Susan Kaiser Greenland
Encyclopedia
Susan Kaiser Greenland, JD (born 1956) is an American author and teacher of Mindful Awareness
, a blending of East Asian meditation techniques thought to develop overall attentiveness and social/emotional skills while encouraging secular values.
Kaiser Greenland has played an important role in helping integrate Mindfulness techniques in American schools as well as throughout the world. She co-founded The InnerKids Foundation, a not-for-profit organization founded in 2001, which taught Mindful Awareness in schools and community based programs in the greater Los Angeles area until 2009. Her innovative work with children courted the attention of psychologists at UCLA studying the effects of meditation on children. She is also the author of the book The Mindful Child published by Free Press
in May, 2010.
in 1956. She attended Paw Paw High School
and Kalamazoo College
and then graduated cum laude from Brooklyn Law School
. She started her career as a corporate lawyer in New York City, but in 1993 a family crisis occurred which prompted her to seek alternative methods of reducing stress.
As a result, she began studying classical mindful awareness and in 2000 adapted these adult practices into a program appropriate for young children. In 2001, she created the Inner Kids program, a hybrid of classical mindful awareness practices incorporating meditative techniques, games, and lessons taught in a non-religious form. The success of the program's use in several schools encouraged Kaiser Greenland to continue teaching the program to children, teens, and adults throughout the world.
Kaiser Greenland lives in Los Angeles with her husband Seth Greenland and their two children. She also serves on the Garrison Institute for Contemplation and Education Leadership Council, as an advisor at the UCLA Family Commons and frequently contributes to the online news periodical, The Huffington Post
.
In 2001, Kaiser Greenland and her husband founded The InnerKids Foundation, a not-for-profit organization teaching secular mindful awareness in schools and community based programs in the greater Los Angeles area between 2000-2009. The work of the Inner Kids Foundation has been featured in pieces by a number of news organizations and magazines including Greater Good Magazine, the New York Times
, the LA Times, USA Today
, Time Magazine for Kids
, and Profiles in Caring
.
The InnerKids Program
Kaiser Greenland developed the Inner Kids mindful awareness program for pre-k through elementary age children. The Inner Kids (IK) program uses games, activities and instruction to help kids' develop awareness and understanding of their emotions and environment in order to reduce stress.
The IK program has been greatly influenced and shaped by the work of the following authors: Drs. Jon Kabat-Zinn
(Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction); Suzi Tortora (Dance Movement Therapy for Young Children); Jeffrey Schwartz
(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder); Daniel J. Siegel
(Attachment/Attunement Theory
); B. Alan Wallace
(Cultivating Emotional Balance) as well as the Ojai Foundation Council Program.
The program was taught in one or more classrooms in LA schools, every year, between 2000 and 2009 through the Inner Kids Foundation. In December 2009 it was adapted in Singapore and taught to children ages 8 – 12 in an Inner Kids sleep-away camp. It was also adapted for a mindful eating study at UC-SF in connection with an MB-EAT clinical intervention for overweight children and a caregiver.
The Mindful Child
Kaiser Greenland's book, “The Mindful Child,” about teaching mindful awareness to children was published by Free Press
in May, 2010.
Based on the Inner Kids program that was researched by the Mindful Awareness Research Center of UCLA, the Mindful Child contains practical, age-appropriate mindful awareness games and activities for children, teens and their families.
The finding that both teachers and parents reported changes suggests that improvements in children’s behavioral regulation generalized across settings. Future work is warranted using neurocognitive tasks of executive functions, behavioral observation, and multiple classroom samples to replicate and extend these preliminary findings.
Mindfulness (psychology)
Modern clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on the concept of mindfulness in Buddhist meditation.-Definitions:...
, a blending of East Asian meditation techniques thought to develop overall attentiveness and social/emotional skills while encouraging secular values.
Kaiser Greenland has played an important role in helping integrate Mindfulness techniques in American schools as well as throughout the world. She co-founded The InnerKids Foundation, a not-for-profit organization founded in 2001, which taught Mindful Awareness in schools and community based programs in the greater Los Angeles area until 2009. Her innovative work with children courted the attention of psychologists at UCLA studying the effects of meditation on children. She is also the author of the book The Mindful Child published by Free Press
Free Press (publisher)
Free Press is a book publishing imprint of Simon and Schuster. It was founded by Jeremiah Kaplan and Charles Liebman in 1947 and was devoted to sociology and religion titles. It was headquartered in Glencoe, Illinois, where it was known as The Free Press of Glencoe...
in May, 2010.
Biography
Susan Kaiser Greenland was born in Paw Paw, MichiganPaw Paw, Michigan
Paw Paw is a village in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 3,363. It is the county seat of Van Buren County.-Overview:...
in 1956. She attended Paw Paw High School
Paw Paw High School (Michigan)
Paw Paw High School, the only secondary school in the Paw Paw, Michigan area, is located in a rural setting on Red Arrow Highway . Construction on the current building was completed in 1998, with a new auditorium added in 2002. Construction of a new wing and renovations began in the summer of 2007...
and Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo College, also known as K College or simply K, is a private liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1833, the college is among the 100 oldest in the country. Today, it produces more Peace Corps volunteers per capita than any other U.S...
and then graduated cum laude from Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School is a law school located in Brooklyn Heights, in Downtown Brooklyn, New York.-History:Founded in 1901 by William Payson Richardson and Norman P. Heffley, Brooklyn Law School was the first law school on Long Island. Using space provided by Heffley’s business school, the law...
