Our Philosophy
The Mission:
At Wildflowers Kids Yoga, our mission is to plant seeds for strong, kind minds that cultivate positive relationships with themselves and others. Our curriculum integrates Social Emotional Learning with mindfulness and movement to help children develop emotional regulation, resilience, and self-awareness.
We believe a strong foundation in these skills empowers children to care for their own mental health, overcome challenges, and navigate their world with confidence.
A Message From Our Founder:
“For me, growing up was hard. I was born to a teen mom with little resources. I experienced different forms of abuse from a young age. I moved homes and schools frequently. I witnessed domestic violence and substance abuse firsthand. Overall, I dealt with way more than any child should have to deal with. Despite my circumstances, I managed to go to college and create my own life. I went from being a high school baby, to becoming a first generation university student, to earning my way into a top graduate program at an Ivy-League university at age 21.
So, how did I do it? I credit much of my success to the teachers who guided me along the way. I was lucky enough to build strong bonds to teachers who saw my value and made sure that I saw it, too. In class, it didn’t matter what was happening at home. My teachers didn’t look at me and see my troubled family. They saw a young girl with a bright mind who was ready to persist. They tended to and taught that young girl, helping me to bloom into the strong woman I am today.
I believe all children have the same potential I had. My goal is to build a mindset of resilience in all of the children I work with. I want them to know their worth, feel their power, and believe in themselves.
This life isn’t easy. It’s crucial that we give children the best chance we can at a good life - and that starts with mindset. Wildflowers, to me, is so much more than a fun kids yoga class. It’s essential learning for how to take care of yourself and carry on when life gets tough.”
- Brooke Diviak, Founder and Lead Teacher
Intentional Design
Leading Up To Our Founding
In the 2020-21 school year, Brooke worked as a Special Education Itinerant Teacher (SEIT). This role involved acting as a Social Emotional Coach in real time. She started to realize that all children can benefit from being taught social emotional skills, not just those identified for special education.
The lead teacher in this classroom was Annabelle Baylin, co-founder of Intentional Child (along with Karen Levenberg). Annabelle’s teaching model was deeply rooted in mindfulness and creating classroom values through daily intentions. These “intentions” included daily conversations about topics like persistence, gratitude, openness, and more.
For more on Intentional Child, check out their website or this published article.
The goal here is to define big ideas in ways that young minds can understand and apply. For example:
Wildflowers’ curriculum is rooted in psychology. All lessons are designed by our founder, Brooke Diviak, MA in Psychology in Education (Clinical Psychology), Columbia University.
Rooted in Psychology
We use a blend of 3 subfields:
Clinical Psychology, Positive Psychology, and Developmental Psychology.
Clinical Psychology deals with assessment and treatment. How do we treat anxiety? How do we alleviate depression? Here, there is an emphasis on developing coping strategies and on building resilience.
Positive Psychology asks not just how to cope, but how to thrive. Though Positive Psychology is not about avoiding negative experiences. Instead, it’s about handling all experiences, positive and negative, in healthy ways and learning to integrate them meaningfully in the experience of life. The goal isn’t happiness; it’s growth.
Developmental Psychology is the study of human development over the lifespan, including physical, cognitive, social, and emotional growth. This field gives us an understanding of what minds need and are ready for, depending on where they are in development.
Deeper Roots
That’s not all. Wildflowers, at its roots, is a psychology organization. But at its heart, there’s more.
Wildflowers, deep down, is intended as suicide prevention.
A large part of Brooke’s inspiration for starting Wildflowers came after the death of a childhood friend. This was not the first time someone she cared about ended their life. At the height of the 2020 pandemic, amid a brewing mental health crisis, Brooke started to wonder what could be done to help others who are struggling with their mental health.
She decided to focus on our youngest minds, and to teach them how to care for their own mental health throughout life.
In Summary
When it comes to children, we can’t always be there for them. We can provide a rich, nurturing environment and plant as many “good seeds” as we want in their minds. But we can’t control who they grow into or what they will face.