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What activities do you organize to engage teens on makes mindfulness practice much more approachable.
mindfulness to sustain their interest and for them to
apply it in their daily lives? What has been your most enriching experience in
teaching mindfulness to teens?
On teen retreats, we’ve found that teens often respond
well to movement practices such as walking meditation I think my favorite part of every teen retreat is the
and yoga. We also find that teens respond well to community share. At the end of a week of being together
lovingkindness practices. One of the most effective in a safe and loving community, and doing this practice
methods I’ve seen of sustaining teens’ interest in together, the teens come together to share talents,
mindfulness is a game called hot seat, which engages poems, music, skits, and a huge variety of creative acts
the teens in kind curious attention towards each of their own design. It is a truly inspiring thing to see
other. This game gives them a chance to share about teens thrive and display so much skill, talent, creativity,
themselves and open up, while being witnessed and uniqueness, and potential; with so much love and
appreciated by their peers. The teens get to practice wisdom behind it. I come away from the experience
deep and kind attention in the relational field, and when feeling really hopeful for what is possible for the future
of our species, for our collective awakening. EH
on the receiving end of this kind attention the result is
often that they feel safe to be fully themselves, which

Learning from Nature

By Amma Thanasanti

Amma Thanasanti meditation practices and ethical guidelines;
cannot be easily particularly true when individuals were dealing
categorized. She with developmental trauma.
supports you to grow up
through developmental Amma’s North Star is the truth where love, pervasive
stages, clean up trauma awareness, and the power of the land teach and
and attachment support her every day. She is currently designing a
wounding, wake up to meditation-based attachment repair program she
your essential nature, hopes to roll out in September 2023.
and show up fully to
have authentic connection with others. She has Benny Liow reaches out to Amma and discusses
been meditating for over 40 years. She was a with her several key Buddhist topics - what we can
Buddhist Nun for 26 years including 20 years in the learn directly from observing nature, instead of
Ajahn Chah Forest Tradition. She has been teaching relying on scriptures, how to practice deep listening,
meditation retreats internationally since 1996. how to cultivate an inquisitive mind, compassion,
non-attachment, and equanimity, the practice of
Decades of living in monastic communities showed Bodhisattva vows for those who follow Theravada,
her several ways that ending suffering required and her life long passion for sharing the Buddha
more than what was available from Insight Dharma with others.