Helping Students find Inner Strength for Outer Stability

PHILADELPHIA - May 10, 2021 - PRLog -- The Inner Strength Foundation (ISF) recently hosted a virtual  "Inner Strength for Outer Stability" mindfulness retreat for 9th and 11th grade students from Lankenau High School.  The theme of the retreat was resilience and moving on, and it was a special day of mindful awareness, perspective changes, community building, and supportive practices. Students learned how to identify ways in which they overcame the challenges of the past year, practiced mindfulness skills that supported resilience, and explored the impact of shared human experiences (like returning to school).

Lina Blanchet, a senior instructor for Inner Strength Foundation said, "The students shared some really poignant examples of challenges - like social isolation and loss. But they also shared the beauty and the strength they noticed over the past year, like learning new skills or hobbies, and being able to get their grades up."  The teens also shared that some of their key takeaways were discovering how to love more, learning how to pause to stop and think in response to stressful situations, and learning the importance of positive affirmations.

Since 2014, Inner Strength has served 15,000 students across 19 Philadelphia high schools. The program has received the coveted designation from CASEL (Collaborative for Academic Social Emotional Learning) as an approved social-emotional learning (SEL) program. ISF provides educational tools including mindful awareness, focus, and compassion techniques to improve psychological, behavioral, and physical health and well-being.

The organization was founded by Amy Edelstein, a Cornell University College Scholar with thirty-five years experience of contemplative practice, including a background in Educational Theory, transformational change models that include physiological and emotional understanding of trauma, Western and Eastern philosophy, and evolutionary perspectives, a contemporary field that connects individual development with our world's ancient history and with a deep sense of responsibility for our collective future. Amy is the author of five books including the IPPY award-winning Amazon #1 bestseller The Conscious Classroom.

The Inner Strength Mission

Inner Strength Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization whose mission is to uplift the minds, hearts, and actions of youth through mindful, contemplative awareness and developmental thinking to help them realize their higher potentials.

For all inquiries, please contact Alyson Showell LaPorta, Communications Manager at alyson@innerstrengthfoundation.net or  215.278.9162. To learn more visit: www.innerstrengthfoundation.net.