Emotional intelligence for teenagers & youth

At Acorn to Oak we are passionate that all children are given the opportunity to learn, experience and make healthy choices so they can grow and move into adulthood as responsible, inspired and motivated individuals.

All too often we are hearing stories of unhealthy choices being made by children to help manage the overwhelm of emotions they were feeling. Some of these choices include self-harming, overdoses, alcohol abuse and extreme violence that cause isolation from family, school and peers. It is known children as young as eleven dangerously self-harm.

Carolyn Whitmore with supervision from Pennie Quaile-Pearce ran a pilot programme focusing on teenagers for her outreach project, which is part of the Breath₄Life^TM Breath Work Practitioner Course.

It was paramount to provide a safe environment where teenagers would be safe to explore & feel their stuck emotions. Each teenager was respected, valued and supported so that they could move forward by reducing their emotional overwhelm through Breath₄Life^TM Breath Work along with some practical tools to use in their everyday life.

The project involved a total of seven children over five sessions. Six have asked if we can continue providing regular sessions, which are now happening on a 2 weekly basis. As teenagers they have shared their experience with friends, who are now asking to join the group.

Comments made by the teenagers

"I have progressed throughout the session and found a healthy stable way to control how I feel" age 15

“I feel I have learnt to breathe through anger and difficult situations" age 14

“I feel a weight has been lifted off my shoulders" age 15

“I felt I could let go of how I feel without having to tell why" age 15

For projects like this to continue funding is needed to cover the cost of venues, practitioners and tools. This is needed so that all children who come to us wanting to experience and live a happier and healthier life are supported without exclusion due to finances.

This group is based in Woking and runs every 1st and 3rd Thursday from 6.30pm to 9pm. Please get in contact if your would like further details.

Testimonials

I was at Pennie's talk "Why is this happening to me again?" I enjoyed all of it and I felt it was well delivered I would definately go and hear her talk again.

I have really enjoyed the group dynamic of the course - the fact that I can bring anything to the group and not be judged... it was a real safe space. This was absolutely invaluable :) Also learnt a lot from having people with different experiences and different... levels (not sure how to phrase this) of spirituality. So I am fairly new to this work, but having Amy etc, as well as Pennie present really helped. Some of the interactions between Pennie and the advanced level practitioners was really insightful, and made me reflect on my own behaviour, ie there was stuff that was pointed to the practitioner and the issues they were going through, but also it helped me notice behaviours in myself that I was not aware of, so I got extra gold out of it. I feel like I have grown a lot over the last year and am much better equipped to handle life's ups and downs, especially in comparison with the old me.... and that is due to the breathwork and the things I have learnt. This whole process has been really invaluable. The format of the day was good.. nothing felt rushed and ample time left for discussion and theory and breathwork.

More testimonials