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Stress Resilience for Self-Aware Kids: Tools for Emotional Regulation and Healthy Relationships

What if at-risk youth had the tools to find strength and stability in any situation?

Photo of Coleen Armstrong-Yamamura
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Founding Story: Share a story about a key experience or spark that helps the network understand why this project got started or a story about how you became inspired about the potential for this project to succeed.

As an educator, I have lost many capable, hard-working students to the stress and trauma of their environment. When your stress response is in overdrive--as it is for victims of chronic stress and trauma--it has dire consequences to your physical health and your ability to regulate emotion, focus your attention, and show empathy to others. Many of our students that are labeled as having "behavior problems" and excluded from the school environment through suspension and expulsion are suffering from chronic stress and trauma. The current consequence and behavior intervention structures within schools do not address this critical and fundamental trigger of many student behaviors that are maladaptive for the academic environment. The consequence is that thousands of children with limitless potential are being pushed into the school to prison pipeline every year instead of being given the tools and opportunities to heal from these symptoms of trauma and chronic stress. Neuroscience has found that the areas of the brain that are negatively affected by trauma and chronic stress are the same areas of the brain that are healed by a Mindfulness practices. Trauma research has found that movement is essential when dealing with trauma as we carry our issues in our tissues. Dynamic Mindfulness is an evidence-based movement practice that can support this generation of students to achieve their goals and fulfill their potential regardless of their zipcode or background circumstances.

Which categories describe you? (the answer will not be public)

  • Asian (for example: Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Pakistani)
  • White (for example: German, Irish, English, Italian, Polish, French, Caucasian)

Website

www.niroga.org

Location: Where is your organization headquartered? [State]

  • California

Location: Where is your organization headquartered? [City]

Oakland

Location: Where is your project primarily creating impact? [State]

  • California

Location: Where is your project primarily creating impact? [City]

Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego. Outside of California we have school partnerships and trainings in New York, New Orleans, Jersey City, Memphis, and Houston

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

Stress and trauma are ubiquitous in American public schools. They are even more acute in urban and high poverty school districts. Niroga works to empower students and educators with the tools to build resilience to chronic stress and heal from trauma to create more joyful, inclusive and productive school environments.
A 4th and 5th grader leading their parents, peers and siblings in Dynamic Mindfulness (DMind) at a school parent night. When the 4th grader got down from the stage after leading this session I asked him if he had been nervous leading DMind and he said, "Yea, I was nervous, but I took a deep breath and I was ok." A 4th and 5th grader leading their parents, peers and siblings in Dynamic Mindfulness (DMind) at a school parent night. When the 4th grader got down from the stage after leading this session I asked him if he had been nervous leading DMind and he said, "Yea, I was nervous, but I took a deep breath and I was ok."
Peer leaders, or Culture Keepers, at El Cerrito High School leading their peers in Dynamic Mindfulness and changing the fabric of the culture within the school around stress resilience and healing.
After 2 years of using Dynamic Mindfulness, school leaders, teachers and students reflect on the affect the program has had on their lives, school and community.
Dynamic Mindfulness Peer Leaders at an Street Academy, an Alternative High School in Oakland, practice DMind together at the start of their meeting. Street Academy is for students who have been expelled from other schools in the district. Niroga has been working with the students and teachers of Street Academy for the last 7 years and has developed a robust Peer Leadership program in which students lead their peers in the Dynamic Mindfulness practice and take DMind to their local community. Dynamic Mindfulness Peer Leaders at an Street Academy, an Alternative High School in Oakland, practice DMind together at the start of their meeting. Street Academy is for students who have been expelled from other schools in the district. Niroga has been working with the students and teachers of Street Academy for the last 7 years and has developed a robust Peer Leadership program in which students lead their peers in the Dynamic Mindfulness practice and take DMind to their local community.
Kindergarten students practicing Dynamic Mindfulness every day after lunch to support their transition back to the classroom environment in a more natural and physically calming way. Kindergarten students practicing Dynamic Mindfulness every day after lunch to support their transition back to the classroom environment in a more natural and physically calming way.
A 3rd and 4th grader leading their teachers in Dynamic Mindfulness before a PD session. The 3rd grader spoke about how she used to be shy before learning to teach Dynamic Mindfulness. Now she feels confident leading adults in the practice. She has found her voice and has been empowered by the practice. A 3rd and 4th grader leading their teachers in Dynamic Mindfulness before a PD session. The 3rd grader spoke about how she used to be shy before learning to teach Dynamic Mindfulness. Now she feels confident leading adults in the practice. She has found her voice and has been empowered by the practice.
9th grade students practicing the DMind 4-8 breath that ends in a hug. A perfect image of self-care and self-love. 9th grade students practicing the DMind 4-8 breath that ends in a hug. A perfect image of self-care and self-love.

