JabuMind

The JabuMind app, born from the collaborative efforts of teachers, administrators, artists, and mental health clinicians, is a powerful tool that makes a transformative impact on the mental health of teachers. With a mission of fostering a stronger and more supportive classroom, this innovative app empowers educators in their social and emotional growth. By uplifting teachers, JabuMind creates a ripple effect, positively impacting students and entire school communities.

Recognizing the indispensable role teachers play in shaping young minds is critical. The daily grind of creating lesson plans, managing classroom dynamics, and providing emotional support to students can be daunting for them.

Keeping this in mind, JabuMind prioritizes teachers’ mental health, creating a positive classroom environment where they can teach in a way that resonates with students. It empowers and supports teachers in their social and emotional growth, which, in turn, creates a huge impact on student development–– academically, socially, and emotionally.

JabuMind provides a ten-week mindfulness course based on the evidence-based Integrated Restoration (iRest) method to support teachers' mental health. The program comes with an array of mindfulness tools, including ‘affirming your inner resource’ and ‘practicing breathsensing.’ Each tool effectively helps teachers better manage stress and anxiety, enabling them to feel connected to their work and reducing the chances of experiencing burnout. “Each week, teachers receive one of ten lessons, in bite-size amounts—a short yet impactful practice addressing sleep issues with dedicated meditations,” says Jill Apperson, co-founder of JabuMind and certified iRest teacher.

Acknowledging the demanding schedules teachers experience on weekdays, longer meditation sessions are reserved for weekends. With iRest, JabuMind empowers educators to integrate mindfulness into their daily lives, enabling them to combat various stressors they face at work, like compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, and burnout.

JabuMind's ‘Breathe Now’ meditations are designed to help educators cope with daily challenges with two-minute breathing practices. Participating in a brief breathing meditation allows individuals to compose themselves, enabling a thoughtful response rather than a reactive one in various situations.

The app library is packed with various curated meditations that teachers can choose from to practice mindfulness, improve sleep quality and regulate stress during challenging times. There are also seasonal meditations strategically aligned with events like back-to-school and parent-teacher conferences, ensuring a positive experience for teachers worldwide.

The app also delves into user preferences, primarily focusing on the meditations teachers prefer for listening and sharing. By analyzing these patterns, valuable insights are gained, enabling more relevant content generation. All data pertaining to a teacher’s preferred meditations or any other details are completely confidential.

Certified iRest teachers of this program from various regions collaborate and volunteer to share the program with colleagues.

Each week, teachers receive one of ten lessons, in bite-size amounts—a short yet impactful practice addressing sleep issues with dedicated meditation

Collaborating with professors from Southeastern Louisiana University and a university in California, JabuMind conducted research on the app’s effectiveness. The study found that teachers practicing the iRest meditations during their daily schedules were able to boost their confidence, reduce stress, and improve overall well-being.

The best part is teachers can access the app for around-the-clock support for brief meditations to alleviate the stress they experience at work or and throughout their day.

A fifth-grade teacher using JabuMind discussed how the app positively impacted her well-being, helping her cope with everyday challenges through breathing exercises post-recess and after lunch. Observing a positive shift in her behavior, colleagues inquired about her newfound calmness and reduced stress, and she attributed these improvements to practicing mindfulness through the app. This narrative emphasizes the app's valuable role in supporting teachers during critical phases when they are overwhelmed by stress and limited access to support.

At JabuMind, the core objective is to bring compassion, self-love, reflection, and in-depth discussions of well-being back into the classroom. Gathering insights from years of research, including teacher surveys and interviews, it equips teachers to create a culture of support and collaboration and prioritize student success.