About Us
The NYCDOE
Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher Preparation Program
YMTP²
.
Our Mission:
By 2030 every New York City Department of Education public school will have certified yoga and mindfulness teachers.
Our Vision:
Schools are psychologically safe places in which Mindful Behavior(ism) becomes the organizing construct for all members of the school community. The practice of Mindful Behavior(ism) provides individuals the opportunity to develop lifelong emotional management skills in a self-affirming manner. Embodying the strategies of Mindful Behavior(ism) can support an individual as they navigate through both the calm and the chaos of life gracefully.
Our Story
The Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher Preparation Program (YMTP²) was created by a group of New York City Department of Education educators as the nation’s first Yoga Alliance certified yoga and mindfulness school owned by a local education agency through the NYCDOE.
We constructed the theory of Mindful Behavior(ism) in the summer of 2018 to answer the essential question: How might each individual who enters a schoolhouse everyday choose to behave in a manner that affirms the humanity of each being?
Our first cohort that graduated and was certified as yoga and mindfulness instructors in December 2019 was comprised of a diverse of group of NYCDOE employees including Executive Directors of the Borough Offices, Student Service Directors, Counseling Managers, Climate Managers, Attendance Managers, Crisis Managers, Teaching and Learning staff, Central-based staff, School-based Students in Temporary Housing staff, Mental Health Supervisors, Mental Health Consultants, Early Childhood (CPSE) staff. New York City mayor Eric L. Adams, graciously funded our first cohort of these 30 participants, during his tenure as Brooklyn Borough President.