News & Events

2nd Annual ART-ON-A-YOGA-MAT AUCTION!
at our upcoming Spring Fling Benefit
Wednesday, May 29, 2013 | 6:30-9:30pm
@Indochine, NYC

Before and After highlights from 2012  ———->

This year’s featured artists listed below. 
Don’t miss out on their art on a yoga mat!
Purchase Tickets

Join us for our Annual Spring Fling Benefit!

Wednesday, May 29th 6:30-9:30 pm @ Indochine

Hosted by Gabrielle Bernstein

Art on a Yoga Mat - Live auction feauturing works by:

Agnes Barley | April Gornik | Autumn DeForest |EJ Camp | Evan Yee | Jessica Lichtenstein | Jonny Detiger | Margaret Garrett | Michael Scott | Nigel Barker |Roberto Dutesco | Stephanie Hirsh| Steve Miller

DJ Set by DJ Fulano

Reserve your space and support yoga in NYC schools!

Jordan Wolk is hosting a trunk show at The Pierre Hotel on May 15 to benefit Bent on Learning – we hope you can join us! RSVP to events@jordanwolk.com.

Ancient Practices Offer Coping Tools for Teens – SchoolBook/WNYC.org

Gabby Bernstein interview with Bent On Learning founders Anne Desmond and Jennifer Ford – Hay House Radio

Coverage of our Inspire! Gala – January 29, 2013

Bending and Breathing to Fashionable Wills - New York Times

Dan Loeb, Donna Karan, Mohapatra, Julie Macklowe:  N.Y. Scene - Bloomberg

A Picture of Health: Yogis Strike a Pose – Wall Street Journal

Gala Gurus: Bent On Learning’s Inspire! Benefit - Vogue

Black-Tie Style – Refinery29

BOL in the news:

Gwyneth Paltrow Supports Bent On Learning 06.2.2012

well+GOOD 04.30.2012

Huffington Post 5.3.2010

Fox 4.26.2010

NY 1 12.27.2010

ET 2.25.2010

YOGA PROFESSIONALS COMMITTEE KICK OFF
Evening includes a short presentation at 7pm, wine & snacks, music and mingling!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013  |  6:30-8:30PM  |  FREE!
Jill Platner Studio
113 Crosby St, New York City, Map

Thank you to all who attended! 

Join the Yoga Professionals Committee and
Make it your business to enhance the health and education of inner city youth!

What is the Yoga Professionals Committee?

Bent On Learning’s Yoga Professionals Committee (YPC) is a group of volunteers dedicated to raising funds and awareness in support of Bent On Learning’s yoga program for inner city children and public schools.  It is comprised of successful and motivated yoga enthusiasts who serve as BOL’s ambassadors, building awareness of the organization’s mission among their business associates and social acquaintances.   The committee also serves as a platform for grooming members for future leadership roles on the organization’s Board of Directors or Advisory Board.

YPC members play a critical role in spreading BOL’s mission to new individuals and corporations across the metropolitan area.  They focus on increasing understanding about the condition of health and education in New York City public schools, and how yoga helps students to improve health, release stress and pay attention – all of which make kids better prepared to learn.  In addition, the YPC  plans, publicizes, and hosts several events each year, including benefit yoga classes or other health-and-fitness-related social events, dinner parties, happy hours, etc.  They also volunteer directly with BOL throughout the year, providing support at the gala and other events and giving their time and expertise where needed (i.e. digital marketing, research, finance, nonprofit law, public relations, graphic design, etc.).

Who Can Join?
Anyone can join!
The YPC is a new initiative of Bent On Learning – we are working with a blank canvas that invites collective creativity, entrepreneurship and passion.  For the initial launch, each member will serve on the Recruitment and/or Fundraising Committee.  Our goal is to recruit 10 new members by the end of the first year.

Involvement may include brainstorming ideas for increasing awareness, fundraising and advocacy; planning and/or attending events and activities and inviting friends; or sharing particular skill sets in ways that have yet to be identified.

The founding members have the unique opportunity to build BOL’s Yoga Professionals Committee from the ground up and to lead the way with their vision and expertise.  Consider becoming a founding member and taking the lead!  Committee Chair and Vice Chair positions currently open!

