About the Team
A Letter from our Founder…
Stacy Hemingway
Growing up as a red-head with glasses, I was teased, bullied, and called names in school. I was left with feelings about myself that were simply not true. I felt inferior to my peers. I felt that I was not acceptable or worthy of being included. Both girls and boys made fun of me or antagonized me with physical violence. School felt unsafe. Years later as a mother of two young daughters, the same thing started happening to one of my girls. I began to wonder, “How could school become safer for our children socially and emotionally?” I started to envision a platform that could help students develop a stronger understanding of their own worth and feel more comfortable in their own skin. From there, I imagined children and teens could settle into themselves enough to begin asking the deeper questions of: “Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the point of it all?”
As an adult, I faced these questions with some consternation while beginning to practice yoga. I learned to dig deep with self-inquiry, listening from within, and reflecting on my behavior. One of my teachers, Douglas Brooks, summed it up when he said, “We are the point the universe is trying to make.” What I did not recognize then, is that I knew my purpose all along and just needed to connect the dots. I want more than anything for young people to start grasping their sense of purpose early and therefore carry more confidence forward into their teen years. Unfortunately, the teen years seem to do the opposite by degrading a child’s sense of self.
I developed Conscious Classroom™ to help students move from anxiety and stress towards EMOTIONAL REGULATION, SELF-CONTROL, increased CONCENTRATION and AGENCY over their mind, their body and their education. It all begins with meditation. Slowing down our minds is a stepping stone to tolerating stress, regulating our emotions, and maintaining effective interpersonal relationships, all of which helps us align with our bodies, our world and our purpose.
In the words of Ram Dass, the true teacher lives within each of us and it’s our individual and collective journey that allows us “to all walk each other home.”
I imagine my life at school might have been different if I’d had these capacities available to me earlier on. Maybe I would have been able to accept that being different was okay. Maybe I would have developed into who I wanted to become rather than molding my personality into who I thought others wanted me to be.
I believe these ancient traditions should be accessible to everyone, especially our youth. School is the perfect environment for exposing students to the physical practice of mindful movement, an understanding of the body and brain, and the discipline of meditation. When a child learns to slow down their breathing, they begin to support a steady mind and develop a strong body. Conscious Classroom™ allows students to participate in their own well-being. The simple act of teaching a student to regulate their nervous system and shift their state of mind changes their world and ours.
With a love of lifelong learning,
Stacy
Meet the Team
Stacy Hemingway
Founder
Stacy Hemingway has been teaching Yoga since 2003. She has over 2500 hours of training. She was Anusara certified in 2012. And was also certified to teach kids yoga with Yoga ED in 2015. In 2020 she trained in mental health and wellness and trauma informed yoga with Yoga Medicine. In 2023 she studied with Hala Khouri on trauma informed yoga. Yoga Alliance 500 EYRT CYT.
Jennifer Dorothy
Program Director
Stephanie Dawn
Marketing Director
Jen Suntrup
Outreach Director
Jen brings 20+ years of international People & Culture leadership experience to the Conscious Classroom™ team. She completed her RYT 200 in 2015, and is currently teaching in her local community. Jen is a mom of two, who is actively involved as a volunteer in her school district. She also serves as the Steering Committee Chair of Mom’s Morning Retreat, a community for Moms to connect, replenish, and support one another.
Sarah Engel
Social Media Director
As a soon-to-be-college-graduate, Sarah credits her daily mindfulness and movement routine with maintaining balance and achieving her goals. She believes in the power of the Conscious Classroom™ practices to promote emotional regulation, focus, and overall well-being. Sarah is dedicated to sharing the benefits of this type of practice with others, particularly in helping students develop social-emotional learning competencies.
