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Pastoral Care: Mindfulness

hotlines, guidelines and crisis intervention contacts; and support for pastoral care for children, tweens, teens, families, differently abled persons, elders and folks with memory concerns; including mindfulness, personal care and volunteer support

Welcome

Welcome to The Ministry Lab's curated list of resources to cultivate and nurture the spiritual and emotional well-being of young people. Here you'll find:

  • Books & Downloads to teach caregivers and engage people of all ages in mindfulness and contemplation
  • Other Book Lists from trusted sources
  • Blogs, Podcasts & Articles to spark conversation and support practices
  • Webinars & Curricula for further enrichment and expanding practices
  • Find resources for Contemplative Practices here.

If you don't find a resource to fit your need, don't hesitate to consult with The Ministry Lab's director, Emily Meyer, who is happy to assist you.

Books for Children

     All About Grief     All I Need to Be          All the Feelings Under the Sun     The Boy with Big, Big Feelings     Breathe and Be          A Dive into the Blue     Finding Calm in Nature: A Guide for Mindful Kids     The Girl with Big, Big Questions     God Made All Your Feelings     A Handful of Quiet by Thich Nhat Hanh     How to Train Your Pet Brain          It's OK    Kaia's Big Felines     The Kid with Big, Big Ideas     Looking for Happy     Mama's Days: Andi Diehn, Ángeles Ruiz: 9781478875994: Amazon.com: Books          Monsters Like Us          My Magic Breath     Name and Tame Your Anxiety: A Kid's Guide     BB_OneSmallThing_Cover_9781506483771Look Inside One Thursday Afternoon     Pause, Breathe, Be: A Kid's 30-Day Guide to Peace and Presence     Poppy's Perfect Crayons          Share Your Love     Look Inside Simon and the Big, Bad, Angry Beasts     Cover of Something Happened in Our Park     Help young children recognize difficult feelings and learn anger management techniques.     Sometimes I Am Hot Lava     Sometimes Shy     Sometimes When I'm Sad     The Sound of Kindness     We Accept No     We Listen to Our Bodies     What Do I Do with Worry?     Picture of What Do You Say to a Dragon??          What's in Your Mind Today?     What to Do When the News Scares You          Yoga Baby     140181     

Journals/Devotionals/Activities for Children

1-Minute Gratitude Journal     All the Feelings Under the Sun     The Big, Big Feelings Activity Book               Crafting Calm: Art and Activities for Mindful Kids          Mindful Moment Cards               Sitting Still Like a Frog by Eline Snel     Sitting Still Like a Frog Activity Book by Eline Snel          The Worry Workbook

Books for Tweens & Teens

Blessed Youth: Breaking the Silence about Mental Health with Children and Teens          Fighting Invisible Tigers 2019     Find Your Fierce     Mind Over Monsters     Chapter Books to Encourage Mindfulness & Gratitude          Mindset Power: A Kid's Guide to Growing Better Every Day          A Place Inside of Me     The Struggle to Be Strong: True Stories by Teens About Overcoming Tough Times     Your New Playlist: The Student's Guide to Tapping into the Superpower of  Mindset: Acuff, Jon, Acuff, L.E., Acuff, McRae: 9781540902481: Amazon.com:  Books

Journals/Devotionals/Activities for Tweens & Teens

     a book with the title DREAM UP NOW               

Books for Adults - General

The Awakened Brain: 9780241401934: Amazon.com: Books     Awe by Dacher Keltner     Becoming Spiritually Intelligent: Nine Paths toward Your Most Loving Self     Being with Busyness by Brother Phap Huu and Jo Confino     The Best Fruit     The Embodied Path: Telling the Story of Your Body for Healing and Wholeness  | Broadleaf Books     The Enneagram for Black Liberation: Return to Who You Are Beneath the Armor You Carry     Ethnography as a Pastoral Practice, 2nd ed | An Introduction (Moschella)     The Gospel of Loneliness (Wolter)     BL_Katz_9781506481647_Gutsy_Cover     Picture of The Half Known Life     Hope Leans Forward: Braving Your Way toward Simplicity, Awakening, and Peace     How to Live in a Chaotic Climate by LaUra Schmidt, Aimee Lewis Reau and Chelsie Rivera                    Practice the Pause: Jesus' Contemplative Practice, New Brain Science, and What It Means to Be Fully Human     Purposeful Empathy: Tapping Our Hidden Superpower for Personal, Organizational, and Social Change     BL_TheRiseOfRage_Cover     

