JJAB News:
Are you or is someone you love feeling the pressure and stress of the fast-paced world we live in? Would you like to learn to slow down a bit, focus your attention, and rediscover a sense of gratitude and curiosity toward life?
Perhaps a mindfulness class is right for you. Mindfulness is simply paying attention in this moment to our breath, body, thoughts, feelings, and what is happening in the world around us. It is a way of training our minds so that we can be more present in all aspects of our lives: work, play, study, relationships, sports, and hobbies, during good times and bad.
Mindfulness classes and clubs are being offered free to participants as part of the Los Alamos Community Awareness Project, one of the Juvenile Justice Advisory Board’s (JJAB) newest initiatives.
More information on Community Night at the Family Strengths Network, Mindfulness Club at Mesa Public Library, and classes for teens and adults at UNM-Los Alamos can be found on the JJAB website at www.losalamosjjab.com. The primary goal of the Community Awareness Project is to increase the health and well-being of youth and adults by introducing mindfulness practice as a valuable life skill and a practical health promotion tool.
Mindfulness training raises people’s awareness and enjoyment of life, as well as their ability to respond rather than react in habitual ways. Research is emerging to demonstrate the effectiveness of this training across many domains including physical and mental health, pain management, attention and focus, as well as general well-being. Practicing mindfulness can help people manage stress, reduce anxiety and depression, improve decision making skills, build basic resiliency, develop coping skills, and cultivate a sense of gratitude.
The project utilizes evidence-based curricula that have been implemented, evaluated, and are showing positive results in communities both similar to and different from Los Alamos. The curricula draw on information from the fields of neuroscience, cognitive science, social emotional learning theory, positive psychology, as well as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy.
Although most of the world’s religions include some type of contemplative practice, mindfulness training as taught in the Community Awareness Project and school-based programs like MindUP is a completely secular, skill-based approach to improved quality of life, relationships, performance, and basic resiliency.
The Community Awareness Project offers mindfulness classes and groups led by Kristine Coblentz. Coblentz has extensive experience working with children, youth, and families. She is trained in the Mindful Motherhood, Still Quiet Place, MindUP, and other mindfulness curricula. More information is available on the JJAB website at www.losalamosjjab.com.
To register for a class, email Coblentz at lulaazul.llc@gmail.comor call 505-661-4097.
The Los Alamos Juvenile Justice Advisory Board is an established non-profit organization. JJAB’s mission is to help youth and families feel and be connected, valued, and recognized through community, family and individual activities. JJAB’s vision is that all youth and adults are positively engaged in society.
JJAB is recognized within Los Alamos County and in the state of New Mexico as a leader in prevention and intervention initiatives for youth. The work of the JJAB is made possible through funding from the New Mexico Children Youth and Families Department, Los Alamos County, and grants and donations from private foundations and individuals.
