Youth Curriculum, 9-27-26

Announcements:

Help Us Celebrate Our Teens! We are so proud of Lia, Zia, and Neviah, who completed their Certificated foundational level class, Spiritual Principles and Practices last week!

Their dedication to their spiritual growth is inspiring, and we are proud of the commitment they’ve shown along the way.

Please join us in celebrating and congratulating them! And a heartfelt thank-you to everyone who supported them through prayer, good vibes, encouragement, and financial support. Your love and support helped make this journey possible.

Youth & Family Needs You!

With school back in session and new families joining us on Sundays, we’re excited to welcome more young ones into our playful learning space!

Youth & Family will be reaching out to parents and members of our community who may enjoy being part of a rotation of adults who can play, connect, and grow alongside our youngest masters while their families participate in service.

You don’t need to be a teacher—just someone who enjoys children and wants to help create a warm, welcoming space where they can explore and be themselves.

Know someone who would be a great fit? Connect with Adrienne to explore how you can join us on a Sunday!

September Theme: Radical Embodiment
Week 4 Value: The Audacity to Be This Comfortable
Affirmation: I embrace radical comfort and peace in my body.

Curriculum Overview:

In Week 4, youth and teens bring their Radical Embodiment exploration into everyday life by considering what it means to feel comfortable being themselves without constantly adjusting to other people’s expectations.

Through movement, reflection, sensory exploration, and creative expression, participants will explore the difference between comfort and conformity. They’ll identify experiences that help them feel peaceful, grounded, connected, and present while recognizing that comfort can look different for every person.

The Comfort & Wonder Challenge will invite youth to notice ordinary moments that help them feel connected to themselves, other people, and the natural world. Together, we’ll celebrate the many ways people move, rest, communicate, play, and experience life while reinforcing the spiritual truth that everyone deserves respect, safety, belonging, and room to be themselves.

Spiritual Lesson:

Spirit expresses uniquely through every person. There is no single way a person needs to look, move, communicate, or experience the world in order to belong.

Science of Mind teaches us to recognize the Divine presence within ourselves and others. Radical embodiment invites us to release expectations that tell us we must change who we are in order to be worthy of acceptance.

Youth will explore the idea that true comfort is not about avoiding growth or challenge. It is about developing enough self-awareness and self-trust to remain connected to ourselves as we move through the world.

As we honor our own experience, we also make more room for other people to have their own experiences. Creating a world where everyone can belong begins with practicing acceptance, curiosity, and respect in our everyday interactions.

Spiritual Practice: Comfort & Wonder Check-In

Youth and teens will begin with a short-guided practice inviting them to notice their surroundings and their internal experience.

They’ll be invited to consider:

“What helps me feel comfortable and at peace?”

“Where does my body feel most relaxed?”

“What helps me feel connected?”

“What is something around me that I can appreciate right now?”

Participants will then take several quiet moments to notice one ordinary experience with wonder—a breeze, sunlight, a sound, a comfortable chair, a favorite color, laughter, movement, or simply being with people they enjoy.

The practice concludes with:

“I embrace radical comfort and peace in my body.”

Active Listening: Book / Music / Video

Younger Children (Ages 4–7)

• Book: The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld
  Explores comfort, emotional presence, and the power of simply being with someone without trying to fix their experience.
• Music: Beautiful Day by The Kinks
  Encourages children to notice and appreciate simple moments of joy and wonder.
• Video: Pip by Southeastern Guide Dogs
  An uplifting short film about discovering that there are many ways to grow, contribute, and find your place.

Children & Preteens (Ages 7–12)

• Book: The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez
  Explores identity, self-expression, belonging, and the pressure to conform, creating rich opportunities to discuss what happens when we give ourselves permission to be fully ourselves.
• Music: Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield
  Invites reflection on possibility, personal choice, and creating a life that is genuinely your own.
• Video: Alike — Daniel Martínez Lara & Rafa Cano Méndez
  This award-winning animated short explores conformity, creativity, and what can happen when people lose touch with what brings them joy and meaning.

Teens (Ages 13–16)

• Reading: Selected excerpts from The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown
  Explores authenticity, belonging, self-acceptance, and letting go of the pressure to be who others expect us to be.
• Music: Vienna by Billy Joel
  Offers an opportunity to examine pressure, expectations, achievement, and the freedom to experience life at a personal pace.
• Video: The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  Encourages teens to question assumptions about people and consider how allowing ourselves and others to be fully seen creates deeper belonging.

Creative Expression Activity: Comfort & Wonder Challenge

Youth and teens will participate in a series of simple challenges designed to help them notice what creates comfort, connection, and wonder.

Participants will then create a “My Comfort & Wonder” card, collage, or mini poster featuring the people, places, activities, sensations, and experiences that help them feel most present and connected.

The activity reinforces that comfort is personal. What feels peaceful or grounding for one person may be different for someone else—and both experiences deserve respect.

Connecting: Belonging Circle

Youth will gather in a closing circle and complete one of these sentences:

“I feel most like myself when…”

or

“One thing I want to give myself more permission to enjoy is…”

Group Response:

“I am worthy of comfort, respect, safety, and belonging—and so are you.”