Growing Minds
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We empower adults to feel more positive and intentional, and less reactive and negative, using mindfulness-based practices. Participants learn to quiet their minds and bodies, focus better and flourish… whatever the circumstances. As youth experience adults modeling mindful living, they are naturally guided to making more mindful choices themselves.


Foundations of Mindful Living

Class Schedule
Learn how to: 
  • Decrease stress and anxiety.
  • Increase clarity.
  • Cultivate empathy and compassion for yourself and others.
  • Enhance relationship satisfaction.
  • Improve sleep.
  • ​Diminish emotional reactivity.
  • Deconstruct challenging patterns and habits.
  • Improve focus and concentration.
  • Understand the science related to mindfulness practices.
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This course has been designed to assist you in developing the skills necessary to reduce stress and step back from your non-stop, problem solving and “getting things done” routine. Our research based techniques can improve your sense of physical and mental well-being, increase mental clarity and help you cultivate peace and happiness in your life. 

Develop nurturing habits rather than feeling progressively drained from wrestling with recurring thoughts and strong emotions. Incorporate purposeful pauses in meaningful ways to cope with stress and reactive patterns. When practiced regularly, these simple skills can encourage us to see the world with greater clarity and compassion. 

Incorporating mindfulness based practices into our lives has been shown to positively influence our health and happiness. It is more than a good idea or a technique. Richard Davidson from the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at UW-Madison, has demonstrated through brain imaging, that mindfulness promotes stress reduction, promotes increased happiness, increases compassion for oneself and others, and reduces anxiety, depression and pain. 

This training employs concepts from Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, both of which are used in businesses, hospitals and schools across the United States. It also incorporates strategies based on Mark Williams and Danny Penman’s book "Mindfulness: An Eight Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World”. 


Basics of Mindfulness

This one day class will provide participants with the basic concepts and practices of mindful living, and how these strategies can balance our emotional lives. Concepts and techniques learned in this class will enable participants to manage stress more skillfully and support the intentions of leading a more nourishing life for ourselves and in our relationships with others. Basic themes and practices will include understanding the stress response, how to train our minds, increasing self-awareness and hardwiring ourselves for positivity. This class serves as a prerequisite for our Growing Minds Curriculum Training classes.  

Next class enrollment will be in summer of 2019.


Mindful Awareness Skills for Calm and Caring Educators

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Growing Minds will guide all educators and staff in our training called, Mindful Awareness Strategies for Calm and Caring Educators which promotes core skills for those who work in school settings and need to create and maintain safe & trusting relationships with students and other adults. Based on the latest neuroscience, this course is designed to increase social connectedness and positivity while decreasing reactivity and burn-out. Participants will learn and practice how to intentionally turn depleting moments into nourishing ones through the use of mindful awareness skills to train the mind to be calmer and more connected under stress. 

Educators will learn many simple, yet powerful techniques to use in their classrooms at their discretion as well which are designed to enhance focusing skills, management of emotions and conflict resolution. When the mindful awareness strategies are practiced often in low stress environments they can become a more intentional way of being in higher stress situations. Research has shown these practices help students in schools calm down when upset, avoid fights and arguments, fall asleep better at night, feel happier at school and home, and even improve grades. 

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Growing Minds Curriculum Training

Class Schedule
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The Growing Minds Curriculum Training class is designed for those who have taken our Foundations of Mindful Living (or similar class) and wish to further their work with students in school, home or therapeutic settings. Instruction is provided for the Growing Minds' curriculum, delivery and implementation.

The Growing Minds curricula is rooted in the areas of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making, the 5 elements of CASEL standards.  All lessons are age appropriate, practical for classrooms, and easily applied in everyday school situations by both teachers and student mentors. 
​The curricula are broken into 3 developmental groupings: kindergarten through second grades, third through eighth grades, and high school and older. Each lesson is approximately 15-20 minutes long and incorporates guided experiential activities and reflective dialogue amongst the teacher and the students.  Trained adults will be able to readily integrate each lesson’s concept into their classroom schedule to guide and manage students before transitions, after interruptions, before testing and other desired times. 

An in-depth understanding of the related brain science that supports the curriculum will also be presented. Upon completion, the essential characteristics of a "mindful" classroom or home will be developed. Participants will have the opportunity to receive and work with the curriculum and our trained and certified instructors. 


The Curriculum Training class is separated into two training days. If you just want the basics, Level 1 will prepare you for teaching the basic curriculum to others. For those interested in continuing their training, we offer Level 2.
Level 1:
Pre-Requisite: Six hours of mindfulness training or any of the Growing Minds classes including Foundations of Mindful Living, Basics of Mindfulness or Mindful Awareness Skills for Calm & Caring Educators.

Lessons the Growing Minds Curriculum will explore:​
The Pause
Mindful Body
Listening to Sound
The Breath
Puppy Mind
Gratitude
Generosity
Kind Thoughts
Stress Response
Movement
​
Level 2:
Pre-Requisite: Level 1
Lessons the Growing Minds Curriculum will explore:​
​Thoughts
Emotions
Stressful Situations
Negativity Bias
Compassion
Five Senses
​Movement​

"The Foundations for Mindful Living course presented by Susan Lubar Solvang and Anna Silberg of Growing Minds was one of the most valuable trainings I have ever participated in. Susan and Anna were masterful instructors who created a rich and supportive learning environment. They skillfully presented research on mindfulness and guided us through various meditations in order for participants to fully understand and experience the benefits of mindful living. I enthusiastically recommend this training to anyone interested in mindfulness. Similarly, the Curriculum Training was outstanding. The team at Growing Minds has developed a fantastic series of mindfulness curricula for a wide range of developmental levels." - Maura Moyle
Instructors:
Susan Lubar Solvang
  - Click for biography.
Anna Silberg - Click for biography.

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Email: info@growingmindstoday.com
(414) 949-5690
Copyright Growing Minds.
All Rights Reserved. 
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  • About Mindfulness
    • What is Being Mindful?
    • Resources & Links
    • Media
  • Take 5ive
  • Educators
    • Our Curriculum
    • Aligns With PBIS
    • What is SEL?
    • Research/Data
    • Partner Schools
    • Testimonials
  • Classes
    • Take A Class
    • Class Schedule & Fees
    • Professional Development
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Lead Instructors
    • Our Sponsors & Partners
    • Ways to Help
    • Contact Us