. She started her career as a corporate lawyer in New York City, but in 1993 a family crisis occurred which prompted her to seek alternative methods of reducing stress.
As a result, she began studying classical mindful awareness and in 2000 adapted these adult practices into a program appropriate for young children. In 2001, she created the Inner Kids program, a hybrid of classical mindful awareness practices incorporating meditative techniques, games, and lessons taught in a non-religious form. The success of the program's use in several schools encouraged Kaiser Greenland to continue teaching the program to children, teens, and adults throughout the world.
Kaiser Greenland lives in Los Angeles with her husband Seth Greenland and their two children. She also serves on the Garrison Institute for Contemplation and Education Leadership Council, as an advisor at the UCLA Family Commons and frequently contributes to the online news periodical, The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
.
Work
The InnerKids FoundationIn 2001, Kaiser Greenland and her husband founded The InnerKids Foundation, a not-for-profit organization teaching secular mindful awareness in schools and community based programs in the greater Los Angeles area between 2000-2009. The work of the Inner Kids Foundation has been featured in pieces by a number of news organizations and magazines including Greater Good Magazine, the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, the LA Times, USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, Time Magazine for Kids
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, and Profiles in Caring
Profiles in Caring
Profiles in Caring is a television program about humanitarian charities around the world. Each episode profiles a different charity, hosted by a reporter, using video footage and interviews to tell their story. Each program is 30 minutes, and reflects extraordinary humanitarian projects from all...
.
The InnerKids Program
Kaiser Greenland developed the Inner Kids mindful awareness program for pre-k through elementary age children. The Inner Kids (IK) program uses games, activities and instruction to help kids' develop awareness and understanding of their emotions and environment in order to reduce stress.
The IK program has been greatly influenced and shaped by the work of the following authors: Drs. Jon Kabat-Zinn
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Jon Kabat-Zinn is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn was a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn and a founding member of...
(Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction); Suzi Tortora (Dance Movement Therapy for Young Children); Jeffrey Schwartz
Jeffrey M. Schwartz
Jeffrey M. Schwartz, M.D. is an American psychiatrist and researcher in the field of neuroplasticity and its application to obsessive-compulsive disorder .-Biography:...
(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder); Daniel J. Siegel
Daniel J. Siegel
Daniel J. Siegel completed his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and his post-graduate medical education at UCLA. His training is in pediatrics and child, adolescent and adult psychiatry. Dr...
(Attachment/Attunement Theory
Attachment theory
Attachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans. Its most important tenet is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally. Attachment theory is an interdisciplinary study...
); B. Alan Wallace
B. Alan Wallace
B. Alan Wallace is an American author, translator, teacher, researcher, interpreter, and Buddhist practitioner interested in the intersections of consciousness studies and scientific disciplines such as psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and physics...
(Cultivating Emotional Balance) as well as the Ojai Foundation Council Program.
The program was taught in one or more classrooms in LA schools, every year, between 2000 and 2009 through the Inner Kids Foundation. In December 2009 it was adapted in Singapore and taught to children ages 8 – 12 in an Inner Kids sleep-away camp. It was also adapted for a mindful eating study at UC-SF in connection with an MB-EAT clinical intervention for overweight children and a caregiver.
The Mindful Child
Kaiser Greenland's book, “The Mindful Child,” about teaching mindful awareness to children was published by Free Press
Free Press (publisher)
Free Press is a book publishing imprint of Simon and Schuster. It was founded by Jeremiah Kaplan and Charles Liebman in 1947 and was devoted to sociology and religion titles. It was headquartered in Glencoe, Illinois, where it was known as The Free Press of Glencoe...
in May, 2010.
Based on the Inner Kids program that was researched by the Mindful Awareness Research Center of UCLA, the Mindful Child contains practical, age-appropriate mindful awareness games and activities for children, teens and their families.
Research
A school-based Inner Kids program was evaluated in a randomized control study of 64 second- and third-grade children ages 7–9 years. The program was delivered for 30 minutes, twice per week, for 8 weeks. Teachers and parents completed questionnaires assessing children’s executive function immediately before and following the 8-week period. Multivariate analysis of covariance on teacher and parent reports of executive function (EF) indicated an interaction effect baseline EF score and group status on posttest EF. That is, children in the group that received mindful awareness training who were less well regulated showed greater improvement in EF compared with controls. Specifically, those children starting out with poor EF who went through the mindful awareness training showed gains in behavioral regulation, metacognition, and overall global executive control. These results indicate a stronger effect of mindful awareness training on children with executive function difficulties.The finding that both teachers and parents reported changes suggests that improvements in children’s behavioral regulation generalized across settings. Future work is warranted using neurocognitive tasks of executive functions, behavioral observation, and multiple classroom samples to replicate and extend these preliminary findings.