Mindful Life Project

Transforming Schools from The Inside Out with Mindfulness

Model and Strategy

Mindful Life Project (MLP) supports schools through mindfulness-based social emotional learning programs. Its comprehensive approach supports the mental and emotional well-being of students, teachers, staff, community leaders, and families. This is done with the intention to create cultures and climates where mental and emotional wellbeing is the foundation of everyone's experience. MLP's programs emphasize acceptance and non-judgement of emotions and thoughts through self expression and mental wellness support, helping young people feel empowered in their full authentic selves.

In the Bay Area, MLP offers two full time in person programs to historically low-income schools (Title 1 schools) ,n communities where intergenerational trauma and inequitable educational opportunities exist. Mindful Community is MLP's whole-school program, where trained mindfulness coaches - often from the community they are serving - are on campus full-time for the entire school year, delivering weekly programming centered around topics such as self acceptance, responsible decision making, emotional understanding, impulse control, and self awareness through mindfulness to all individuals in the school ecosystem. Rise Up is a deeper intervention and prevention pullout program for the highest-need students. This program integrates expressive arts, movement, and performing arts with mindfulness as a way for students in 2nd-8th grades to process and understand their emotions using self expression in an emotionally safe environment with peers. Both programs are designed to connect with student everyday experiences through trauma-informed, culturally relevant, age appropriate, and data driven models.

“"Mindfulness is important to me because it has opened me up to the thoughts of non judgment with emotions and feelings. I love how mindfulness allows for us to share how we are feeling whether not so great or good. Mindfulness creates a great community in class with so much support for one another and no judgment is there." — 6th grader at MLP partner school

MLP's Mindful Community and Rise Up programs have experienced significant growth in recent years, scaling from 25 schools in eight cities in the 2020-21 school year, to 39 schools in ten cities in 2022-23, and from supporting 13,000 students to over 20,000 students in TK-8th grades. MLP's strategic plan for the next three years calls for further expansion. This will include building out the elementary-to-middle school pathway in Bay Area cities as well as in the Central Valley by expanding MLP's full time in-person programs to more middle schools in the districts MLP currently partners with. MLP is also launching a high school ambassador program to support the building of youth mindfulness and wellness leaders in their communities. Lastly, MLP's bridge program, Mindfulness 360, will also support in bringing smaller scale programming to additional schools in California and beyond. Mindfulness 360 is a valuable pathway for MLP to establish new partnerships with schools, making our approach to new school partnerships based on trust and community advocacy.

Impact

89% of teachers noticed positive changes in students’ self awareness
81% of teachers noticed positive changes in students’ ability to settle down
84% of teachers noticed positive changes in students’ ability to self regulate
85% of teachers noticed positive changes in students’ ability to relate others
Average increase of 22 minutes per week of teaching time
79% of teachers incorporate mindfulness into their daily classroom schedule on average 6 times per week
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Leadership

  • JG

    JG Larochette

    Founder & Director

  • Mallory

    Mallory Servais

    Director of Programs

  • Angelo

    Angelo Monsalve Restrepo

    Director of Partnerships

  • Theresa

    Theresa Cabral

    Director of Talent and Operations

  • Carolina

    Carolina Valverde

    Director of Development and Marketing

  • Haydn

    Haydn Griffith

    Director of Finance and Data