- Author: Marcel Horowitz
- Author: Dorina Espinoza
- Author: Anne Iaccopucci
- Author: Natalie Cunha
As a result of UC 4-H Mindful Mechanics classes, 4-H staff feel better prepared to lead lessons and discussions with 4-H youth around mindfulness, mental health, and stress-management, demonstrating UC ANR's commitment to healthy people and communities.
The Issue
Seven out of ten teens are struggling with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, as is demonstrated by a 2020 report from national 4-H. Poor mental health can lead to uncertainty, anxiety and depression. Eighty two percent of youth surveyed are “calling on America to talk more openly and honestly about mental health issues in this country.” Seventy-nine percent wished there was a safe space for people in school to talk about mental health, and 70% want schools to teach them more about mental health and coping. As the nation's largest out-of school youth organization, 4-H has a significant role to play in ameliorating these concerns and issues.
“In particular, teens who are less resilient seem to struggle, reporting more frequent feelings of anxiety and depression, as well as a stronger struggle with ambiguity and pressure from others to hide their feelings (National 4-H). However, many Cooperative Extension professionals don't feel prepared to discuss, much less teach, the concepts that build emotional resilience.
How UC Delivers
UC ANR academics, Anne Iaccopucci and Katherine Soule, partnered with Kendra Lewis of University of New Hampshire to change that. With the development of the Mindful Mechanics curriculum adopted by National 4-H, Youth Development professionals have a tool to begin these conversations and interventions with youth members ages twelve and older.
Using this curriculum, the UC 4-H Healthy Living Leadership Team (comprised of Marcel Horowitz, Dorina Espinoza and Natalie Cunha, in addition to the lead author of the curriculum) offered a 13-lesson virtual statewide project for teen members in the winter of 2021, which occurred one year into stay-at-home orders that exacerbated mental health issues for many youth.
In particular, the Mindful Mechanics project taught youth to check in with their body, manage thoughts and emotions, focus on the present moment, find reasons to be grateful, use positive self-talk to improve their outlook, and to visualize joy. All of these skills are found to increase positive psychology in individuals.
A national 4-H survey stated that “4‑H Healthy Living programs provide youth with a better understanding of how their choices can help themselves, their families, and their communities.” To help their communities, youth were asked to draw a lifesize walking meditation labyrinth in a public location for others to use.
The Impact
Youth in the project reported that they learned “to appreciate myself and the things I am capable of doing”, and “how to calm myself.” National 4-H research has found that resilient teens report higher levels of confidence solving their own mental health struggles, as well as helping others with theirs; they also feel more equipped to tap into support networks compared with individuals who did not consider themselves resilient. Programs like the UC 4-H Mindfulness Mechanics class demonstrate UC ANR's commitment to healthy people and communities.
The project leaders all reported improvements in their confidence and abilities to teach mindfulness and stress-reductions skills to adolescents.
Natalie Cunha, 4-H Community Education Specialist and Co-Project Leader, stated “Cooperative Extension professionals can pass their skills on to volunteers who will then take the knowledge further into their community to positively affect their youth, integrating public and mental health into the 4-H programs.”
Dorina Espinoza, Youth, Families and Communities Advisor in Humboldt/Del Norte Counties, stated the importance of incorporating even short regular mindful practices into 4-H programming, “several participants expressed the positive impact of a 5-minute mindfulness session at the beginning of each project session”.
Marcel Horowitz, Healthy Living Leadership Team Co-Chair, Healthy Youth, Families and Communities Advisor in Yolo County, and Co-Project Leader “feels more empowered to work with teens to teach them ways they can manage the stress in their lives. These materials provide a framework for leading teens through the development of skills they need to learn to manage these emotions throughout their lives. A successful, thriving life depends on it”.
Anne Iaccopucci, Healthy Living Academic Coordinator and lead author, shared “opportunities, like the UC 4-H Virtual Mindful Mechanics project, provide extension professionals experience in delivering virtual social-emotional content through a supportive community of co-leaders.”
/span>/h3>/h3>/h3>/h3>
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention in the present moment and accepting it without judgement. Benefits include reduced stress, better concentration, less depression and anxiety and a stronger immune system.