Young people, especially those growing up in the urban neighborhoods and areas of concentrated disadvantage in our country, are victims of chronic stress and trauma. These kids need tools for stress resilience and trauma healing. Without these tools their sympathetic nervous systems will remain in overdrive as they try to protect themselves from real and perceived threats and danger. The latest research in neuroscience shows that this state of chronic stress physiologically turns off the brain's ability to focus, regulate emotion, cope with stress, and empathize with others. The techniques that Dynamic Mindfulness (DMind) teaches support the brain in turning back on these essential functions .  

DMind addresses the kinesthetic, emotional, and cognitive elements of our bodies and is an evidence-based, trauma-informed method to build stress resilience, increase learning-readiness, enable emotional regulation, and increase pro-social behavior in children, adolescences, and adults. Dynamic mindfulness practices have been validated by the latest findings in neuroscience, trauma research, and somatic psychology.

DMind enables children, adolescents, and adults to act mindfully in stressful situations rather than react reflexively. DMind empowers students to develop a strong sense of self-awareness both psychologically and physically, supporting their ability to make choices with forethought and to build empathic relationships with their peers, teachers, and parents. 

Dynamic Mindfulness has the power to revolutionize how schools deal with stress and trauma. The use of DMind in schools can ensure that kids have the tools they need to find strength and stability in any situation so they can go into the world and accomplish their goals and dreams.





Is your model focused on any of the following traditionally underserved communities?

  • Communities of color
  • LGBTQ or non-binary individuals
  • Low-income communities

Does your model work within any of the following sectors?

  • Childcare
  • Community Development and Empowerment
  • Criminal Justice
  • Education
  • Mental Health

Year Founded

2005

Project Stage

  • Scaling (the solution has passed the previous stages, and the next step will be growing its impact on a regional or global scale)

Example: Walk the network through a specific example of what happens when a person or group engages with your solution.

When Niroga partners with a school for a Dynamic Mindfulness program, we have a 3-year plan with that school. In the first year, we train the teachers in DMind and work on their capacity to develop a personal practice and then share that with their students by implementing the DMind 48-lesson curriculum. In the second year, we turn our focus to empowering the student's ability to lead the practice in their classrooms and community as peer leaders. In the third year, we turn the focus to families, creating a parent leadership group to further expand the stress resilience and trauma healing practices into the community. This 3-year model ensures that the DMind program becomes rooted in the culture and structure of the school.

Impact: What was the impact of your work last year? Please also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.

Niroga has trained thousands of teachers and DMind has been field-tested with over 50,000 students around the US. The latest research of our program has found that DMind has a statistically significant effect on increased student attendance and results in a decrease in the number of suspensions. This has huge implications in increasing graduation rates and dismantling the school to prison pipeline. Our curriculum has been evaluated by a team of independent researchers from UC Berkeley, Harvard Medical School and the Pennsylvania Prevention Institute, showing that DMind reduces stress and increases emotion regulation (Frank, 2012), key predictors of academic achievement. Because Education does not succeed in isolation, DMind also addresses other interconnected social domains including Health, Violence Prevention, and Youth Development, working in concert to impact all areas of life.

Organization Type

  • nonprofit/NGO/citizen sector

Annual Budget

  • $500k - $1m

Financial Sustainability Plan: What is your solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?

