seen a lot of changes in me and also in my friends. It's hard to explain but I can see when I’m communicating with others how my reactions and the way I react to things have changed. Because of mindfulness I feel more awake and aware. I feel it on my shoulders. Like you let go of something you were carrying in your back for a while. I feel this relief. Mindfulness has  helped to see the other person's point of view, and  this is  so important. You may not agree with them but you have to respect them. This program focuses more on you and people around your age. About how our mindset is, what we go through, what differences we can make as well as all the things we can do for ourselves as young people.”—N.B.  

“I learned about tapping methods to calm my mind and that was very interesting. I find myself doing it in my room. It was a huge learning experience and I have taken it home with me. I was a very stubborn person and walking into mindfulness made me feel scared because I didn't want to be vulnerable. But after learning all these tools and being with other people I started to change. Change is hard but  is a part of life. Mindfulness has helped me to be more open and to care more about myself. This program was very eye opening and it also helped me to really learn how to listen to myself and to others.  This program is amazing. An eye opener. It was a safe place and where I could feel peace.” —B.G.

“We talked about rhythm and how that can make us feel better. How repetitive motions can help us calm down and release stress. That validated why I loved going to the swings so much to find calm since I was a child without feeling shame. Now I continue to do this all the time. Mindfulness is so beneficial. It teaches us how to relieve stress and deal with our emotions. It becomes a lifestyle. And it's not only about meditation, it's about music and anything that makes you feel at peace within yourself. Life is hard and challenging so if you can find something small every day that helps you to make it to the next day, then do it.  When you are in constant movement you don’t really realize that your back is hurting, that your foot can be hurting, so when you sit and calm down you realize “Oh I’m feeling all these different things”. So doing this really helped me address what I was feeling in my body.” —A.B.  

“I loved how during the mindfulness program we had fun and we learned at the same time. It was so smooth and amazing. It was so important for me to learn to step away from situations and have moments for myself. To really find calm in my body and get my mind out of things that are not good for me. Mindfulness has helped me to be more self aware and to question things. The activities are so engaging, you talk, you move around and constantly validate your experiences.” —N.J,  

“I loved writing poems and reflecting on what we have learned…like sitting down and really reflecting on things.  I learned new tools to help me calm down. For example we did this exercise with drinking water, and I never really realized how drinking water could help me to feel more relaxed. I can take a deep breath and drink water and calm myself down.  Mindfulness has helped me to deal with stress and to focus more on my priorities. The practices made me feel more down to earth and more aware of my surroundings.” —A.P. 

“Something that stood out for me is how we gathered in a circle to share. It was fun and it was structured in a way in which we could really get to know each other better. Mindfulness is very useful. I loved that I could spread what I learned to my friends and family. Aside from academics, this program helped me to be in the real world and spreading this to my loved ones was really nice.  The way I manage stress is different from others. Drinking water and Journaling surprisingly has helped me to calm down. Hearing about ways in which other people deal with their own stuff was a great way of learning new skills that I didn't know before and inhabiting them in my daily routine. This program was a very safe place for me. It taught me mindfulness for real life.” —Z.A. 

We created this word cloud with words young people used to describe their experiences learning and practicing with us: