Master of Mindfulness: How to Be Your Own Superhero in Times of Stress

Faster than a speeding spitball, more powerful than a playground bully, able to breeze through homework and finish nightly chores in a single bound, it’s Master of Mindfulness—here to conquer stress, worry, and any trouble that comes your way!

Do you ever feel angry, disappointed, or stressed out about family problems, school, bullies, or trouble with friends? If so, mindfulness can help. Master of Mindfulness is a unique and empowering book written for kids by kids, with cool illustrations and tips that show you how to be confident, get focused, stay calm, and tap into your own inner strength so that you can be your own superhero—no matter what life throws your way!

Childhood is supposed to be a carefree time, but the truth is that all kids have stress—especially when dealing with difficulties at school, at home, or with friends. Sometimes things happen in life that are hard, and you can’t stop thinking about them or you react too fast. You might be mad, sad, irritated, embarrassed, anxious, jealous, or even disappointed with yourself when things don’t go the way you would’ve hoped. And when you’re really upset, it’s hard to make good decisions—you may end up doing something that you regret later or that gets you into trouble. You could probably use some help—and fast!—but where can you turn? This book will give you the skills you need to bring up your own superpowers by showing you how mindfulness, like stopping to take a few deep, mindful breaths, can help you calm down and deal with things differently.

Written by Laurie Grossman, cofounder of Mindful Schools and director of program development at Inner Explorer, and Mr. Musumeci’s fifth grade class at Reach Academy in Oakland, California, Master of Mindfulness presents helpful practices—mindful activities proven to make it easier to pay attention, accept yourself and others, manage your anger, and even get to sleep at night. The book features cool, mixed media illustrations with real kids’ drawings and stories about how mindfulness can help in different stressful situations. It even covers some of the brain science behind why mindfulness helps kids to feel better, stay in the present moment, be kind, and make good decisions. The book includes easy and fun practices, like mindful breathing, noticing your feelings, paying attention to your body, and mindful eating, as well as links to engaging audio recordings produced by Mr. Musumeci’s students. And once you become a master of mindfulness, you can help others by sharing your superpower and teaching them how to do it, too—your parents, your teachers, and your friends.

When things go wrong, or when you have scary thoughts or strong feelings, you may need help to sort it all out, no matter how old you are. Learning and practicing mindfulness can make it easier to deal with the issues you face every day by showing you how to tap into your own inner strength in times of stress. So, why not use mindfulness and start being your own superhero today?

Laurie Grossman, one of the founders of the mindfulness in education movement, has been an activist since 1975. She believes that mindfulness in schools is the tool most likely to help achieve social justice. Over the last two decades, she started two innovative programs: one that created partnerships between private and public schools, and one that brought mindfulness into schools. In 2007, as part of Park Day School’s Community Outreach Program, she and two colleagues launched a pilot program of mindfulness in an Oakland, CA, elementary school that was covered in The New York Times and on NBC. Grossman is cofounder of Mindful Schools, now one of the largest mindfulness-in-education programs in the world. She currently works with Inner Explorer, an organization focused on bringing daily mindfulness practices into schools to improve educational outcomes and the well-being of children and teachers. She is passionate about Inner Explorer because the organization has made mindfulness scalable, providing easy and immediate access to every K–12 classroom, anywhere, anytime.

Mr. Musumeci has spent two decades teaching, caring, and advocating for children in New York, NY, and Oakland, CA. As teacher at Reach Academy in East Oakland since 2009, he has been a proponent of mindfulness, and was delighted when one of his students suggested the class create a mindfulness superhero. His class was comprised of twenty-six wonderful, lively, and smart fifth graders who love mindfulness. Reach Academy is a transitional K–5 school where the vast majority of students are on free and reduced lunch, and 99 percent of the students are children of color. Mr. Musumeci’s 5th Grade Class is excited to publish a book of their own about mindfulness for other kids because they have benefitted so much from the practice.
 
Designer Angelina Alvarez holds a degree in photography from the San Francisco Art Institute. She believes that every child should have the opportunity to grow up with a foundation of mindfulness practice. Alvarez works with Mindful Life Project in Richmond, CA, a nonprofit organization that teaches mindfulness, yoga, therapeutic art, and hip-hop/performing arts to elementary school students in underserved communities.

Foreword writer Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, is internationally known for his work as a scientist, writer, and meditation teacher engaged in bringing mindfulness into the mainstream of medicine and society. He is professor of medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and author of numerous books, including Full Catastrophe Living, Arriving at Your Own Door, and Coming to Our Senses.