Association for Mindfulness in Education

Laying the Foundation for Teaching and Learning

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Kids’ Association for Mindfulness in Education (KAME)

Welcome to the Kids’ Association for Mindfulness in Education, a place where youth can come together to mindfully do good in the world, and help get mindful programs into schools.. Practicing mindfulness means different things to different people. For some, it is about cleaning the environment, and for some it is about anti-bullying. It is always about paying attention to the present moment, and living with kindness.

The statistics for the number of tweens and teens suffering from anxiety, depression, anger, bullying, suicide, and homicide have risen greatly in the past few years, and some kids may think there is nothing they can do about it. But there is. Mindfulness practice can help kids learn better ways to cope with emotions and deal with stress as they grow up. Young people who practice mindfulness will be happier teenagers and more peaceful adults.

We invite you to share your voice as it pertains to current events and mindfully making this world a better place. We can make a positive difference, if we all come together, help each other navigate through middle school and high school, and support each other in our events, articles, or interviews, sharing any information that we have, to get this message  about the benefits of mindfulness out to as many kids, parents, teachers, and health care practitioners as we can.

We support anything in the Mindfulness area, such as mindfulness, positive thinking, kindness, peace, yoga and mindful movement, breath work, communication, diversity, inclusion, gratitude, social emotional learning, and so much more. It is all so important, especially with everything going on in the world right now.

We must all come together and scale up in order to stop the violence and make a positive impact. We must collaborate, and that is why I’m starting this Association for mindful kids. We must get this message out, and into as many schools as we can.

So, if you are a kid that wants to help make a difference, I want to hear from you. If you want to write a blog post, or if you want to help be an Ambassador of Peace and Kindness, or if you have a website that you want to share and think should be included as part of our “Partners for KAME Peace” resources page (which is reciprocal because we hope all members will create a page like that on your website too), or if you have an idea for an event or speaker, let me know.

We respect your trust, and expect that you will do the same in return. You will receive information from us about the annual international Mindful Kids Peace Summit (which I hope you will all attend—you will get service hours and there are a lot of cool speakers!). We won’t give or sell your name or email address or any information to any person or institution that is not associated with the Association or the Summit.

And it’s really important to learn the skills of mindfulness early, so if you have younger siblings that are in pre-school or elementary school, please tell your parents and teachers to check out the KAME website to see all of the great resources they can use in early learning.

One of our missions is to get these mindful programs into all schools K-12, so if you’re interested in starting a KAME Club at your school, send me a note and let me know. We have some mindful activities and discussion points so we can help you get started!

Together we can make a difference.

Think Well to Be Well,

Adam

thinkwell@wufshanti.com

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is paying attention here and now with kindness and curiosity. See the research page for information on the benefits of mindfulness.

  • Examples of mindfulness practice include:
  • Becoming aware of the breath;
  • Noticing thoughts as they pass through the mind;
  • Feeling the various physical sensations of an emotion;
  • Attending to the body at rest and in motion:
  • Noticing what happens in the body when there is stress;
  • Paying attention to all the sounds in the room;
  • Feeling the stomach rise and fall with each breath
  • Watching the thoughts that arise when there is boredom;
  • Choosing to respond rather than react to stressful situations;
  • Practicing sending kindness to oneself and others.

Mindfulness practice is widely used in business, healthcare, and education to improve attention and well being.
Mindfulness practice does not depend on or interfere with any religion, cultural context or belief system. Mindfulness can be completely secular. Fortune 500 companies provide mindfulness instruction to their employees to reduce on-the-job stress, hundreds of hospitals refer patients to courses in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction to develop skills to cope with physical and emotional pain, and dozens of schools (private and public) across the country are using mindfulness practices to help their students succeed.

Mindfulness practice can save time in school
Mindfulness practices help students focus and pay attention. A few minutes of mindfulness practice can improve the learning environment. Many teachers report that on the days when students practice mindfulness, the students are calmer and the class accomplishes more than on days when mindfulness is not practiced.

  1. Ryan, Oliver. “How to Succeed in Business – Mediate” CNN Money. July 20, 2007
  2. Elias, Marilyn. USA Today, 6/8/09 Mindfulness Meditation Being Used in Hospitals, Schools
  3. See the Association for Mindfulness in Education Mindful Education Map
  4. See testimonials on the Association for Mindfulness in Education Mindful Education Map

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Mindfulness in Education:
the Foundation for Teaching and Learning

The Association for Mindfulness in Education is a collaborative association of organizations and individuals working together to provide support for mindfulness training as a component of K-12 education.

Research over the past few decades has found that mindfulness training develops:

  • Increased attention
  • Increased executive function (working memory, planning, organization, and impulse control)
  • Decreased ADHD behaviors—specifically hyperactivity and impulsivity
  • Fewer conduct and anger management problems
  • Increased emotional regulation
  • Increased self-calming
  • Increased social skills and social compliance
  • Increased care for others
  • Decreased negative affect, or emotions
  • Decreased anxiety in general and text anxiety in particular
  • Decreased depression
  • Increased sense of calmness, relaxation, and self-acceptance
  • Increased self-esteem
  • Increased quality of sleep

As such, mindfulness is a foundation for education; mindfulness provides the optimal conditions for learning and teaching and also supports all pedagogical approaches.

Contact

AME is a collaborative association of organizations and individuals working together to provide support for the growing interest in including mindfulness training as a component of K-12 education. We are committed to furthering training and research in this field.

Please contact us via the form below, or by telephone at (650) 575-5780.

  • If you prefer us to contact you via phone, please leave your number here.

About AME

AME is a collaborative association of organizations and individuals working together to provide support for mindfulness training as a component of K-12 education. We are committed to furthering training and research in this field.

Steering Committee

Gil Fronsdal, Ph.D. is the founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA. A mindfulness meditation teacher for 16 years, Gil has been teaching mindfulness to children for fourteen years.

Amy Saltzman, M.D. is a holistic physician, mindfulness coach, scientist, wife, mother, devoted student of transformation, long-time athlete, and occasional poet. Her passion is supporting people of all ages in enhancing their well being, and discovering the Still Quiet Place within. She conducted two research studies through the Stanford Department of Psychology: evaluating the benefits of teaching mindfulness to child-parent pairs and to children in a low-income elementary school. She is recognized by her peers as a visionary and pioneer in the fields of holistic medicine and mindfulness for youth. Her book, A Still Quiet Place: A Mindfulness Program for Teaching Children and Adolescents to Ease Stress and Difficult Emotions, has recently been published.

Teah Strozer
Teah earned a K-12 teaching credential with a specialty in music from the University of Southern California Music Conservatory. She was formerly Chaplain for the Bay School of San Francisco. She has practiced mindfulness since 1967.