This poster will explore the creation and facilitation of a twelve-week, bi-weekly afterschool program in slacklining and mindfulness, which is taking place at Asheville Middle School (AMS). The program is made possible through the In Real Life (IRL) foundation, sponsored by the Asheville City Schools Foundation. Slacklining is a newly emerging sport that involves learning to balance on a dynamic piece of webbing that is tensioned between two points. Once balance is achieved, various tricks and static poses can be incorporated into the sport. Mindfulness is a mental state or attitude that can be achieved by intentionally and non-judgmentally focusing one’s attention on the present moment. Slacklining requires an immense amount of focus and a seamless connection between body and mind, essentially turning the sport into a physical mindfulness practice. This public service project (psp) involved the administration of this program and the development of a curriculum document for future use by facilitators and students. The psp poster will explore the connections between slacklining and mindfulness and will detail the activities conducted in the program, as well as the effects of the program. The poster will also present a discussion of the various challenges that were faced throughout the facilitation of this program and some ways in which the program could potentially improve in the future. The slacklining curriculum document reflects these challenges and improvements and will hopefully be utilized for future programs at AMS and elsewhere. The development of slacklining and mindfulness curricula has the potential to offer students opportunities for new and exciting forms of physical exercise, a chance to begin cultivating the ability to sustain their attention for longer periods of time while dealing with distractions, and a chance to develop greater self-awareness skills as well as relaxation and stress-management techniques.
