Beth Bentley
Corning, New York
I sought out Breath-Body-Mind training to dovetail with my training in teaching mindful awareness and meditation. Somatic practices are potent in grounding and healing; this seems especially true for young adults. BBM brings together easy to learn, powerful practices that I am eager to share.
For the past 20 years, I’ve worked as a literacy specialist in a community college, primarily with populations that have been marginalized and socially disadvantaged. In the time, I witnessed increasing numbers of young people entering college with diagnosed anxiety disorders or depression, starting as early as middle school. I soon realized that before being successful academically, students need to be more at home in their body, mind and hearts. Consequently, I began integrating my own mindful meditation practice into my professional life. I completed an intensive teacher training program with Inward Bound Mindfulness Education program (iBme) and became certified to teach mindfulness to adolescents in 2018. Since then, I’ve taught mindfulness to high school students in an alternative high school setting and to college students in wellness classes, as well as incorporating mindfulness into basic English courses. In each case, it has supported students’ self-awareness and self-regulation. Currently, I am to launch Kinder Minds, a consulting business to teach mindful awareness practices in schools, non-profit agencies, wellness centers, and individual clients.
My primary interests include building resilience and capacity for self-regulation, emotional regulation, stress reduction, and relational mindfulness—empathetic listening and kind speech. In addition, I emphasize heart practices: kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy. My true aim is to reduce suffering and increase connectedness & simple joy.