Over the past few months, we’ve had the joy of seeing what YOU have been doing with movemindfully and I Am Safe in your schools, hospitals, and communities—and it is truly inspiring.
In I Am Safe, the final chapter is titled “The Beginning.” That’s because this work doesn’t end with a book or training. It begins with YOU—your creativity, your relationships, your communities, and the way you bring these practices to life in your environments.
Mind-body practices grow stronger, more relevant, and more impactful when you adapt them and make them your own.
Here is just one example of the powerful ways you are integrating this work:
A Community Story: Stretching into Listening
At a movemindfully Develop-approved training for early educators at the Catholic Schools Center of Excellence (CSCOE), community member Renee Schwind stood up and shared how she uses movemindfully practices with her youngest learners.
“When they are lining up, I have them stretch with me,” she said. “And by the time we are done, everyone is listening.”
Here’s the simple sequence she shared—one that blends movement, imagination, connection, and regulation:
- Ask children to become very quiet, like a Seed.
- Invite the seed to stretch and grow into something new—like a Tree.
- Once they are standing tall, reflect: “Your tree trunk is so strong!”
- Encourage them to let their “branches” and bodies sway and blow in the wind.
By the end of this playful movement story, children are more connected and ready for what comes next.
Renee lets the children get creative—sometimes they become cocoons turning into butterflies, sometimes even silly monkeys stretching. This is movemindfully at its best: regulation with imagination, language development, and relationship-building.
Visuals + Connection = Engagement and Joy!
Renee shared that visuals are essential for her early learners. She loves the movemindfully Early Childhood Card Deck—and some schools take photos of their own students in these moves to create personalized images.
She also practices Fingertip Breathing with her learners, inviting them to “take a breath as big as your body!”—which sparks curiosity, embodiment, and joy.
The added benefit of integrating these practices with young learners? Renee is moving and playing with the children, getting a much needed stretch and laugh in the midst of her busy day!
This Is What Makes Community Mental Health Work
Hearing Renee share her approach reminded me how much richer and more powerful this work becomes when educators, therapists, and caregivers integrate mind-body strategies throughout the day with their students in their own voice.
I left that session filled with gratitude—for Renee and everyone using mind-body practices to strengthen community mental health.
YOU are the reason this work matters. YOU are the reason it grows. Thank you for bringing this work into your community.
The movemindfully team is so grateful for the ways you continue to share this work in your classrooms, programs, and homes.
If you’d like to learn more about movemindfully for early education—or if your educators need Develop-approved courses—we offer two trainings available in-person or virtually. We’d love to support the meaningful work you are already doing.