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TWI News

SUMMER 2010 NEWSLETTER
Find out what's up with TWI this summer. View the Summer 2010 newsletter here.

TWI IS HIRING a Program Director.
Learn more.

SOCIAL VENTURE PARTNERS BOULDER COUNTY invests in The Wellness Initiative. Learn more.

YOGATHON
Our first annual Yogathon was a great success. Learn more.

LISTEN TO OUR STUDENTS talk about the impact of yoga on their lives. more...

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Students of all ages suffer from increasingly stressful lives and they often lack the opportunities and tools to relax, reflect, strengthen, and focus. This reality negatively impacts their self-confidence, relationships with others, physical health, and academic performance. In response to this persistent and growing problem, The Wellness Initiative was founded in 2006 to deliver secular wellness programs to K-12 students in Colorado. The mission of The Wellness Initiative is to improve the physical health, social and emotional development, and academic performance of low-income youth through yoga-based wellness programs. We will serve 1,700 students and 250 classroom teachers in at least 17 schools during the 2009-2010 school year.


Did You Know:

  • Experts estimate that anywhere between 10-15% of all children and adolescents have symptoms of a mental health disorder severe enough to cause some level of impairment. These conditions can include: depression, substance abuse, stress, anxiety disorders, ADHD, bipolar disorder and eating disorders.
  • The combined prevalence of anxiety disorders is higher than that of all other mental disorders of childhood and adolescence. The one year prevalence in 9-17 aged children is 13%.
  • Use of psychotropic medication for children and youth has increased sharply with more than $1 Billion spent in 1998 for these medications. Stimulants and antidepressants account for about 2/3 of the bill.
  • In the US today, more than 9 million children are overweight. The majority of these kids — as many as 80% — will become obese adults, and will be at higher risk for some of today's deadliest diseases: heart disease, stroke and diabetes.