Mindful May: Free series offers up mindfulness programs for the entire family

Growga, a local business that offers yoga and mindfulness programs, will a launch a series of free, family events on the American Tobacco Campus' amphitheater lawn this month.

During Mindful May, Growga’s teachers will lead families through fun activities designed to not only bring them closer together but also reinforce key mindfulness tactics that will help both kids and parents work through the stresses of an increasingly hectic daily life, according to a press release. Growga was formerly called Kids Mindful Movement, which I've written about before.

Parents who register for Mindful May will also receive daily content such as free meditations, kids mindfulness activities, and interviews with mindfulness experts, along with an invitation to a closed Facebook group which will provide additional tools to help them along their month-long (and beyond) mindfulness journey.

Here are the events scheduled at American Tobacco. They are designed for families with kids ages 3 and up.

• 5:30 p.m., May 4: Star Wars Yoga and Jedi Mindfulness - Will coincide with Star Wars Day at the Bulls
• 10:30 a.m., May 18: Growga Family Fun: Celebrating the International Day of Families through Partner Yoga, Community, and Mindfulness
• 10:30 a.m., June 15: Growga Family Fun: Expeditions - Growga will take families on an imaginative journey around the world and practice fun movement and pretend play.

All classes will be free, but donations will be accepted for Growga Gives, a philanthropic arm of the business designed to fund scholarships for children and schools unable to pay for Growga classes.

“As part of Mindful May at American Tobacco, we want to invite all families from the community to join us at a destination they know and love to take part in fun, technology-free, silly, and, ultimately, valuable activities that are going to help them reset some of the anxiety that is keeping them from truly thriving,” says Emily Behr, owner and founder, Growga, in the release. “Growga’s mission is to reverse the staggering statistics facing kids and adults today: one in five people will have an anxiety disorder by the time they are 18 and the median age for these diagnoses is now six-years-old.”

Growga teaches classes across Durham, Orange, Chatham, Alamance and Wake counties. You can sign up for Mindful May on Growga's website. Stay tuned for mindfulness tips from Behr later this week.