Tier 1: Universal
Yinjas School-Based SEL
Experiential mindfulness, movement, meditation, emotional awareness, relationships and self-regulation.
Community Schools
You already have SEL. We help make it usable.
Yoga Mouth partners with Community Schools to provide experiential mindfulness, movement, SEL, family engagement and professional development for students, staff and families, designed to complement existing BCPS structures, not create another system to manage.
Our 2026–27 mission
Hi Community School super heroes!
We are so excited to start collaborating with your community.
Your support of Essex and Dundalk families at the most inclusive and compassionate levels is what allows our work to grow and connect with so many friends and neighbors. Your care and intention in creating meaning for families in a system that often feels like a grinding, impersonal machine is making a difference.
We see the changes out here happening bit by bit.
- We see a BCPS school community forming across networks and boundaries.
- We see innovators and dreamers and fierce advocates and social justice warriors in every school.
- We see amazing kids, engaged parents, and growing trust between families and schools at every level.
It sometimes feels so heavy or hopeless, but if we continue to connect and collaborate, Yoga Mouth is committed to serving our schools as they become a huge, aligned beacon of hope for our whole region. Our communities can set the precedent for how a compassionate community is built and sustained regardless of resources or trauma.
A calm mind is a strong mind
The Yoga Mouth Life Support System, in your school.
The Yoga Mouth Life Support System trains young people in self-regulation, awareness and connection to community through evidence-informed, trauma-informed mindful awareness practices.
Students learn through interactive and experiential activities, discussions and feedback, which lets our coaches build a custom experience for each group. We introduce breathing, mindful movement and practical meditation techniques students can use in real time. Students learn to recognize what they feel in their bodies, advocate for themselves with confidence and clearly express their emotional needs.
Assessment runs all the way through. Participants assess themselves and one another through quizzes, games and interactive projects that track awareness and mindful science knowledge.
The system and the science behind itChoose your programs
Four steps to being a practitioner and a leader in mindful mental wellness
Become a Yoga Mouth Life Guard.
It takes a village, and we are here to help you support yours. Life Guard certificates of completion run across four levels, each assessed using our four pillars of awareness.
- Level 1 Assessed at week 6
- Level 2 Assessed at week 12
- Level 3 Assessed at week 18
- Level 4 Assessed at week 24
- Mastery 24+ weeks, all four levels complete
Levels are assessed every six weeks for progress.
Every program connects people to community.
Every participant receives a Yoga Mouth Mindful Toolkit with interactive materials for continued study and practice, and opportunities to connect with our community center in Essex. The Essex Kindness Club connects families with community, mental wellness services and family-engagement activities that support joy and well-being across our diverse community.
Free handout
ABCD + DEEP, on one page.
The one-page guide to the Yoga Mouth Life Support System: the four ABCDs of mindful awareness, the four steps of DEEP, and the questions we ask at each one. Made for classrooms, staff rooms and kitchen tables.
Built to fit Community Schools
One partnership. Multiple school priorities.
BCPS Community Schools use research-based strategies across six interconnected areas. Yoga Mouth programming can support multiple Community School priorities through a single partnership.
- Student Wellness
- Social-Emotional Learning
- School Climate
- Behavior + Engagement
- Belonging
- Family Engagement
- Expanded Learning Opportunities
- Disability Inclusion
- Staff Professional Development
- Community Partnerships
- MTSS Tier 1 + Tier 2 Supports
Culture of belonging, safety + care
Students practice:
- emotional and physical awareness
- self-regulation
- healthy boundaries
- relationship skills
- conflict and repair
- compassion and accountability
- mindfulness and stress-management strategies
- connection with trusted adults and peers
Our goal is to create spaces where students feel safe enough to participate, connected enough to belong, and supported enough to practice difficult skills.
Supporting BCPS MTSS
Tier 1 and Tier 2, intentionally non-clinical.
BCPS defines Tier 1 SEL around students' ability to understand and manage emotions, develop empathy, establish positive relationships and make responsible decisions. Yoga Mouth makes those concepts experiential.
