As we all know, educators are on the front line of so much stress and almost nobody needs the skills of mindfulness - conscious breathing, mind relaxation, detaching from negative thoughts, etc - more than them.   

But putting mindfulness to work in schools has been a challenge for us! At our partner schools, we've struggled to find time in overloaded PD schedules, had yoga classes interrupted by school needs, and sometimes have experienced pushback from teachers who don't want to participate. For something so important, it's felt pretty difficult to put it into action.   

For this, we were so happy for us to have an in-depth conversation about mindfulness in schools with two long time DC teachers and mindfulness practitioners, Parag Bhuva (he/him) a teacher at Washington Latin PCS and Vipassana meditation practitioner, and Dekebra Crowe (she/her) who teachers mindfulness at Turner ES and also teaches Vinyasa flow and yin yoga.  

Our conversation is super real. We talk about the importance of mindfulness, how it actually works in a school setting and where school leaders can go wrong when setting up a mindfulness program for staff and students.   

For those who are interested in learning more about mindfulness, EmpowerEd has recently formed a partnership with the David Lynch Foundation (yes that David Lynch from Twin Peaks!), an international organization that teaches Transcendental Meditation, or TM, to first responders, veterans, and anyone who is on the front line of difficult situations.  

If you are a Washington, DC educator (or work in education) and interested in becoming certified in TM at no cost please reach out to [email protected]. We're going to start organizing DC educator meditation trainings in the new year, and we'd love to answer your questions about joining one.   As always, please let us know your comments and thank you so much for listening!

Thank you for listening! Please learn more about our educator wellness work in schools at or email [email protected]