It is late afternoon and 10 students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are sitting in a dark meeting room with their eyes closed, breathing slowly and letting their bellies go soft.
Within the circle, expert James Gordon leads them in the calming technique that uses mind over body to overcome trauma and stress. After a few minutes, the students open their eyes and exhale, ready for the mental health check-in they know comes next.
Gordon, a psychiatrist and founder of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, has spent the week in South Florida, training Broward County students, teachers and school psychologists to use meditation, imagery and movement to heal themselves as he has done in communities around the world recovering from the trauma of war or the aftermath of 9-11.
When he leaves, the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a school still grappling with mental health issues after a mass shooting that took 17 lives, will become “mind body ambassadors.” The students plan to roam the hallways in shirts that say “ASK ME!” to invite their peers to join the conversation and embrace this approach for dealing with their stresses.
The concept behind mind-body science is coping through skills that encourage self-awareness, self-care and group support.
“We are saying, ‘Here are tools that will be here for you when you need them,'” Gordon explains. Rather than telling the community the right way to grieve or cope, Gordon encourages individuals to use his healing techniques in their own time and their own way.
“We are starting to create a larger vision for the community of what’s possible,” he said.
For student Caroline Curtis, Gordon’s approach offers comfort. “I didn’t like when a therapist came into the class and was pushing us to talk. It felt like we were being invaded. I like the idea of mind-body medicine because I can do it when I want to or when I need it.”
Curtis’ history teacher recruited about 30 juniors at the Parkland high school to pioneer this effort to better handle the extreme stress and aftereffects of the mass shooting on Feb. 14, 2018. The students see the potential to help each other rather than turning to an adult to cope with their residual feelings of helplessness.
They also see the opportunity to bring the mind-body club to other schools where teens could apply the techniques to help with everything from stress over a test to major issues like thoughts of self-harm.
Mental health has become a crisis nationwide. In a high school class of 30, mental health statistics from the National Alliance on Mental Illness indicated at least six on average will have a mental health condition. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in people 10 to 24, and has been the cause of at least five deaths that have occurred in the last six months among teens in South Florida high schools.
“We definitely want to use the skills we’ve learned through this training to spread the word and build a strong foundation,” said Arthy Suresh, a student member of the Mind Body after-school club at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. “It’s nice to have it coming from peers who you trust.”
Gordon explained everyone has trauma. “Trauma is a part of life. People who are traumatized aren’t different from us. All of us need to learn how to understand ourselves and deal with trauma.” He also assured the students it was okay to observe rather than participate until they feel ready.
Chelsea Forrest said she already has benefited. After admitting to turning inward and suppressing her feelings last school year, Forrest said she will use imagery and soft-belly breathing to slow down her thoughts and “get out of my own head.”
While Parkland has become a focus for mental health initiatives, Broward County Schools has recognized the need more resources and approaches. Gordon and his Center for Mind-Body Medicine have trained more than 180 Broward County educators, parents and community members and 130 peer-counselors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, along with the group of student ambassadors.
A $1.2 million grant from The Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative had underwritten a yearlong program for Gordon’s center to provide the community with intensive wellness training. This week’s training, however, is the beginning of a new 15-month program paid for by the Broward County Public Schools and the Children Services Council.
For Joanne Wallace, a teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the wellness workshop from the Center for Mind-Body Medicine represents her third training experience. Wallace now hopes to share what she learned with other teachers and students, particularly at her school where she sees a need for recovery.
“Local therapists are overbooked; for many of us, our family doesn’t understand,” she said.
Wallace said the stories shared by attendees indicate a universal theme that many people outside of Parkland need some type of healing. “It’s empowering to feel there is something you can do to help yourself.” she said.
By the end of June, these student mind-body ambassadors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas will become certified from the Center for Mind Body Medicine to train others in the method.
Alexander James Miller is excited to get certified because he personally has found the techniques useful as an athlete dealing with pressure. Before his track meets, he takes a few deep breathes, shakes out his jitters and focuses on what he needs to accomplish. Now, he wants to give others the same tools.
“We only have two years left so we want to do as much as we can to leave a legacy to help others at the school,” Miller said.
Cindy Krischer Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4661, Twitter and Instagram @cindykgoodman