We charge a nominal fee for our programing and teacher trainings that covers the wages of our employees, and administrative, and production costs. In addition to this income we rely on grant funding.

Unique Value Proposition: How else is this problem being addressed? Are there other organizations working in the same field, and how does your project differ from these other approaches?

What differentiates our program from others is our focus on making the practice trauma-informed. Most mindfulness programs are static, or without movement, while our program incorporates movement to allow for trauma healing while also making the practice more appealing to students. Other SEL programs focus immediately on self-awareness and emotional regulation without first building students' ability to control the stress response. If they are still chronically stressed, the goals of emotional regulation are less attainable because the logic centers of the brain turn off with chronic stress.

Reflect on the Field and its Future: Stepping outside of your project, what do you see as the most important or promising shifts that can advance children’s wellbeing?

It is promising that there is a new focus on the importance of Social Emotional Learning, especially with the recent passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act that incorporates goals for Social Emotional Learning. It is uplifting that at the policy level there has been recognition that students require more than just academic skills to become successful, productive citizens. Our hope is that this policy shift will bring greater focus on endowing students with tools to deal with stress and heal from trauma so that they can be empowered to achieve their greatest potential.

Source: How did you hear about the Children’s Wellbeing Challenge? (the answer will not be public)

  • Email

Program Design Clarity

Our primary beneficiary community are educators, students, and parents. We train educators in how to bring Dynamic Mindfulness into their personal life to create a culture of stress resilience, sustainability and trauma healing within their personal and professional environments. We also give our trainees the tools to share the tools of Dynamic Mindfulness with their students, families and co-workers through teaching practice, coaching, and a 48-lesson scripted curriculum that is available in print and video format.

Community Leadership

Student peer leadership is a central component of our program model. In many of our schools we see students leading the majority of DMind practice and guiding the program implementation based on the needs of their peers. In our third year of engagement with a school, we work with parents as DMind ambassadors to bring the tools of stress resilience and trauma healing to the greater school community.

Age of Children Impacted

  • 6 - 12
  • 12+

Spread Strategies

Change starts with each of our trainee's adoption of a practice of DMind within their own self-care regimen. After personal practice has been established, our educators are ready to share the tools for stress resilience and trauma healing with their students. The students establish their own personal practice and share the tools for stress resilience and trauma healing with their siblings, parents and friends thus empowering the community.

Reflect on how your work helps children to thrive. How are you cultivating children’s sense of self, belonging, and purpose through your model?

The most vulnerable children in the US are the greatest victims of chronic stress and trauma. Neuroscience has found that trauma and chronic stress diminish the brain's ability to focus attention, regulate emotion, and feel empathy towards others. DMind directly heals those areas of the brain. Students that practice DMind have reported feeling "so powerful" as they learn to regain control over their emotions, their impulses and their bodies.

Leadership Story

Bidyut Bose is the Founder and Executive Director of Niroga Institute, which serves thousands of high-stress people annually, while developing cost-effective architectures for lasting social transformation. Having learned yoga and meditation since he was a child, and with a PhD in Computer Science from UC Berkeley, Bidyut spent many years in Silicon Valley in R&D and strategic planning. For over 10 years, he has been conducting stress resilience trainings for influencers in education, health care, youth development and violence prevention nationally and internationally.

Organization's Twitter Handle

@niroga

Organization’s Facebook Page (URL)

https://www.facebook.com/niroga/

Leader's LinkedIn Profile (URL)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bidyut-bk-bose-4605563

2 comments

Join the conversation:

Comment
Photo of Edgar Tyson
Team

I would like to collaborate with you. The use of emotional regulation in your program is particularly interesting to me. It is something I also incorporate into my work. I would like to find ways to utilize each other in our respective locations.

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Photo of Coleen Armstrong-Yamamura
Team

Hi Edgar, 
Thank you for your message. Please feel free to contact me directly at coleen@niroga.org. I look forward to connecting with you!
Warmly, 
Coleen

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