Peace of Mind’s Annual Conference
Breathing is Just the Beginning
Helping kids to apply mindfulness to life’s challenges
Horace Mann Elementary School
Saturday, January 25, 2020 – 8:45 am to 1 pm
Mark your calendars – Register now!
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: DR. WILLIAM BLAKE, DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
We know that mindfulness is helpful to kids in self-regulation, but is this enough? How can we teach mindfulness as a foundation for helping kids to address the challenges they face every day, including disagreements with friends, sibling rivalry, academics, bias, bullying, and injustice? How can we teach mindfulness-based social and emotional learning as a means for kids to achieve their own goals in life and to work for the changes they’d like to see in the world? How can you develop your own mindfulenss practice for self-care and contribute to a more inclusive, supportive school community?
If these questions resonate with you, please join us for a morning of learning, conversation, sharing of ideas, and building community.
Peace of Mind Past Events
IT’S A WRAP! These events have already happened, but we like to look back and remember…
Parent Mindfulness Evening
The NEW Ida B Wells Middle School
October 16 2019 at 5:45 pm
All welcome – Please RSVP to .
Curious to know what mindfulness is all about? Wondering what your children are learning in Peace of Mind Class? Would you like to know more about how mindfulness can help us as parents? Please join us!
Your children may have told you about Peace of Mind Class, the time each week in which they learn mindfulness practices as the foundation for social and emotional skills. Now it’s your turn! Hear from a few parents and former Peace of Mind students about how mindfulness has helped them. Try a few mindfulness practices to help you manage stress and learn exercises to do with your kids. Peace Teacher Linda Ryden will be on hand to help answer the questions.
Please RSVP to
Snacks will be provided 🙂
Peace of Mind’s Fall Community of Practice Gathering
Wednesday, September 25th, 2019 from 3:45 to 5:15 pm
Horace Mann Elementary School, 4430 Newark Street, Washington DC, 20016
All welcome!
What are reasonable expections to set for your students during Peace of Mind Class?
How can we engage our students in mindfulness practice?
We’re glad you asked!
Our Community of Practice gatherings are for educators who are teaching the Peace of Mind curriculum or who are interested in finding out more about how to bring effective mindfulness-based social and emotional learning (SEL) to their students and classrooms. The focus of this informal conversation will be on engaging students in mindfulness and setting reasonable expectations for Peace of Mind class. Come with your experiences, ideas, suggestions and questions, and meet others with similar educational interests.
Thank you to Horace Mann Principal Liz Whisnant and her wonderful team for hosting this event!
We hope to see you there! Linda Ryden, Peace Teacher and Curriculum Author, and Cheryl Dodwell, Peace of Mind Inc. E.D.
Cultivating Peace of Mind
Sunday, May 19th, 2019 from 5 pm to 7 pm.
Proceeds from our first fundraising evening provided support for the development of our new Middle School Curriculum as well as general operating support for Peace of Mind’s work developing and providing resources for educators and parents; building our community of practice and advocating for more peaceful and inclusive schools.
Peace of Mind at the Kensington Day of the Book Festival
Sunday, April 28, 2019 from 11 am to 4 pm.
This was a lovely event! Look for us next year in the Children’s Book area. We’d love to see you there! https://dayofthebook.com/
Mindfulness Evening Just for Parents
Wednesday, March 13, 2019 7 pm to 8:30 pm
Lafayette Elementary School, Washington DC, in the Peace Room
Our first PoM Parent Mindfulness evening, organized and led by members of PoM’s Board and Parent Advisory Team, was a warm, informative and supportive event. Thank you to the parents who came and shared their stories, challenges and ideas and who also shared mindfulness practice together. Big thanks, too, to our panel of Peace of Mind Alumni and one current student, all of whom shared how the practices they learned in Peace Class continue to serve them every day in middle school and in life. If you are interested in participating or helping to plan future Parent Mindfulness Evenings, please let us know! .
Invitation to Parent Mindfulness Evening at Lafayette ES
Peace of Mind at the COSEM Conference
It was wonderful – we sponsored and participated in the first annual gathering of the Coalition of Schools Educating Mindfully Feb28 to March 2, 2019. 
Peace of Mind offered an introduction to The Peace of Mind Curriculum in Friday workshops and answered questions about implementing the Peace of Mind Program at your school. For more information about the conference and to register for next year, go to: https://www.educatingmindfully.org/
Politics and Prose book Launch for Sergio Sees The Good
Wednesday, February 13th, 2019 at Lafayette Elementary School, Washington DC
Thank you to all who came out to celebate the launch of Peace of Mind’s newest book in the Henry and Friends Series, Sergio Sees the Good by Linda Ryden, published by Tilbury House Publishers. As Linda read the book, students helped to illustrate a gratitude practice we can all use to balance our brains’ tendencies to focus on the negative more than the positive. The real Sergio even made an appearance! Politics and Prose booksellers were on hand with hot-off-the-presses copies of Sergio that Linda signed for many. Thank you, Peace of Mind Community!
Peace of Mind’s first annual Mini-Conference was wonderful. Thank you!
Over 70 people gathered to talk about Integrating Neuroscience, Mindfulness and Conflict Resolution for Young Children. We were so pleased to welcome educators, school nurses, researchers and parents to enjoy the keynotes by Neuroscientist Dr. Elizabeth Hoffman and (virtually) PoM Founder Linda Ryden. Participants then chose two workshops to dive into on teaching neuroscience to kids and developing our own mindfulness practices as adults.
Everyone left with their own copy of Rosie’s Brain and the Peace of Mind Brain Anchor Chart to help them bring this work to the children they care about. Stay tuned for the full conference video. In the meantime, enjoy the photo gallery here.
Big, enormous thank yous to our sponsors and partners who nourished us, and to the FFC for providing scholarships to educators from Title I Schools. We could not have done it without you! 
Peace of Mind at the National Education Association Foundation Symposium: Keeping the promise of Public Education
Friday, October 5th 2018, Washington DC
Linda opened the conference with a talk about the transformative power of teaching mindfulness, neuroscience and conflict resolution in schools. Check it out here . That’s not Linda, obviously, but she starts at minute 5:06 and goes for 15 minutes.
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