Awake Youth Project is a secular program that brings mindfulness and meditation to underserved high schools throughout Brooklyn. We work in close partnership with the Department of Education and our non-profit partners. Our instructors have worked in schools throughout the borough of Brooklyn and have brought mindfulness practice to thousands of students.

The AYP program includes school-based meditation groups that meet voluntarily after school, peer-to-peer training, emotional intelligence instruction, alternative-to-suspension groups, as well as staff development and meditation groups for educators. We also work with other non-profits to bring mindfulness practices to the teens they serve.

The teen meditation program at Brooklyn Zen Center was started initially by Awake Youth Project participants in our peer-to-peer training program. The purpose of the group was to provide an opportunity for all teens in Brooklyn interested in mindfulness and meditation to come together in community. We meditate together, investigate emotional and social issues, and study mindfulness in all aspects of life. We also cook, explore movement and dance, write and create art together. We do this through after-school drop-in sessions, Spring internships, and peer-to-peer training programs during the school year.

For more information or to get involved, please visit awakeyouth.org