Tier 1
Universal prevention + skill building
Community-building, mindful SEL, movement, meditation and shared regulation skills for broad student populations.
Tier 2
Targeted small-group practice
Additional practice in regulation, relationships, engagement and restorative skills for students who need more repetitions.
Disability-inclusive
Yinjas Across the Spectrum
Adapted mindful SEL and movement for students with disabilities and higher support needs, maintaining meaningful participation, challenge, connection and belonging.
mindfulness movement meditation relationships repeated practice
School climate + behavior
We don't replace your behavior system.
We help students and adults develop the skills needed to use it.
Yoga Mouth supports Schoolwide Positive Behavior Plan priorities through a relationship-centerd approach that combines clear expectations, strong boundaries, mindful awareness, restorative accountability and repeated opportunities to practice regulation.
Expanded + enriched learning
Programming during and beyond the instructional day
- before-school programming
- school-day SEL
- small groups
- enrichment
- after-school programming
- summer programming
- assemblies
- family events
- community-based programming
Programs Community Schools can order
The menu
Disability-inclusive
Yinjas Across the Spectrum
Adaptive mindful SEL designed for meaningful participation by students with disabilities and higher support needs.
Tier 2: Targeted
Targeted Small-Group Mindful SEL
Additional practice for students needing greater support with regulation, engagement, relationships and restorative skills.
Student leaders
Life Guard Training
A 6–8 week program for school clubs and student leaders. Students learn the Yoga Mouth Life Support System and earn a Level 1 certificate of completion.
Before school
Yinja AM
Before-school mindful movement, regulation, connection and readiness for the school day.
Family engagement
Family SEL Experiences
Interactive programming that lets students and caregivers build shared language and practice regulation together.
Large group
Assemblies + Community Events
Large-group experiential programming combining movement, mindfulness, community-building and practical SEL.
Staff development
Educator Professional Development
Experiential training in co-regulation, mindful SEL, DEEP + ABCDs, trauma-informed awareness and practical classroom implementation.
Every aspect of our programming is customizable for any grade level and any physical ability.
Collaborative partnership
Every Community School is different.
Programming can be adapted around:
- Community School needs assessments
- School Progress Plan priorities
- existing SEL initiatives
- student populations
- disability and accessibility needs
- family-engagement goals
- school climate priorities
- available schedules and funding
- existing community partnerships
We collaborate with Community School Facilitators, administrators, educators, families and school teams to identify where Yoga Mouth can add capacity without duplicating work already happening.
Watch · 6 min · Kristi JenkinsThe system behind the programming, for educators Your community center
The Essex Kindness Club
As a Yoga Mouth partner, you have access to our nonprofit community center, The Essex Kindness Club, at 431 Eastern Blvd. in Essex. Our space includes an art studio, mindful movement studio, matted gym, and social/event spaces.
We want to help you take Community Schools work beyond the school building. Bring us ideas. Our team can help build, staff, and pilot community-based programming, and we may be able to use our own nonprofit funding to offset costs when programs are developed with us at the center.
This is a place to try new things together — parties, fitness, family events, mental wellness programs and ideas we haven't thought of yet — and learn what works before bringing successful programs back into schools in bigger ways.
Passion, partnership and purpose
We are community organizers beside you.
Our supports can extend to healing communities at the basic levels of feeling human again. That is something every school can build. It costs families nothing and gives them access to hope and unwavering inner strength to live and grow in places that often face intense community challenges.
We are watching kids and families, step by step, get access to services that connect them back to the basic human principles of play and courage, conversations and connection, instead of screen overstimulation and cancel culture inundating their childhoods.
We are here to advocate when necessary and collaborate across our school system to bring kids back together, sharing hope and celebrating their potential.
Thank you for investing in our vision. Thank you for the continued collaboration and support.
We are so excited to see you all again!
You identify the needs.
We help build the experience.
Questions about programs, pricing or consulting on wellness initiatives? Email us or call Kristi directly.