Claim OwnershipThe Conscious Classroom
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The Conscious Classroom with host Amy Edelstein explores the future of education and the world of mindfulness and contemplative approaches in education. Amy is the Founder and Executive Director of the award winning nonprofit Inner Strength Education, which trained more than 35,000 students and supported 5,000 teachers in its first decade with evidence based programming. In each episode, Amy, who began her own meditation practice more than 40 years ago, leans into the edge of authentic transformative practices and makes them relevant and accessible. She shares classroom tools and activities for adolescents and young adults, articulates why teaching students about perspectives, worldviews, and context develops essential skills for long term happiness and success in work and life. Incorporating trauma sensitive approaches, systems thinking, and emotional intelligence to empower teens and uplift school communities, the Conscious Classroom is rooted in real life, field-tested approaches. Honored with a Philadelphia Social Innovation Award and a Philadelphia City Council Resolution for her work, Amy is passionate about what's possible and inspired to share that with you. More at: www.InnerStrengthEducation.org
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Send a text In a rare podcast, our host Amy Edelstein shares a personal experience of meditating at the site of the Buddha's awakening in Bodh Gaya back in 1985. In her inimitable narrative style, you'll feel the chill of a predawn rickshaw ride, the rustle of Bodhi leaves, and the mind challenge of conquering challenging mental states. Through Amy's experience, you'll settle into the posture of true meditation, open, curious, and willing to discover. If you’ve ever tried to...
Send a text Why awe belongs not the makers, not the machines... Awe belongs to the makers who dare, persist, and stand by their work. In this episode, Amy Edelstein opens with a striking contrast: Olympic snowboarders whose courage makes us hold our breath, and synchronized robots whose elegance points back to the human minds that designed every leap. From that lens, she digs into a question shaping classrooms and homes everywhere: how do we welcome synthetic intelligence as a pow...
Send a text A simple request for the time turned into a lesson on hidden defaults and the values they carry. When Alexa, perhaps the most popular voice assistant offered eight new voices, Amy Edelstein follows the breadcrumb trail from “small” UX choices to big cultural scripts that land in our homes and classrooms. Along the way, she unpack how labels like “professional” for a male voice and “soothing” for female voices quietly reset expectations for students who are still forming their sens...
Send a text In this episode, Amy Edelstein unpacks why mindfulness goes beyond technique and how wonder is a key ingredient that develops authentic leadership in young people and adults. Mindfulness as only an add-on falls short of what it can be and how awe, gratitude, and presence foster the qualities of autonomy and leadership that are becoming more and more important. She encourages reflection on the wonder of human capacities, at a time when there is much attention on the capabilities of...
Send a text What if the most powerful classroom tool isn’t another strategy, but a deeper way of seeing? In this episode, Amy Edelstein explore show purpose, presence, and philosophical clarity can reshape teaching from the inside out—so young people feel safe to grow, wonder, and lead with heart. As Amy reflects on the quiet force of Jane Goodall’s life—her translucent presence, her unflinching observation of beauty and brutality, and her devotion to conservation—and translates those lessons...
Send a text In this episode, Amy Edelstein shares a practical, developmentally appropriate guidance on teaching mindfulness to middle schoolers. She describes how to adjust practices to this age group, with a focus on structure, repetition, and emotional intelligence. Paying attention to their emerging selfhood, a teacher can guide that emergence while recognizing that students are still very group oriented. Short, tactile practices, playful competition, and thoughtful repeated tr...
Send a text For teachers feeling overwhelmed by global challenges and classroom responsibilities, this episode offers a lifeline of wisdom. Amy Edelstein delves into the transformative power of letting go—not as abandonment of responsibility, but as a profound acceptance that creates space for growth. Just as great trees stand witness through storms and seasons, we can bear witness, standing still, mindfully being with emotions without trying to fix them. We can practice being present with o...
Send a text In this episode, Amy Edelstein explains why she included the lessons on systems thinking in the Inner Strength Teen Mindfulness Program. Teaching students how to understand their experiences within larger systems, helps them manage stress by seeing interconnections across time and society rather than taking challenges personally. You'll learn why: • Teaching teens to think in context allows them to see how their current stressors connect to broader historical developments ...
