Relevant scientific articles on mindfulness & yoga with youth:

Mendelson, T., Greenberg, M.T., Dariotis, J.K., Gould, L.F., Rhoades, & Leaf, P.J. (2010). Feasibility and preliminary outcomes of a school-based mindfulness intervention for urban youth.” Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 38 (7):985-94.

Zenner, C., Herrnleben-Kurz, S., & Walach, H. (2014). Mindfulness-based interventions in schools-A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 5.

Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Oberle, E., Lawlor, M. S., Abbott, D., Thomson, K., Oberlander, T. F., & Diamond, A. (2015). Enhancing cognitive and social-emotional development through a simple-to-administer mindfulness-based school program for elementary school children: a randomized controlled trial. Developmental Psychology, 51(1), 52–66

Dariotis, J. K., Cluxton-Keller, F., Mirabal-Beltran, R., Gould, L. F., Greenberg, M. T., & Mendelson, T. (2016). “The Program Affects Me Cause it Gives Away Stress”: Urban Students Qualitative Perspectives on Stress and a School-Based Mindful Yoga Intervention. The Journal of Science

In 2010, we facilitated our Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Curriculum in an urban setting during a resource time for 45 minutes, 4 days a week for 12 weeks.

Together with researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Penn State, we conducted the first randomized controlled trial done on mindfulness and yoga with urban children. 

The evaluation of our program consisting of teaching children mindfulness and yoga practices showed that implementing our curriculum into the school-context was attractive to students, teachers and school administrators. 

Positive effects were observed on problematic behaviors including rumination, intrusive thoughts and emotional arousal. 

A qualitative assessment with middle school students following our intervention showed experiences in improved impulse control and emotional regulation.

 In addition, neuroscientists have also explored how practicing mindfulness can potentially alter the brain. Most of the research has been done with adults at this moment. But we present to you here, what scholars have found so far: