I knew most of them didn’t want to be there.

16 teens from sophomore to senior piled into our UCLA classroom for a MARC Teen Day of Mindfulness. In about 14 of the cases, a parent or teacher had made them come. We had kids from LAUSD schools, some from the private schools, and one home-schooled boy. We had tattoos, piercings, glam makeup, concert tee-shirts, kids of all backgrounds, races, sexual orientations, and a general feeling of wariness and mistrust. Nervous giggling abounded.

“Hi Guys, Marv, Tempel and I will be teaching you how to be mindful. You know, in the present moment. Most of the time we’re lost in thoughts of past and future and that makes us really stressed out. Mindfulness is about being present, not lost or on automatic pilot.

Today we’re going to learn how to be mindful sitting, walking, eating, even talking to each other. I hope it helps you understand a little more about yourself and helps you with things like being stressed, anxious, sad, or angry. It might help you feel better, concentrate, and be less judgmental of yourself. It may sound kind of boring at first, but give it a try. Please turn off your cell phones… I mean it. Anybody want to say why they’re here?”

One tall boy with a baseball cap responded, “I thought it might help with concentration at school.”

An 18 year old young woman said, “My emotions are always out of control. Maybe this can help.”

And another, “My mom made me.”

We started the day with some getting to know you games. After we relaxed a little bit, we told them we’d do some meditation, some hanging out, some games, and some talking about things that were important to them.

Our first meditation sitting was 15 minutes and lots of them wriggled and yawned and a few refused to close their eyes and giggled significantly.

“It’s fine, guys, just connect with feeling your breath in your abdomen or chest or nostrils. If you find yourself thinking a lot, no problem. That’s what our minds do, they think. But we can train them to be more present. Notice when you’re lost in thought and then come right back to your breath.”

“How did it go?” I asked at the end.

“I fell asleep” “Me too!” “Oh yeah, nap time.”

“I feel more peaceful, actually.” “Me too.”

“Something cool happened,” one 17 year old boy announced softly.

“What?”

“I have been really upset since my girlfriend broke up with me this week. I noticed that if I just focused on my breath, I didn’t have to think about her. Every time my thoughts went there, I just returned to my breath. I felt less messed up than I have all week. That’s amazing.”

I didn’t make this up.

From there we struggled with corralling them into walking meditation, a blindfolded trust walk outdoors, another sitting meditation, and eating lunch meditation.

At lunch most of the group sat together. They bonded. By 2PM they were exchanging text messages from across the room and planning to go to each other’s birthday parties.

Many of them struggled, especially when we guided them through a sit-walk-sit period of almost at hour in silence. They loved the outdoor yoga class, rebelled occasionally against too much silence, and slowly seemed to grow happier and happier.

Sure a few of them hated it. The same thing happens when I teach adults. Some love it, some don’t. One boy called his mom to pick him up. Another sat there staring into space all day. We don’t have a huge agenda that these kids will love the practice. We let them be wherever they are.

We closed with a council (http://ojaifoundation.org/Content/council_intro.php)

—the talking stick circle practice, where they were encouraged to speak authentically from the heart. “What are you struggling with right now?” and “What are you excited about in your life?”

I was amazed by their honesty and vulnerability. They shared everything from fears about going to college, to struggles with their boy or girlfriends, to challenges of race in America.

We had spent the day creating a spiritual community. Most of them wanted more. From coming in wary, bored, angry, and combative, the power of mindfulness transformed them. Sure it may have been just one day. But who knows the power of planting seeds.

When they filled out the evaluation, one boy said, “This says ‘Did this class meet my expectations?’ Should I give it a ‘one,’ because my expectations were so low?—I thought it would be whack, but in the end, wow, mindfulness is cool.”

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