Send a text We explore how to end the school year with mindful intention and purpose by creating powerful rites of passage that help students recognize their growth, learn from challenges, and prepare for summer with confidence. • Experiential mindfulness activity for you, the listener, to help all teachers acknowledge their own accomplishments, learn from challenges, and recognize personal growth • Creating conscious endings for students that transform an academic year closing into a meanin...
Send a text In this episode Amy Edelstein explores what it can meet to root in our True North, our deepest values, when we lean into how education needs to transform. The questions surrounding education's future form an intricate web: How do we pause and reflect while simultaneously responding to the immediate needs of our students? Who funds it and why? What outcomes do we desire? How do we serve students with vastly different backgrounds and trajectories? When confronting compl...
Send a text The educational landscape is undergoing a profound transformation through artificial intelligence, and mindfulness education stands at this exciting frontier. In this thought-provoking exploration, Amy Edelstein reviews Sal Khan's new book "Brave New Words" and unpacks the potential and challenge of AI tutors to support students' inner development, while maintaining crucial human connections. Amy examines Khan's great success with Khan Academy and the AI Khanmigo, looking specific...
Send a text In this episode of The Conscious Classroom, Amy Edelstein questions the use of the popular idiom "returning to analog." While agreeing with the sentiment that we reconnect with the preciousness of our humanity as technology continues to advance rapidly, she questions placing that sentiment within in technical context. Amy discusses the balance between digital experiences and the visceral richness of our awareness and connections and looks at some of the questions surrounding...
Send a text This episode of The Conscious Classroom with Amy Edelstein invites us to explore the power of setting meaningful intentions and to learn how to let go of will-based resolutions as the most effective means to create lasting transformation. By uncovering our deepest values and nurturing inspiration from within, we can align our actions with what truly matters to us and engage in positive change, both personally and collectively. Amy will delve into: • Identifying the value ...
Send a text Holidays are awe-filled and also can bring about feelings of sadness, grief and loneliness for ourselves and our students. Join Amy Edelstein in this episode of The Conscious Classroom Podcast as we explore how to let go into the present moment and find the posture that allows us to be with what is with grace, strength, and presence. The holiday season can be a challenging time, filled with mixed emotions and societal expectations. As educators, we have the unique opportun...
Send a text Experience the essence of creativity and dedication with Amy Edelstein as we journey with her to CoSM, the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in the Catskills. This episode celebrates Alex and Alison Gray, the visionary artists who have devoted decades to the transformative power of art. For their entire adult life, they have been expressing their own adventures in consciousness through their unique for of art, becoming leaders and pillars of the psychedelic art movement. They exemplify how...
Send a text Creating Positive Spaces with a Grateful Mindset It's so simple, could it really change our outlook, experience and classrooms? In this episode of the Conscious Classroom, Amy Edelstein looks at ways that gratitude can transform our experience and deepen our understanding of presence, interconnectedness, and awe. You will see how we can shift our perspectives, working with everyday events like traffic irritation, and cultivate a very different mindset. It's not light...
Send a text Do you feel like you're authentic in your teaching and in your life? How does we "become" more authentic? Can mindfulness bring authenticity or is it more than that? In this episode, Amy unpacks the elusive quality of authenticity. We all think we know it when we see it but how do we develop it? Authenticity brings integrity and stability into our classrooms. Embracing vulnerability and aligning with our core values revolutionizes our teaching and enables our s...
Send a text Discover the secret to finding profound contentment even in the most stressful times. What if you could cultivate a deeper sense of fulfillment through mindful awareness and systems thinking? On today's Conscious Classroom podcast, Amy Edelstein guides you through transformative insights that will help you create spaces for rejuvenation. You'll learn how to harness the power of meditation to develop an inner sense of wholeness and simplicity, empowering you to maintain...
Send a text What happens when a student fails to show up for a crucial presentation? Explore the profound lessons on commitment and responsibility in this episode of the Conscious Classroom podcast. Join me as we unpack the culture of individualism and what that means when we try to instill a sense of commitment and purpose in our youth. In this episode we also delve into the impact of feelings of loneliness and alienation that students experience, how the pandemic exacerbated this, an...
Send a text Can shifting the focus for teachers from content to connection be the key to lifting adolescent loneliness? Journey with Amy Edelstein on this episode of the Conscious Classroom podcast as she unpacks the role of teachers as moral exemplars, following the principles laid out by Plato. You'll explore how transmission occurs and why teachers impact not just academic success, but also ethics, values, and personal connection that can make a real difference in students' lives...
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