Linda Yaron Weston - Mindfulness for Young Adults: Tools to Thrive in School and Life

Essential reading for students and educators alike! Trainings in mindful presence are the hope for our next generation and for the healing of our world.

Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance and Radical Compassion

This beautifully structured, practical, and comprehensive book brings mindfulness to the college-aged population and the adults who work with them. Whether you are a young adult or an educator trying to introduce mindfulness into your classroom, this book is sure to serve as a thorough and relevant guide to the power of mindfulness practice.

Diana Winston, director of Mindfulness Education at UCLAs Mindful Awareness Research Center and author of The Little Book of Being

In this engaging and accessible approach to well-being, Linda Yaron Weston beautifully combines her expertise in mindfulness and education. She invites us into the present moment and captures the essence of mindfulness with fresh and interactive practices that build on one another. This is an important book for young adults who need a strong foundation to thrive. Highly recommended for students and the schools and organizations that serve them.

Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO, Thrive Global

Taking better care of ourselves, our families, and our communities is ever more critical for our nations students, especially now. Linda Yaron Weston gives us fascinating insights into the science and practice of mindfulness with evidence-based lessons for teachers and students drawn from the neuro, social, physiological, and psychological sciences. This book makes the powerful case that mindful learning enables higher and deeper levels of students academic and personal success, outcomes that we wish for each of our students.

Dr. Martha J. Kanter, CEO of College Promise in Washington, DC and the former U.S. Under Secretary of Education for the Obama administration

Linda Yaron Weston supplies us with a comprehensive program to help bring mindfulness to the classroom. In Mindfulness for Young Adults, she pairs mindfulness tools with day to day scenarios, offering students techniques to promote thriving in the classroom and in life. The course design provides avenues for deepening personal connections, maneuvering through emotions and supporting intellectual growth. This work will be of benefit to educational systems, teachers and students.

Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness and Real Change

Linda Yaron Westons work is an essential offering for the well-being of our young people and the health of our future. Mindfulness for Young Adults: Tools to Thrive in School and Life offers practical strategies in a comprehensive, interactive program to help calm the body, relax the nervous system, and create conditions for optimal healing, learning, and thriving. As our young people learn to care for themselves in this way, it does not only impact themit impacts the health and well-being of our entire society. Thank you, Linda, for your expertise and passion.

Jillian Pransky, author of Deep Listening: Practices to Calm Your Body, Clear Your Mind, And Open Your Heart

This book taught me so many important lessons and techniques that have helped me learn and incorporate mindfulness into my everyday life. Cultivating mindfulness has shifted my mindset from one of fear and anxiety, to one of acceptance and gratitude. It has truly changed my life and has pushed me to evolve into a much more confident, compassionate, and positive person.

Jacqueline Berliner, USC undergraduate class of 20

Linda Yaron Weston teaches at the University of Southern California. Blending her expertise in mindfulness and education, she developed their introductory mindfulness course. She is a National Board Certified Teacher with a dual M.Ed.

Mindfulness for Young Adults

Mindfulness for Young Adults: Tools to Thrive in School and Life is an interactive experience designed to enhance mindful awareness and to aid in teaching and learning the principles and practice of mindfulness.

Blending theory, research, and practice to offer a comprehensive program for young adults to build well-being tools, each of the books five modules includes engaging information, strategies, meditations, and activities designed to deepen understanding and application of mindfulness. It includes practical techniques to cope with emotions, work with thoughts, navigate stress, build resilience, make aligned choices, and be more present in life and relationships. In addition to the reflection and meditation activities found at the end of each module, the text also features a resources section complete with a mock exam, tips for course design, and resources for further study.

Designed for both students and teachers, this workbook can be used independently or in the classroom as either a textbook to an introductory mindfulness course or as a supplement for teaching well-being practices in any discipline.

Linda Yaron Weston teaches at the University of Southern California. Blending her expertise in mindfulness and education, she developed their introductory mindfulness course. She is a National Board Certified Teacher with a dual M.Ed.

Mindfulness for Young Adults

Tools to Thrive in School and Life

Linda Yaron Weston

First published 2021
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017

and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2021 Linda Yaron Weston

The right of Linda Yaron Weston to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Yaron Weston, Linda, author.
Title: Mindfulness for young adults: tools to thrive in school and life/LindaYaron Weston.
Description: New York, NY: Routledge, 2021. | Includes bibliographicalreferences and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020031131 (print) | LCCN 2020031132 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367615857 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367615833 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003105626 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. | Mindfulness (Psychology)
Classification: LCC RC489.M55 Y37 2021 (print) | LCC RC489.M55 (ebook) | DDC 616.89/1425dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031131
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031132

ISBN: 978-0-367-61585-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-61583-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-10562-6 (ebk)

Typeset in Times
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India

For Dave

For Ima

For my students

Contents

Photograph by Zvia Yaron, zll

Linda Yaron Weston has the unique perspective of having taught both academic and well-being courses at the high school and university level. She lectures at the University of Southern California, where she developed and teaches the introductory mindfulness course. She holds dual M.Ed degrees from UCLA, B.A. degrees in human development and literatures of the world from UC San Diego, national board certification in English language arts, and California teaching credentials in physical education and health. She is certified in mindfulness facilitation through the UCLAs Mindful Awareness Research Center and is a certified yoga teacher (E-RYT 500) with specialty training in yoga therapy and restorative yoga. Her expertise in education, human development, meditation, yoga, and literature contribute to an integrative, interdisciplinary approach to mindfulness that blends theory, research, and practice. Through her career, she has worked to increase opportunities for students to thrive, particularly around the areas of mental and physical health, equity and access, and school and community partnerships. As a public high school English teacher, she designed and led real-world learning experiences, including a student art exhibition and presentation at the Department of Education in Washington, D.C. and a student photography exhibition on self-portraiture in partnership with The Getty Center and 826LA. She served as a U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellow as well as in the Fulbright Hays Seminars Abroad Program and U.S. State Department Teachers for Global Classrooms Program.