Books for Parents & Caregivers

The Awakened Brain: 9780241401934: Amazon.com: Books     Breathe through This by Eline Snel     Picture of Forming Resilient Children     Picture of A Mind of Their Own     Not Quite Fine     Raising Healthy Teenagers: Thomas Kersting: 9781540900319: Amazon.com: Books              

Blogs, Podcasts & Articles

close up of hands in prayer in yogaHelping Teens Lament

By Dietrich Kirk

Mindfulness in Life and Death BY Brooke Schedneck offers a lovely memorial to Thich Nhat Hanh while outlining his role in introducing Mindfulness to the West.

Plum Village

Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village companions share the Teacher's Key Teachings and the podcast, The Way Out Is In.

shared a free downloadable poster of 5 Steps to Managing Big Emotions.

Poetry Unbound: incorporate poetry into a personal or group contemplative practice, worship/liturgical element, or fodder for small group discussions among tweens, teens and/or adults.

Listen to the trailer and subscribe on Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsOvercast, or wherever you listen.

The Labyrinth Society has a page of resources specifically for children.

Consultants/Facilitators

Peace Circles

Building school wide Climate & Culture of Caring & Compassion
by teaching social emotional intelligence and life skills

  • Student driven Conflict Resolution
  • Classroom and school wide Community Building
  • Awareness of respectful relationship interactions and interpersonal affect
  • Preventative Restorative Justice Practice
  • Classroom Management tool

See our listing for local, regional, and online Contemplative Practices here.

Rev. Emily Meyer is a certified Contemplative Prayer and Small Group Facilitator as well as a certified Mindfulness Instructor. Contact here here.

Rev. Nicole Havelka is a consultant and yogi with numerous areas of training and facilitation including youth-focused, restorative and trauma-informed yoga, Reiki, and Mindfulness.

Webinars & Curricula

For Gen Z, mental health starts at home. 

For parents, that means having the tools to build it. 

Support for young people in their homes is a vital part of their overall wellbeing. And parents and caregivers are a critical part of that equation.

Get the handbook... for free.

 

 

 

