Inner Rhythms is a social-emotional and mindfulness education program that started in the fall of 2024 in the Mountain View Supervisory Union of Upper Valley Vermont. Inner Rhythms is on a mission to provide tools for schools to grow a community of self-aware, compassionate, resilient, and confident kids.

In their 2nd year, this program is expanding to all 5 elementary schools in the MVSU school district, including Woodstock Elementary School, Reading Elementary School. The Prosper Valley School, Killington Elementary School, and Barnard Academy. In addition, the 2025-2026 school year will be a time to develop and refine the Inner Rhythms curriculum that is aligned with the current Vermont SEL curriculum and standards. Over the next 5 years, we plan to expand programming throughout Vermont schools. 20-minute sessions are led by trained Inner Rhythms instructors weekly in each school, including somatic exercises, guided relaxation/meditation, movement, yoga, and breathwork for the whole class, small groups, and 1:1.

WHY INNER RHYTHMS?

Inner Rhythms was created by a former elementary educator who saw the dire need for a mindfulness program like this in the classroom, but struggled to find the time and energy to create and plan for it with already overwhelming curriculum demands. Inner Rhythms Founder, Kelley Boymer, was also inspired by her own mental health journey. As a former anxious child, Kelley struggled to focus and feel safe in school. Her goal is to help students, teachers, and caregivers better understand their emotions and the sensations in their bodies and have the tools to express and move through them.

HOW’S IT GOING?

In its 2nd year, Inner Rhythms is expanding and receiving immense support from the community and beyond. In its pilot year (2024-2025) at Woodstock Elementary School, students reported feeling calmer after sessions, and teachers reported students utilizing tools to deal with big emotions and being better able to focus. Inner Rhythms is grateful to its generous funders and supporters, including: The Green Mountain Foundation, The Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation, The Ottauquechee Health Foundation, The Couch Foundation, and its fiscal sponsor, The Woodstock Community Trust.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Thanks to generous community support, Inner Rhythms has completed a full year of weekly sessions at the Woodstock Elementary School. With your help, we can expand to all five elementary schools in our district. A $50,000 matching gift is fueling this growth—we’ve raised $35,000 so far and need just $15,000 more by December 31st to unlock the full match and create immediate impact.

THANK YOU

We are so grateful for the support we have already received from our community! Overall, we have raised over $90,000 in funds to continue this program through 2025-2026. It is more important now than ever that we take care of the social and emotional well-being of the children in our community. As one 3rd grader said, “Mindfulness is a really good thing to have in your day!”