MINDFULNESS – STRESS REDUCTION PROGRAM FOR TEENS
“What you practice grows stronger” (neuroplasticity)
Mindfulness is the practice of living in the present moment. Practicing mindfulness will save you from the misery of worrying about the past or fearing for the future. It will help you to stay calm and collected in challenging situations and give you the freedom to make conscious choices about the things that matter most.
Our Mind Wonders 47% of the Time!
Here are just a few of the benefits that the Mindfulness practice can bring into your life:
- Improved Concentration , resulting in Higher Performance (athletic, academic, social)
- Increased Confidence, Self-Esteem, and Interpersonal Skills
- Reduced anxiety and fear
- Ability to stay Calm and Focused in the middle of chaos & under pressure
Our instructor, Lou Carcasole – P. Eng., MBA, M. Ed., has taught Mindfulness for over 30 years to thousands of people.
TESTIMONIALS
“The Mindfulness Meditation Class with Lou Carcasole was an eye-opening experience. We all learned a great deal about the human mind, such as: it is really hard to think about absolutely nothing, the brain is able to do strange and amazing things etc. Not only that, it also became easier for us to relax and fall asleep. During each and every single session, even though I wasn’t moving at all, I felt like I was flying though the air. Outside of the sessions, my marks in school significantly improved, I was payed more attention in class, and i was slower to anger. At the very beginning, we were all given a sheet to fill out about things that bothered us (from a scale of 0, not at all, to 4, extremely). We all scored relatively high during the first lesson. However, during the last lesson, we did the sheet again. This time, it was like binary, we only had 1s and 0s. I was very satisfied with my results”. youth course participant, December 28, 2018
“Mindfulness meditation was indeed a new thing for me. But it impacted my approach to certain situations making life a lot simpler and enjoyable. Without this knowledge I would never have overcome barriers such as stress. I found Lou a great coordinator and an inspiration; his life story encourages me to become a more self-aware and humble person”. Michelle Age 13
“I would like to thank the entire team at The Art of life including Olga, Nazar, Lou, and the rest of the team for welcoming us to their health centre where we felt like home. In the beginning, my son was quite skeptical why he would ever need to learn and practice mediation. I would have to give a huge credit to Lou for making such an amazing impact on son’s opinion after the first intro session. He connected with my son, found a way to explain to my son how meditation would help him in his every day life. Andrey, particular was interested in how mediation would help him concentrate and win his go-karting races. Within weeks I noticed that my son was more concentrated, felt more relaxed and could focus on important tasks in his life such as school and go – karting. One of the other benefits of him attending these sessions was a way for us to bond on a different, deeper level. Andrey was very eager to explain to me how to meditate, share his opinion and different life stories that Lou had shared with him and the other boys. Andrey would teach me how to meditate and that certainly made him feel important and special. Thank you”. Parent of Kids Group Participant
This video features youth and young adults discussing their experiences practicing mindfulness, and how mindfulness has benefited different aspects of their lives.(The original video is sourced from the KeltyMentalHealth YouTube Channel)
Why Aren’t We Teaching You Mindfulness? In this powerful talk, an instructor shares her research into how Mindfulness can set us up for success. (The original video is sourced from the TedX Talks YouTube Channel)
Jonas Kolker is a 15-year-old in the ninth grade. From grades three through eight, he dealt with severe anxiety attacks that were triggered by his school environment. Jonas had to learn techniques and strategies that would help him manage and control his ideas as he progressed through his school career. (The original video is sourced from the TedX Talks YouTube Channel)
“After stuck in the cave for over 9 days, how did the boys remain so calm?!” A real story about 12 boys and a coach stuck in a cave. How? ? (The original video is sourced from the Mind Stories YouTube Channel)
Kobe Bryant & Phil Jackson were able to tap into mindfulness in order to help the black mamba reach flow state and help the Lakers win multiple championships. (The original video is sourced from the The Flow Station YouTube Channel)
Bianca Andreescu is the 19 year old winner of the US open defeating Serena Williams. Visualization, meditation and deep breathing can be used in our personal lives, business lives as well as sports.(The original video is sourced from the spirione girl YouTube Channel)
NBA Players describe what ‘mindfulness’ means to them as it relates to basketball and away from the game, and how it is a trait of being a good player, teammate and person. (The original video is sourced from the Golden State Warriors YouTube Channel)