REMEMBER THE “BEFORE TIMES”? Before the digital age, when kids spent summer afternoons lying in the grass and gazing up at the clouds? They called it “doing nothing,” but they were actually doing something very important: regulating their sympathetic nervous systems by taking a break from the sometimes overwhelming cognitive and sensory input that is an inescapable part of modern life.
Today, kids are taking in more information than ever before. Because their brains are still developing, they’re more prone to sensory and cognitive overload than adults. This chronic overstimulation, according to neuroscientific studies, can literally shrink the brain—and it’s especially damaging for children suffering from complex trauma, like the young survivors of neglect and abuse at Hephzibah Home. “Because trauma can affect a child’s ability to process, regulate, and respond to sensory information, our kids were frequently overstimulated,” notes Hephzibah art therapist Jenny Wise.
The children clearly needed a place to chill out—and some instruction in mindfulness techniques to enhance their emotional health and well-being. So, in late 2023, Wise and clinical coordinator Carlotta Abogado approached the leadership team at Hephzibah Home about repurposing an underutilized space on the first floor to create a Mindfulness Room. “We already had a Gross-Motor Room in the building, which the children could use when they needed to run around and release some energy, so it made sense to create a place where they could do the opposite: curl up in a cozy chair, read, stretch, do yoga, or put on headphones and listen to music,” says Wise. “We saw the Mindfulness Room as the ‘yin’ to the ‘yang’ of the Gross-Motor Room,” adds Abogado.
Once Wise and Abogado got the green light to move ahead with their idea, they cleared out the room, painted the walls a peaceful shade of blue, and installed a sensory light to promote relaxation. Then they purchased furniture that the children could sink into for some much needed decompression sessions, including kid-sized recliners and a rotating chair upholstered in irresistibly soft faux-fur fabric. Finally, they filled the room with yoga mats, blankets, pillows, battery-operated candles, noise-canceling headphones, art supplies, origami paper books, fidgets, and some additional items requested by the children. By early April, the Mindfulness Room was a reality. Notably, there wasn’t a screen in sight. “We wanted it to be a tech-free space where the children could practice relaxation and centering techniques, get in touch with their physical and emotional needs, and be present in the moment,” says Wise.
Since then, the room has become a sanctuary—and a place for healing. “The children we serve at Hephzibah Home come from traumatic situations and carry that trauma in their bodies,” notes Abogado. “Their sympathetic nervous systems are in overdrive, and it doesn’t take much to trigger a fight-or-flight response. By creating this environment that is quiet and calm—and teaching them how to ground themselves and practice evidence-based mindfulness techniques—we are giving them some agency over their state of being and helping them develop self-regulation skills that will help them thrive throughout their lives.”