Children and adults sitting in a circle during a Yoga Mouth session in a school gym

501(c)(3) · Essex, Maryland

Join the mindful
wellness revolution.

Yoga Mouth breaks barriers to access evidence-informed mindfulness, movement and social-emotional learning through diverse and innovative community public health programs.

Three ways in. Pick the one that sounds like you.

We are not here to replace schools, families, therapists or existing SEL systems. We strengthen the space between them.
What we mean by mindfulness

Paying attention
and meaning it.

Mindfulness is experiencing the world around you with intention. It’s paying attention and meaning it.

Mindfulness is a sensation of space and balance even under stress.

Mindfulness requires specialized training and discipline. Our community of professionals brings advanced education and specialized training in mindfulness, movement, education and mental health. Our trainings are centered on real-life issues and real solutions to real human needs for calm and feelings of safety. It has the potential to change your entire relationship to your mental health when practiced with joy and community.

The problem we're addressing

Knowing a strategy and using it under stress
are different skills.

  • Children are growing up in increasingly complex emotional, social and digital environments.
  • Families and schools are navigating chronic stress, community adversity, disability and neurodivergence, behavioral health needs, and barriers to timely clinical services.
  • Educators and caregivers have access to more SEL strategies than ever, but knowing strategies and being able to use them under stress are different skills.
  • Children need safe opportunities to repeatedly practice regulation, relationships, conflict, repair, stillness, movement and belonging.
  • Families need accessible non-clinical supports before, alongside and after clinical services.
Our systems

ABCDs build the capacities.
DEEP gives us a process for practicing them.

The ABCDs of Mindfulness

What we build

Awareness
Notice what’s happening.
Boundaries
Understand what you and others need.
Compassion
Stay connected without removing accountability.
Discipline
Choose intentional action, especially when it’s hard.

DEEP

How we practice

Define
What’s happening?
Explore
What can we learn about it?
Experiment
What can we try?
Practice
Repeat it until it becomes a usable skill.
Kids don't need another acronym. They need opportunities to practice being human.
What makes Yoga Mouth different
  • Community-based and school-based
  • Non-clinical and prevention-focused
  • Mindfulness and meditation as central practice, not occasional activity
  • Movement, play and relationship make SEL experiential
  • Programs intentionally include students with disabilities and high support needs
  • Adults practice regulation alongside children
  • Strong boundaries coexist with warmth and restorative accountability
  • Designed to complement existing school SEL systems, not compete with them
A group of children in gis lined up for a Yinjas class
Inclusive by design

Different brains. Different bodies.
Same right to belong.

Yinjas Across the Spectrum adapts mindful SEL and movement for students with disabilities and higher support needs, preserving participation, dignity, challenge and connection.

Disability inclusion is our specialty, not an accommodation we bolt on. We partner with the Maryland School for the Blind and the Down Syndrome Association of Maryland.

In schools For families
Connect, build, grow

We are community organizers.

We break barriers to access mindful wellbeing through a diverse system of evidence-informed public health practices. We are community organizers beside you, here to advocate when necessary and collaborate across our school system to bring kids back together, sharing hope and celebrating their potential.

  • Bring us to your school

    You identify the needs, we help build the experience. One partnership can cover several Community School priorities at once.

    For Community Schools

  • Practice with us

    Classes, memberships and family events run out of our community center at 431 Eastern Boulevard. Sliding scale, scholarships, no explanation required.

    Essex Kindness Club

  • Fund the work

    Not everything useful is money, but money buys scholarships. Partners and donors keep this free for the families who need it most.

    Partners & donors

Thank you for investing in our vision. Thank you for the continued collaboration and support.

Kindness is courageous

Practice it with us.

Mindfulness works through practice, and kids shouldn't have to practice alone. Essex Kindness Club is Yoga Mouth's community home: an inclusive space where kids and families can move, play, connect and belong.

Explore classes at the Club