Daily Om 5 July 2004
July 5, 2004
Life Skills For At-risk Youth
Mind Body Awareness Project
The often awkward and confusing transition out of childhood can leave a young adult feeling as isolated as a prison inmate. For some – those who act out, who don’t have discipline or who succumb to other circumstances – that prison can become a reality. Incarcerated youth are commonly survivors of significant trauma in their home and community life. They become caught in the juvenile justice system often while struggling with a variety of mental health and substance abuse issues. It is a system that doesn’t have the resources nor the foresight to support these kids in a holistic and nurturing manner.
The Mind Body Awareness Project (MBA), an innovative program developed by a former juvenile inmate and a team of top mental health professionals and progressive thinkers is now working to provide alternatives to the current system of treatment. The MBA Project offers yoga, meditation and other awareness-based practice training to incarcerated and at-risk youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. The program stems partly from founder Noah Levine’s own experience in the Santa Cruz Juvenile Hall. After rehabilitation, he entered a Masters program at the Center for Integral Studies where he met filmmaker and meditation instructor Isaiah Seret. Together they developed the MBA’s framework and soon an impressive roster of advisors joined including Bo and Sita Lozoff from the Prison Ashram Project, Dr. Daniel Goleman, Dr. John Kabat-Zinn, and Noah’s parents Stephen and Ondrea Levine.
MBA classes are offered on a voluntary basis. A typical one-hour class will include open discussion, mindfulness meditation instruction and a form of movement meditation such as hatha yoga or tai chi. Teachers use simple awareness exercises as alternatives to self-destructive patterns of addiction, crime, and violence. These practices can begin to unlock the courage, confidence and self-discipline needed to make healthier choices. Participants learn how opportunities for real change arise every moment throughout their life. In an environment of trust and respect, participants are directly empowered to stop and reflect before acting them out. Even those of us still blessed with our liberties can gain so much by employing MBA techniques – learning to slow down, step out of habitual patterns, and respond to challenges with clarity and focus.
For more information visit Mbaproject.org
