United We Om Brings Meditation Training To The At-risk Kids Of Mercy First

LONG ISLAND, N.Y. - July 16, 2015 - PRLog -- United We Om, a Long Island based non-profit charity providing yoga and meditation to underserved communities, is bringing mindfulness and meditation training to a group of at-risk teenage boys at Mercy First. Meditation and yoga teacher Joe Iadanza, is guiding the group through eight sessions, focusing on awareness of body, breath and emotions as part of United We Om’s Karma Project Program and Mercy First’s continuum of care for children in need. The hour-long sessions begin on Friday, July 17, 2015 and conclude in late August, 2015 at Mercy First’s Syosset campus.

Karma Projects are at the heart of United We Om’s philanthropic work, connecting specialized teachers with populations most in need of the benefits of practice. Each Karma Project is as unique as the population it serves and is created to support the specific needs of each group. “After learning about Mercy First and all the amazing things they are doing to help children in the foster care system, I knew that we had to find a way to contribute to their service,” says United We Om’s Creative Director Jenny Jared.

Mercy First is an integrated continuum of care for children in need, from birth through adolescence, including children who have been abused and neglected, youth with serious emotional problems, youth without family and families coping with the stresses and pressures of poverty, domestic violence, mental illness and substance abuse. Jared continued, “I just could not imagine a group more in need of the benefits of meditation than children who’ve suffered. The Dali Lama says that if we taught meditation to every eight year old, we could wipe out violence in a generation... and I believe that.”

Instructor Joe Iadanza, owner of The Living Room Studio in Port Washington, NY and a United We Om Board Member, has been focusing on service since he began meditating more than a decade ago. Iadanza is currently in seminary training and after years of meditation and self study concludes, “Any single person - no matter what their age - if they can become present, alert, and learn to interact with their world in a curious, and child-like way - that person can change everything. Not just for themselves, but for the whole of humanity." United We Om agrees deeply with Iadanza and is focusing their efforts for change on local Long Island communities in need. To learn more or to become involved, visit their website at www.UnitedWeOm.org.

COMPANY OVERVIEW:

United We Om (@UnitedWeOm) is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit charity, providing yoga and meditation to underserved populations, while creating opportunities for yoga and meditation communities to use their practice to raise money and awareness for causes they care about serving. Husband and wife team, Matt and Jenny Jared created United We Om with the goal of empowering the yoga and meditation communities to change their world through the power of service. The founders believe the traditions are a powerful antidote to the sufferings of the modern world and operate the organization by the adage Lokha Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu, “Commit your actions to the happiness and freedom of all beings.” For more information, contact: Matt Jared, Executive Director.