By Lauren McShea, Managing Director
A new school year is underway at Bodine High School for International Affairs, where our program first began in 2014. On her first day back, Inner Strength instructor Heather Stapleton had one of those moments that warms any teacher’s heart. A student she taught last year stopped her in the hallway:
“Ms. Heather, guess what? I still have my Inner Strength journal, and I write in it all the time, ever since you taught us how to journal our inner weather. I love it.”
This fall, Inner Strength is in eight Philadelphia schools and 33 classrooms. Day one lays the foundation. Students get brand-new journals, still blank and soon to be filled with insights on the path to self-knowledge and self-regulation. Together we set shared agreements, and everyone explores what it’s like to be in a flow state, which leads into their first breath and sound practices. Another semester has begun, with so much to explore.
Returning students go deeper with their practice
Some of this year’s students have been with us before. At GAMP (Girard Academic Music Program), we talked about why it’s valuable to keep practicing rather than just moving on to the next new thing. Steadiness is built through repetition. As the oft-quoted saying goes:
“In times of difficulty, we don’t usually rise to our highest capacity, we fall to the level of our practice.”
So practice sincerely and regularly, and you’ll have the steadiness and skills when you need them most. (This saying is often traced to the Greek poet Archilochus, 7th century BCE. No written record of it survives, so let’s just say we didn’t make it up, but we love the sentiment!)
Students are also stepping into leadership roles, which we love to see. At Lankenau, three seniors volunteered to lead mindful movement, and the whole class followed. At Dobbins, one student started the semester seemingly disinterested and withdrawn. By the end of class, he was organizing the mindfulness journals for the whole class on his own initiative. Peer leadership matters a lot to adolescents, given the social bonds they’re forming and how aware they are of their peers. We look for ways to open those doors and invite students to step through.
The teachers who welcome us in
None of this happens without the teachers and staff who welcome us into their school communities. At CAPA, our host teacher Ms. Alexis already had the lights off and students moving with their breath before class began. At GAMP, Counselor Horace, a strong advocate for bringing Inner Strength to his school, carried our big supply box to each new class so students could see his support. Other teachers have already asked our instructors how to bring Inner Strength into their own classrooms.
As school budgets get tighter, your support means the world to us, whether it’s a kind word, an introduction, or a donation. It helps keep these experiences going, year after year.
