Getting started
Frequently asked questions
About the program
What is Inner Explorer?
Inner Explorer is the leading provider of easily accessible, daily audio-guided mindfulness practices for PreK-12 classrooms. The evidence-based program benefits teachers as much as their students by building attention, self-awareness, self-regulation, stress-reduction, resilience and compassion. Each series contains 180 audio-guided practices, sequenced to the school year, in English and Spanish, that can be used every day by simply logging in and pressing play. Students and their teachers participate together in the brief (5-10 minute) daily practices. Other series include transitions, sounds, school safety, support staff, educator well-being, activities, and STEM + M, all designed to meet the needs of students and teachers throughout the school day. No prep, planning or curriculum changes are required.
How is Inner Explorer different from other programs?
Translating research into daily classroom practice has historically been the greatest barrier to scaling trauma-responsive interventions. Inner Explorer was designed to solve this problem. The program delivers daily, MBSR-formatted, audio-guided mindfulness practices through a web-based platform and mobile app that require no teacher preparation or training and are sequenced to the school year.
Designated by CASEL as an evidence-based SEL approach and Brain Futures recommended as a top 10 program for Executive Functioning, Inner Explorer offers age-appropriate content from preschool through high school in English and Spanish. Educators benefit as much as students.
- Daily practice ensures the regularity that neuroplasticity requires.
- Teacher co-participation addresses caregiver self-care and models the regulation skills students need to observe.
- Whole-classroom participation means trauma-affected children are never singled out or stigmatized.
- A home-school bridge extends mindfulness to families, supporting the safe caregiving environment essential to recovery.
- The MBSR foundation carries the strongest evidence base in the mindfulness field.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness (or mindful awareness) is the practice of paying attention to the present moment. Mindful awareness, when practiced regularly, helps children avoid distraction and unhealthy mental habits, while allowing them to improve their focus, regulate their emotions, and engage more effectively with classmates and teachers. Very few of us really pay attention to any activity as it’s happening. When we do, an entirely new world opens up to us. The more we tune into the present moment, the more fully we can live our lives. We learn to slow down the chattering mind and notice our senses, thoughts and emotions without judging them as right or wrong. We become familiar with the beauty, wisdom, passion and compassion that exist in all of us.
What is readiness to learn?
When students arrive in their classrooms, their bodies are in their seats but their minds may not be. Perhaps they are feeling badly about a mean comment someone made to them in the hallway, or they walked by a scary situation on the way to school, or they are worried about a family member’s health. A stressed brain can’t learn. Research has shown that readiness to learn is a precursor to school success. Inner Explorer develops readiness because practicing daily mindfulness brings students into the present moment, where they experience a reduction in stress and an increase in attention and focus. By helping students become ready to learn, they develop confidence, improved relationships, and increased grades and test scores.
What is the science behind mindfulness?
A 2022 systematic review evaluating 77 studies on mindfulness-based school interventions, including two studies on Inner Explorer, found the highest quality evidence (‘A’ Grade) that school-based mindfulness increased prosocial behavior, resilience, executive function, attention, and mindfulness, while decreasing anxiety, attention problems and ADHD behaviors, and conduct-related behaviors.
These findings are particularly significant for trauma-affected populations. Research consistently shows that children who initially demonstrate the poorest executive functioning and self-regulation, precisely those most affected by ACEs, show the greatest gains from mindfulness practice. Working memory capacity, which is depleted by persistent stress, is protected and enhanced through regular mindfulness practice.
Is mindfulness a religion?
Mindfulness is not a religion. It is a set of simple attention practices based on neuroscience that promote full awareness of the present moment. These attention practices allow students to develop the capacity to sustain focus and tune into their own personal experience.
Why is daily practice so important?