Even before the pandemic, the UC Cooperative Extension 4-H Healthy Living leadership team – Anne Iaccopucci, UCCE Healthy Living academic coordinator; Dorina Espinoza, youth, families and communities (YFC) advisor in Humboldt and Del Norte counties; and Marcel Horowitz, UCCE healthy youth, families and communities advisor in Yolo County – recognized that youth appeared to be struggling with anxiety and emotional challenges. An examination of published research showed that youth programs were successfully using mindfulness practices to help young people who had developmental challenges or behavioral disturbances.
With mindfulness gaining greater mainstream interest, Iaccopucci joined with YFC advisor Katherine Soule, and University of New Hampshire, Durham, youth and family resiliency state specialist Kendra Lewis to investigate the use of mindfulness for growth and development in people without serious conditions, but struggling with challenges of modern life.
“The 4-H Healthy Living team wanted to make sure we were addressing the social-emotional development of young people, so we investigated how we can integrate mindfulness into our programs,” Iaccopucci said.
Mindfulness retreat
The team designed an annual weekend UC 4-H Mindfulness Retreat for youth and adults to build skills in mindfulness, stress management, relationship building and community connection. Three-day retreats were held over four consecutive years in Cambria, a peaceful beach community on California's Central Coast.
Lessons in yoga, art and nature exploration were combined with quiet reflection, socialization and emotional-regulation training led by experts with extensive knowledge in those mindfulness methods. “Hangout time” was electronics-free; participants were encouraged to spend time getting to know one another or practicing self-reflection.
A survey completed by participants at the end of the retreats helped leaders improve the activity year-to-year and gauge the program's success. Both youths and adults said they were satisfied with their experiences at the retreat, wanted to participate again and would recommend the experience to others, the retreat team reported in the August 2020 issue of the Journal of Extension.
As part of the completion survey, the youths and adults were asked to provide examples of how their new skills and knowledge in mindfulness can be applied in their daily lives, how it can be applied in 4-H, what they liked best and what they would change.
One youth mentioned, “Giving skills back to my 4-H club, or when I am stressed, going back to what I learned.” An adult said, “More present for my family. I will be more mindful in my daily life! Take at least 6 deep breaths in my daily life or day to day.”
One youth said, “I can pass my new knowledge down to the youth in my county or across the state.”
Another youth wrote that the best part was, “Learning how to stay calm and having fun.”
To read the full report on the retreats, see Engaging Teens and Adults in Mindfulness: The University of California 4-H Mindfulness Retreat.
Mindfulness curricula
Hosting a mindfulness retreat is a vast undertaking that may not be practical for individual 4-H clubs or other youth groups. To extend the benefits of mindfulness to more youth across California and the nation, the Healthy Living Team developed curricula that can be used by 4-H clubs and other youth-serving organizations – such as Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Boys' and Girls' Clubs, etc.
For example, one lesson focuses on naming and describing feelings. The lesson explains that feelings – such as happy and sad – visit for a time like houseguests, and centers on a book called “Visiting Feelings” by Lauren Rubenstein. The author suggests that feelings should be viewed with “wide open eyes.”
“Is it bright like the sun, dark like the rain, or is it a look you can't even explain?” says the text. “If you listen to what your body can say, you'll find that your feelings are really OK.”
Each lesson includes a connected activity. For naming and describing feelings, the children can choose a feeling to explore, write it down and draw what the feeling looks like – a prickly plant, a bouncy ball, a present?
The curriculum is available on the Shop4-H.org website for $39.95. Videos were created to accompany the curriculum and are available on the eXtension website with the purchase of the curriculum. (Visit https://campus.extension.org/enrol/index.php?id=1839, create and account and use the enrollment code California to view the videos.)
The curriculum is available on the Shop4-H.org website for $39.95.
A three-page 4-H Mindfulness Project guide is available for free download. The guide is designed for 4-H Clubs, but it is useful for any teacher or leader to share the benefits of mindfulness. Some suggested activities include creating a portfolio of favorite places that help the participants feel relaxed, start a gratitude journal to document the things they are grateful for, explore food using all five senses or host a self-reflective nature walk in the local community.