Member Benefits
Members of the Yoga Professionals Committee enjoy various opportunities:

• Up to 50% discount to Bent On Learning’s gala, spring benefit and teacher training
• Discounted membership to local yoga studios
• Free workshop in fundraising and the art of the ask
• Visit Bent On Learning classrooms
• Engagement with members of BOL’s Board of Directors and networking with business, yoga and philanthropic leaders in our community
• Vote on new BOL programs and participate in board meetings (Steering Committee)
• YPC members are invited and encouraged to seek additional member benefits through their expertise, contacts and individual and corporate networks

Why Should I Join?
There are many reasons why someone would join the Yoga Professionals Committee:

• Do you want to make a meaningful difference in enhancing health and education among inner city kids?
• Would you like to harness your skills, creativity and knowledge to cause educational change?
• Would you like to meet like-minded people who care about similar issues?
• Do you want to have fun while having a larger, positive impact?

All we ask is that you participate in a meaningful way that satisfies you and allows us to move one step closer to our mission of teaching kids to be more focused, healthier and happier in learning and in life.

How Do I Get Involved?
Call or email Kristen Lalka at 917.545.8437 or kristen@bentonlearning.org.
Make it your business to enhance the health and education of inner city youth!

Bent On Learning is excited to announce its newest Advisory Board member, Dr. Frank Lipman!

A pioneer and internationally recognized expert in the fields of Integrative and Functional Medicine, Dr. Frank Lipman is the founder and director of Eleven Eleven Wellness Center in New York City, where his personal brand of healing has helped thousands of people reclaim their vitality and recover their zest for life.

Bent On Learning’s advisory board consists of a team of experts from the wellness, education, business and philanthropic communities who are committed to the health and education of young people. They will contribute their expertise and thinking to our current and future work, advise staff on strategies to improve outcomes in health and learning for the students we serve, and provide a fresh and informed perspective on programmatic issues and policies.

“The unique aspect of yoga is its adaptability. What I mean by that, is when you are tired there are poses to restore you, when stressed out, poses to relax you, when depressed, poses to elevate your mood, or when you can’t sleep, poses to help the insomnia. And you can do it anywhere, a hotel room, in your home, at the office or… IN THE CLASSROOM.”

– Dr. Frank Lipman

Please join us!
4th ANNUAL BENT ON LEARNING GALA
New Date!  JANUARY 29, 2013

special honorary chairs Donna Karan and Gwyneth Paltrow
honoring Eddie Stern and The David Lynch Foundation

Reserve your space

After a week of school closures, power and heat outages across the city and now, massive efforts to help those most affected by hurricane Sandy, we are concerned about how New York City’s children are coping during the aftermath of this storm.

See below for a list of resources that address the issues that arise in children during times of trauma and stress:

• FEMA: Keeping Children Safe in Sandy’s Wake. Written by a medical doctor, this guide from the Federal Emergency Management Agency includes tips on how to keep children safe in storm-affected areas, as well as a section called “Addressing the Emotional Impacts from Sandy.”
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network: Resources for After a Hurricane. The resources include simple activities to do with your children or adolescents, guidelines for parents on how to help their child after a hurricane and ways teachers can support students in the aftermath of a hurricane. There is also a children’s book that explains hurricanes in kid-friendly language, with a useful guide for parents and caregivers at the end of the story.
• The Child Mind Institute: Talking to Kids About Hurricane Sandy. The website includes a number of tips, and says “Be calm, factual and supportive. And turn off the TV.”
• Teaching Strategies: Helping Young Children Rebound After a Natural Disaster. This website has a number of resources for talking to kids about hurricanes Katrina and Rita – but they’re just as relevant for Sandy. It includes PDF guides for infant and toddler teachers, as well as preschool teachers.
• The Red Cross: Children and Their Response to Disaster. The website has tips for reducing fear and trauma in children. For example: “When you’re sure that danger has passed, concentrate on your child’s emotional needs by asking the child what’s uppermost in his or her mind.
• Students may have misinformation about Hurricane Sandy, and we can do a lot toward alleviating their fears by calmly presenting the facts. Scholastic News has reliable and age-appropriate news about the storm, such as the article “Recovering From Sandy.”
• Elmo has really been getting around! He also talked with children on ABCNews about Hurricane Sandy. There is even an old Sesame Street episode about a hurricane hitting Sesame Street that shows the events of a hurricane in a very child-friendly way. (Spoiler alert: Big Bird’s nest is destroyed.)

Sesame Workshop has developed a number of resources and toolkits that can help you talk with your children about hurricane Sandy:

• “Here for Each Other” – Helping Families After An Emergency
• Hurricane Kit
• You Can Ask
• “I’m Scared” Video Playlist

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