Research has shown that in order to experience the many benefits mindfulness has to offer (including self-awareness, self-control, resilience, compassion, academic success and a heightened sense of wellbeing), daily practice is necessary. A 5 to 10 minute practice, simply sitting with eyes closed, focusing inward and being guided through practices focused on the breath, body awareness, senses, emotions, gratitude, and compassion, lays the foundation for one to be aware and present throughout the rest of the day. Mindfulness is a healthy habit, like brushing your teeth or wearing your seatbelt. In fact, in many doctors’ offices, mindfulness is listed as one of five ways to be healthy. Over time, commitment to this practice becomes natural as it becomes an integral part of your day. When teachers commit to using the Inner Explorer program on a daily basis for 21 days, they are more likely to stay with the program on a continuing basis and report significant, positive changes for themselves and their students.
Why does mindfulness belong in schools?
Inner Explorer has brought mindfulness into schools for 15 years. The most significant challenges that we repeatedly hear about are students’ lack of focus, difficult behaviors, poor mental health, teacher stress and low morale. The benefits of daily mindfulness practice address each of those.
Mindfulness means paying attention. If students are unable to pay attention they cannot learn. One of the most significant reasons that grades and test scores rise when our program is used regularly is because students’ attention increases.
No student wants to misbehave. Society’s problems show up on the doorstep of every school in the country. Because of their lives outside of school, increasing numbers of students’ nervous systems are on high alert. As a result, they may react instead of respond to situations that arise. This dysregulation of emotions causes difficulties and misbehaviors that often make life in the classroom difficult for teachers and students. By practicing mindfulness, the integration of neurons from the brain stem, limbic system and prefrontal cortex fire together and wire together, creating calmer, more effective classrooms for all.
Grades go up by 15-28% and behavioral issues go down by 60%, because mindfulness reduces stress. Practicing mindfulness with Inner Explorer also reduces teacher stress by 43%.
A principal said, “When the school bell rings, mindfulness goes home with the students and teachers.” We know this to be true because parents tell us their kids remind them to breathe, and teachers often tell us they are able to fall asleep at night because of mindfulness.
Is Inner Explorer an SEL curriculum?
No. Inner Explorer is a daily mindfulness practice that builds the foundational capacities students need to focus, regulate emotions, and engage in learning. While SEL curricula teach social-emotional knowledge and skills, Inner Explorer prepares the brain and nervous system to access and apply those skills more effectively.
Does Inner Explorer require screen time?
No. Unlike many educational technology tools, Inner Explorer uses screens only to access the practice, not during the practice itself.
Educators launch practices through our online platform, but the mindfulness sessions themselves are primarily audio-guided. During each practice, students are encouraged to close their eyes, lower their gaze, or focus on a simple still image, allowing them to direct their attention inward rather than engaging with a screen.
The only exception is a few short introductory videos at the beginning of the Daily Practices. These videos help students and educators understand what mindfulness is and what to expect before beginning their regular practice.
Our goal is to minimize screen use while providing a simple, accessible way for students to build focus, self-awareness, emotional regulation, and readiness to learn through daily practice.
For administrators
How do I get my teachers involved?
The first step is to help your teachers understand the benefits of daily mindfulness for themselves and their students. This is not another thing to add to their plate; some say “it is the plate.” Daily practice is the foundation to all the learning that must take place in the classroom. It takes just 1% of the day with Inner Explorer to optimize the other 99%. With more regulated students, and less stress for teachers, they can once again connect to the joy and purpose that inspired them to become teachers in the first place.
If not mandated, then the daily practice needs to be strongly encouraged. In a staff meeting, have all your educators log in and commit to practicing for at least 21 days straight. They will soon experience the difference. No convincing required.
You can model the importance of practice by beginning each staff meeting with a practice from the Educator Well-Being Series and allotting time in the school day for daily practice.
Do all of my classes need to start the program at the same time?
They do not, but creating a time in the school day when everyone uses the program may be a more effective way to ensure the program is being used.
How do I monitor classroom usage?
Do I have to inform our students’ parents before beginning to use the program?
We highly encourage you or your teachers to inform your students’ parents about this new program.
