If You've Ever Doubted Whether Meditation Works, Listen to This Story | Ali Smith, Atman Smith, and Andres Gonzalez
Ali Smith, Atman Smith, and Andres Gonzalez of the Holistic Life Foundation discuss their work teaching yoga and meditation to traumatized children in Baltimore. They share insights on self-love, thought management, mindful breathing, and the power of empowering communities to heal themselves.
Deep Dive Analysis
19 Topic Outline
Introduction to Holistic Life Foundation's Work
The Founders' Upbringing and Early Influences
College Years and Discovery of Deeper Practice
Committing to the Mission and Early Challenges
Targeting the Most Challenging Students
Introducing Yoga and Meditation to Traumatized Youth
Overcoming Challenges and the Power of Love
Redefining Love as Strength
Personal Motivations for Helping Troubled Youth
Quantifiable Results of Mindful Moment Program
Scientific Validation of Program Effectiveness
Janana Yoga: The Yoga of Thoughts
Bhakti Yoga: The Yoga of Devotion and Respect
The Importance of Breath Awareness
Practical Breathing Techniques for Control
Cultivating Self-Love and Inner Light
Practices for Accessing Inner Light
Guidance for Working with Underserved Communities
Future Vision for Holistic Life Foundation
6 Key Concepts
Janana Yoga
This is the yoga of knowledge and thoughts, which involves becoming aware of your thoughts, reflecting on their origins, and then consciously choosing to transform negative thoughts into positive ones. This practice aims to change the energy you put out into the world and how you treat yourself and others.
Bhakti Yoga
Known as the yoga of devotion, this practice emphasizes 'respect,' which means to 'look again' past someone's physical appearance or initial impression to see their inner light and the underlying unity shared between all beings. It helps individuals rise above lower emotions and respond to situations with love and a higher fashion.
Inner Light (Yoga Philosophy)
In yoga philosophy, the physical body is considered a vessel, and your true self is a spiritual being, the light of the universe. Connecting to this inner light is crucial for fostering self-love, as it allows individuals to understand their true nature beyond ego and negative self-talk, enabling them to radiate love outward.
Pratyahara
This is the first stage of meditation in yoga, meaning the withdrawal of the senses. It is a practice of intentionally wrangling your external senses and pulling your focus inward to concentrate on internal experiences, such as visualizing and feeling your inner light.
Mindful Moment Program
This is a school-based initiative where students experiencing a crisis are either referred by staff or self-refer to a dedicated room. Trained staff use active listening, breath work, meditation, and mindfulness practices for 15-20 minutes to help students re-center themselves before returning to class.
Respect (Etymology)
The word 'respect' is broken down as 're' meaning again, and 'spectacles' meaning to look. This etymology is used to explain the practice of looking beyond initial perceptions or negative appearances to see deeper, particularly the inner light and shared humanity in others.
7 Questions Answered
Ali and Atman grew up in Baltimore with parents who introduced them to meditation and a holistic lifestyle. Later, with college friend Andy, they deepened their practice with their godfather, Uncle Will, who taught them yoga and meditation, leading them to apply these practices to help traumatized children in their underserved community.
Initially, the founders 'tricked' the kids by offering fun activities like basketball and swimming, then introduced yoga mats in a dance studio. Due to the positive influence and the practical benefits the kids felt from the practices, they became receptive and embraced the approach.
Yes, the program has shown drastic reductions in suspension numbers in participating schools, with one school reporting no suspensions for eight years and another seeing a drop from 171 to under 10 suspensions within two years, as students learn to identify stressors and use practices to re-center themselves in real-time.
Yes, Johns Hopkins and Penn State conducted the first randomized control study on the effectiveness of yoga and mindfulness on urban youth, finding increased lung capacity, improved ability to deal with stressful situations, and reduced perceived stress among participants.
Focus on breathing in and out exclusively through your nose, utilizing diaphragmatic breathing to fill the lower lungs (making your belly expand), and making the breath audible (like Ujjayi or 'stress breath') to stimulate the vagus nerve, which enhances mind-body connection and promotes calmness through long, slow breaths.
A starting practice is Pratyahara, the withdrawal of senses, where you use a mantra like OM, silently repeating it while visualizing a light at your heart center with your mind's eye, and trying to feel its energy or vibration. For those with less vivid imagination, looking at a cell phone flashlight and then closing your eyes to hold that image can help.
They advise against adopting a 'savior complex,' emphasizing that the goal is not to 'save' people but to empower children to help themselves. True, lasting change comes from empowering individuals with practices and knowledge so they become self-sufficient and can even teach others.
13 Actionable Insights
1. Connect to Your Inner Light
Understand your true self as a spiritual being, the ’light of the universe,’ not just your physical body or negative self-talk. Practice mantra meditation (like OM) and visualize a light at your heart center to feel its energy and vibration, which helps you love yourself and others. If visualization is difficult, use a cell phone flashlight, look at it, then close your eyes and hold the image at your heart center.
2. Practice Bhakti Yoga (Respect)
When encountering someone who triggers negative feelings, ’look again’ beyond their physical appearance or actions to see their inner light, which is the same as yours. Intentionally send love and light to them to evict negative thoughts from your mind and respond from a higher place, rather than giving in to lower emotions.