 

~~~

 

The State of Gen ZSee also The State of Gen Z: On Demand Presentation, a 75-minute on-demand keynote presentation and discussion guide delivered by Springtide researchers and staff. Watch the trailer here.

This on-demand presentation gives your organization the insights you need, with easy-to-understand data, explained by the Springtide team, that will empower leaders to better accompany young people.

When you purchase The State of Gen Z, you’ll receive 365-day access to:

  • a 75-minute, on-demand keynote presentation delivered by Springtide staff
  • downloadable Discussion Guides to get you and your team into the data so you can prepare to take action

Learn more here.

The Embodied Path Book Launch, Open Book, Minneapolis, December 6 2022 |  AllEvents.inTelling the Story of Your Body for Healing and Wholeness

Our bodies have a story to tell. When we turn toward our bodies with curiosity and reverence, we honor those stories, embrace our inner dignity, and make space for more agency. Sharing our bodies’ stories helps us feel seen so that, little by little, society’s limiting master narratives can shift so that more bodies feel safe and beautiful and have a sense of belonging.

Resources include:

Emotion Cards for Kids

To complement their lessons on emotional health in their lesson library, UpLift Kids has produced a limited-run emotion card deck.

Self-Compassion for Girls

In this 10-lesson course, Dr. Karen Bluth explores why self-compassion is a resource that people can learn, put in their toolbox, and use whenever they have a challenging day or even a challenging moment. And crucially, she explains how we can help teenage girls develop self-compassion to aid them in the fight against depression.

Young white female looking solemn while looking out a window covered in raindrops, holding a mug

MHTTC New England offers Seasonal Affective Disorder: Responding to the Winter Blues in the Classroom online toolkit for care providers.

Preventing Marijuana Use Among Youth

Preventing Marijuana Use Among Youth

The goal of this guide is to review the literature on prevention of marijuana use among youth, distill the research into recommendations for practice, and provide examples of the ways these recommendations can be implemented.

Social Emotional Stories: Lessons and Learning from Plants and Animals     Teenage Archetype Card Deck

Quicksheets #78 Social/Emotional Health is a downloadable inventory that includes practices and activities - to share in small groups or for youth to practice on their own - to help them assess and engage with their emotional well-being.

iBme's website is informative. Retreats and courses may be life-changing.

Picture of Enneagram Essentials These insightful cards are an innovative and uniquely interactive way to learn about and apply the highly popular Enneagram personality model as you uncover your inner feelings, motives, and desires; nurture your empathy and compassion for others; and grow toward the best version of yourself.

8-week study on health and well-being via meditation and spiritual practices; online-friendly.

Includes Student GuideLeader Guide, and free guide for leading virtually.

offering free online Mindfulness Classes for Kids.

Praying with Mandalas: teaches what mandalas are; includes a free downloadable mandala; and comes as an ecourse; youth-adults.

EmpowerU is built to help teens deal with stress and anxiety, including weekly free toolkits and a semester-long curriculum.

MYCepaz is a teen guide to mental well-being and includes calming yoga videos and several links to Mindfulness and Meditation sites, along with resources and supports for emergency interventions; includes a downloadable app to take mindfulness practices for use anywhere and anytime.

Practices/Guidance

HELP CREATE A TOOLBOX OF COPING STRATEGIES KIDS CAN DRAW FROM!

Includes:

  • Calming Techniques: Discover calm down strategies that will help kids develop better responses to these powerful feelings.

  • Coping Skills: Learn the basics of anger and anxiety, identify triggers, and recognize how anger and anxiety feel in the body.

BB_MindfulnessPacket_AllPages_LeadGen_Photo_CroppedKid-Friendly Mindfulness Activity Pack

Every day, we encounter situations that might fill us with worry, panic, or excitement. How can we calm our thoughts and emotions? This packet of kid-friendly mindfulness activities will help kids find peace amid thoughts that come and go. Download it now.

 

Butterfly Prayer — The butterfly prayer in Traci Smith's Faithful Families is a simple practice that anchors us to breath, calm, and movement. She recommended it as a practice to teach children for times of stress and anxiety. This old VIDEO features Smith's boys sharing the practice.

The Center of Mindful Self-Compassion's Dr. Karen Bluth offers teens Lovingkindness for Ourselves.

Official Plum Village mobile app

Thich Nhat Hanh's community offers The Plum Village app (free) and a list of other apps and online tools for meditation and minfulness.

University of Rochester Medical Center's Behavioral Health Partners' Melissa Nunes-Harwitt, LMSW, shares a method called Hand on Heart, to help ease a racing mind/anxiety.

Other Book Lists

Picture books about feelings.jpg     

shared 23 CHILDREN’S BOOKS ABOUT EMOTIONS FOR KIDS WITH BIG FEELINGS which is broken down by age group - toddler through young adult - along with books for parents

 offers several books for helping YOUTH deal with a range of emotions.

In Our Library - Adults

     The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams     Calm Kids: Help Children Relax with Mindful Activities: Murray, Lorraine  E.: 8601200416527: Amazon.com: Books     Everyday Blessings     iv-bookcover-trans                                             

In Our Library - Children/Intergenerational

     Calm Kids: Help Children Relax with Mindful Activities: Murray, Lorraine  E.: 8601200416527: Amazon.com: Books     Just Breathe                         Sitting Still Like a Frog          A Still Quiet Place For Teens: A Mindfulness Workbook to Ease Stress and Difficult Emotions