How do I help my teachers foster daily practice in their classrooms?
Encourage your teachers to practice along with the students and to practice daily for at least 21 days. After 21 days, teachers will have developed a routine and often begin to have experiential knowledge of how Inner Explorer benefits their classroom. This knowledge will increase over time with continued use of the program and reinforce the value of daily practice.
How do I get other schools involved?
How can we help other schools that need this program but can’t afford it?
Here is a list of ways to obtain funding for our program:
- Federal and state funding
- Sponsorship by another school
- Parent-teacher organizations and associations
- Service organizations (for example Jaycees, Lions Club, Rotary Clubs)
- Local businesses
- Hospitals and medical clinics
- Education or other private foundations (try searching Fundsnetservices.com)
- Mayor’s offices and municipal government
- Private foundations
Do you offer professional development?
For teachers
What grades does Inner Explorer serve? Will this work with very young children?
One of the most beneficial aspects of Inner Explorer is the continuity that our PreK through high school programs provide.
Our four specific programs include:
- Exploring Me for preschool and kindergarten, successful with very young children (PreK to 1st grade)
- Exploring Originality for elementary classrooms (2nd to 4th grade)
- Exploring Potential for middle school classes (5th to 8th grade)
- Exploring Relevance for high school classrooms (9th to 12th grade)
How much training is required before I can begin using the program in my classroom?
The Inner Explorer program is automated and does not require teacher prep or planning time. Research has shown that teachers who participate along with students in the 5 to 10 minute program experience a significant reduction in stress and secondary burnout (43%), among other benefits.
What if I don’t have my students every day?
You can still participate and launch a program in your class. In fact, you can have up to eight classes registered so that you can use the program with each group of students you work with, and at that specific frequency. You can also encourage other teachers to participate and practice with your students on the days they have them, if that is the case in your school.
What’s the best way for educators to incorporate Inner Explorer into the school day?
Our audio-guided programs are designed to run throughout the entire school year in 5 to 10 minute daily segments. 180 sequenced daily practices, one per school day, are available on any networked device including a classroom computer or smartphone. The students and teacher listen to the recording together and participate in the 2-minute journaling integration exercise at the end, which is included in the 10 minutes. There is no journaling component in the five-minute series, which is available for all grade levels.
Many teachers find that using the program first thing in the morning sets a positive tone for the rest of the day’s academics. In addition to the daily practices, which are played sequentially by pressing play, other series with practices ranging from 1 minute to 5 minutes are available for you to use whenever you find it may be useful: after recess or lunch, between transitions, or before a test.
Daily use of the program typically increases teaching time because students have an easier time paying attention and distractions are drastically reduced. Elementary classrooms report an additional 20 minutes of teaching time each day at a minimum, and upper grades get through entire blocks of curriculum ahead of those not practicing.
I don’t have time for another activity in my classroom. How would I fit mindfulness in?
Teachers who use the program regularly report that they actually find more time in their day due to the reduction in behavioral issues and distractions, as well as their students’ increased focus and attention. The benefits of improved academic achievement, fewer behavioral issues and reduced stress for you and your students are most helpful and touted by educators who use the program regularly. Many teachers who think they won’t have time end up using the program a few times a day: first thing in the morning and shorter practices throughout their day, ensuring smooth transitions from opening bell to the end of the school day. Elementary teachers report getting at least 20 minutes back in their day, and upper grades get through entire blocks of curriculum ahead of classrooms not using the program.
Does Inner Explorer work for students with special needs?
Students with special needs thrive with our program. Because many special needs are caused by an inability to pay attention, and because we teach attention building, students with special needs do really well with our program. Because achievement rises, so does self-esteem of both students and teachers. A recent study in a Title One school showed that classrooms of students with special needs saw reading scores rise by 26.6% in one year. Math scores rose by 22.2%. The gains within the special needs classrooms were even greater than those of the general education students, who also saw significant improvements when using our program daily.