3. Manage Your Thoughts (Janana Yoga)
Become aware of your thoughts, inner dialogue, and how you treat yourself. Reflect on where negative thoughts originate (their root emotion or interaction), and actively choose to switch them to positive ones, putting out positive energy instead of letting negativity dominate your day.
4. Master Your Breath for Calm
Pay attention to your breath to recognize when you’re stressed or off-balance. Always breathe in and out through your nose, using diaphragmatic breathing to fill your lower lungs, and make your breath audible (Ujjayi or ‘stress breath’) to stimulate the vagus nerve, connect mind and body, and bring yourself back to the present moment with long, slow breaths.
5. Empower, Don’t Save Others
When working with underserved communities or individuals, drop the ‘savior complex.’ Focus on empowering people to help themselves by teaching practices they can use and share, rather than fostering dependence or needing you for anything.
6. Implement Mindful Moment Program
For children in crisis, provide a dedicated school space where staff offer active listening, mirroring, breath work, meditation, and mindfulness practices for 15-20 minutes to help them re-center and return to class. This teaches kids to recognize stressors and use practices in real-time, significantly reducing suspensions.
7. Engage Reluctant Learners Creatively
To introduce practices like yoga and meditation to skeptical or challenging individuals, initially offer appealing activities (e.g., basketball, swimming) and then introduce the new practices in a fun, entertaining, and challenging way, explaining their practical benefits for energy, sports, and mental calm.
8. Expose Children to New Worlds
Make conscious efforts to expose children to different environments and experiences, such as driving past affluent neighborhoods or taking vacations, even if it requires extra effort or financial stretch, to broaden their perspectives and aspirations beyond their immediate surroundings.
9. Seek Spiritual Mentors
Actively seek out wise and caring spiritual mentors who can introduce you to contemplative practices and provide guidance on life’s purpose, even if you initially resist their teachings or don’t fully understand their value.
10. Build Homegrown Community Solutions
When implementing programs in communities, prioritize training and empowering local community members to deliver the programs with their own cultural spin, fostering sustainability, creating local jobs, and ensuring solutions are deeply integrated within the community.
11. Practice Mental Toughness
Engage in challenging physical activities or workouts, even in difficult conditions, to build mental toughness and resilience, pushing past comfort zones to strengthen your resolve.
12. Embody and Show Love
Treat yourself and others with love, as love is a powerful force. By embodying love in your interactions, you help others connect to themselves and foster self-love, which can ripple outward to improve relationships and community well-being.
13. Start and End Day in Light
Begin your day connected to your true self or inner light to establish a strong base and function from the inside out. End your day by burning off all the external negativity in the light, allowing for more peaceful sleep.
7 Key Quotes
If your students aren't laughing, then you ain't doing shit basically.
Atman Smith
We haven't saved zero kids. What we do is we empower kids to save themselves.
Ali Smith
Yoga isn't something you do, it's something you are.
Uncle Will (as quoted by Andy Gonzalez)
You have to see light in yourself before you can see it in anybody else.
Uncle Will (as quoted by Ali Smith)
The past causes anger. The future causes anxiety. But the present is the only time that exists.
Uncle Will (as quoted by Andy Gonzalez)
The best solutions are homegrown solutions.
Atman Smith
Don't be Philip Drummond. Like you're not going to save everybody.
Ali Smith
5 Protocols
Mindful Moment Program (for students in crisis)
Ali Smith- A child in crisis is either referred by staff or self-refers to the Mindful Moment room.
- Staff engage in active listening and mirroring with the child.
- The child practices breath work, meditation, and mindfulness techniques.
- After 15 to 20 minutes, the child is sent back to class, re-centered and ready to continue their day.
Janana Yoga (Yoga of Thoughts) Practice
Ali Smith- Become aware of your thoughts and inner dialogue, recognizing any negative patterns.
- Reflect on where those thoughts are coming from (their root emotion or interaction).
- Consciously choose to switch the negative thought to something positive, thereby sending positive energy out.
Bhakti Yoga (Yoga of Devotion / 'Respect') Practice
Atman Smith- When encountering someone who causes friction or negative feelings, initially observe your reaction.
- Consciously 'look again' past their physical appearance or actions.
- Focus on seeing their inner light, recognizing it as the same light within yourself, and send them love.
Basic Proper Breathing Technique
Andy Gonzalez- Breathe in and out exclusively through your nose.
- Utilize diaphragmatic breathing, focusing on filling the lower lungs (making your belly expand).
- Make the breath audible (e.g., Ujjayi or 'stress breath') to stimulate the vagus nerve and enhance mind-body connection.
- Aim for nice, long, and slow breaths to still yourself and bring you into the present moment.
Visualizing Inner Light (for beginners)
Atman Smith- If you struggle with vivid imagination, turn on the flashlight on your cell phone and look at it for a few seconds.
- Close your eyes and, using your mind's eye, visualize that light at your heart center.
- Hold that image of the light for as long as you can.
- If the image fades, repeat the previous steps (looking at the flashlight, then closing eyes to visualize).