The publication also suggests how youth can develop leadership skills related to the mindfulness project by becoming a Healthy Living Officer, a junior or teen leader for a mindfulness project and plan and prepare a mindfulness exercise for a community club meeting.
To learn more about the 4-H Youth Development program in local communities across California, see http://4h.ucanr.edu/
- Author: Claire B.
The California 4-H Mindfulness Retreat
by Claire B., Santa Rosa Valley 4-H
The California 4-H offers a Mindfulness Retreat each year in Cambria at Camp Ocean Pines. The goal of the retreat for members to develop their health and learn strategies to practice mindfulness.
This three-day retreat had us identify stressors with other 4-H youth in California. It is amazing to see how stressed we were and the commonalities among us all.
We participated in a variety of activities to reduce stress and learn mindfulness. We practiced mindful eating, creative outlets of using photographic paper with items from nature to make natural art, made bracelets and in the evening, and an astronomer helped us see another galaxy, which was one of my favorite activities.
My other favorite was doing yoga on the porch which overlooked a nature preserve and the sea.
The Mindfulness Retreat allows for bonding and making a lot of 4-H friends throughout California. It helps our leadership so that we can be a better advocate of healthy living in our community. Some apps that are useful for Mindfulness are Headspace, Calm, and Dreambox.
This retreat motivated me to attend Mindful Minutes in Delaware via Zoom while we were under quarantine. Mindful minutes is based on the GEM Curriculum (Getting Experience in Mindfulness). Participants had the option to become a Trainer of Trainers and I attended this multi-day Zoom training to better my practice. During our Covid-19 quarantine and throughout the changes in our state, mindfulness can help you.
Mindfulness is important so that you reduce stress and anxiety and it can also help in your leadership and in the workplace. If you have an opportunity to participate in mindful practice, you will see the benefits which will lead to clearer thinking, greater loyalty, larger service and better living.
- Author: Jada Ho
- Author: TJ Suit
- Author: Rose Fiorenza
- Author: Addyson Rubin
- View More...
REPOST - updated 9/23/2019
We asked teens who attended the 2017 Mindfulness Retreat: "What were the highlights of the Mindfulness Retreat for you? What did you learn from the retreat that would be useful for teens?"
Jada: The mindfulness retreat was refreshing for me to be able to worry about nothing but the present. I loved the morning yoga and and making collages. This weekend reminded me that I should stop and take a total break from everything more often, and that I don't have to constantly be accomplishing something. I learned that visualizing things, like the glitter in a moody jar, when I meditate or practice mindfulness helps me to focus.
TJ: Given the opportunity to focus on myself and the present for a weekend with no worries about the future was an amazing experience. I spent time learning more about myself, learning about others, and learning mindful tools to help me get through my everyday life. From meditating on the beach, tons of arts and crafts, hilarious skits, and meeting new friends, it was an experience I will remember for a very long time!
Rose: The mindfulness retreat was an enlightening experience that impacted me in so many ways. With all my college applications due, I've been extremely busy and extremely stressed. The retreat really opened my eyes to the impact that stress can make on my social, mental and emotional health. I was able to leave the retreat with mindfulness strategies that I now use to help me relieve stress, such as collaging, deep breathing, and journaling.
Addy: The mindfulness retreat was a great weekend for stressed teens and adults. It gave everyone some time to step back and live in the moment instead of being obsessed with future plans and responsibilities. The retreat provided everyone with helpful tools that will keep you on track, and keep your stress levels down. This retreat really opened my eyes to what meditation and mindful breathing is capable of and I now use these techniques as a daily stress reliever. This was an unforgettable experience that I would highly recommend people of all ages.
Join us this year!
Mindfulness Retreat
November 1-3, 2019
Camp Ocean Pines, Cambria, CA
A 4-H Healthy Living Program for youth age 13-19 and adults
Register online - Deadline is October 1, 2019
See our Event Calendar posting for more information.
/span>/h2>/h2>/h2>/h2>