2/1/2024 0 Comments Mindup middle school![]() “These life skills have been something I’ve been interested in since I was a kid,” Hawn told CNN. ![]() ![]() Mindfulness for kids: 'Right now, I'm OK' Teaching children mindfulness techniques can help them be more in tune with their emotions. A few times a day, these students pause their routine and take “brain breaks.” Provided with tools for critical thinking and fostering empathy, kids are also shown how to bring themselves back to a neutral point and implement random acts of kindness. Through MindUp, children are taught breathing techniques, mindful sensing and how the brain reacts to emotions. The question of how to achieve this goal led to a renewed education in mindfulness and brain science, which was incorporated into The Goldie Hawn Foundation’s social and emotional learning program called MindUp For Life. “Remembering my own childhood anxiety, I longed to show children everywhere how to rediscover their natural joy, understand the value of their emotions, and learn to feel empathy for others,” Hawn wrote in her book. The 9/11 attacks, she knew, would be a trigger of fear for another generation. She created The Goldie Hawn Foundation, aimed at addressing anxiety among children through the kind of in-classroom practice she could have benefited from herself. While the actor shared the nation’s shock and horror, she also became inspired by the events to be more in service to others, particularly kids. Then when Hawn watched the aftermath of terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, she had flashbacks to the atomic bomb film. She sought out professional help through a therapist, and began a mindfulness practice with the guidance of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, famous for being a onetime spiritual adviser to the Beatles and for popularizing a practice known as Transcendental Meditation. Its frightful effect on her developed into anxiety and panic attacks that lasted through young adulthood. Sharing what we are grateful for is one of our MindUP lessons so I would like to share my gratitude for all of you who have supported us along the way in helping our youth grow to be happy, healthy, productive adults.As an 11-year old, Hawn watched a “duck-and-cover” Cold War atomic bomb preparation film in school. To see our children use these tools in their lives brings tears of joy to my eyes. Life can have many chapters and I can say this may be the greatest of my life. I am happy to say that 7 million children have been taught MindUP in schools around the world and growing. Combining the brilliance of neuroscientists, teachers, positive psychologists and experts in mindfulness, my dream for kids came true, with the creation of our program MindUP. I had a call to action to create a program that would help kids learn how to self regulate their emotions, become more resilient and learn about how their brain works to give them a road map out of despair and into a more positive mindset. It was unimaginable that our little ones were suffering mental disturbances and being robbed of their joyful childhoods. My heart went to our youth, who were already showing signs of silent distress with symptoms of anxiety, depression, aggression and even child suicide. After 9/11, like you, I was shaken to my core, as it seemed the world had changed in an instant. They deserve all we can give them to thrive and succeed in this sometimes challenging world. All children in the world are our most precious resource for a happier, healthier tomorrow.
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