STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

A few years ago Leo Corrales might have felt anxious, even breathless, as he stepped out of the bustling New Delhi airport to survey thousands of people scurrying around what felt like a 100-degree furnace blasting the streets of India.

But, instead, the Wood River High School graduate found his breath.

Practicing a few simple breathing and mindfulness techniques he'd learned from Flourish Foundation, he calmed himself and embraced what could have seemed like overwhelming, confusing chaos.

“Practicing mindfulness has changed the way I go about life. It’s given me tools so that when I interact with people I’m much calmer,” said Corrales, who has gone to India and Mexico as part of the organization’s Compassionate Leaders Program. “It’s given me an incredible start in the world that most other kids don’t have.”

Corrales, who is on his way to Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., to study photojournalism, was among several youngsters who shared how Flourish Foundation's programs had set the tone for their future at the Foundation's annual fundraising luncheon held this past week at the Limelight Hotel.

"It's so critical to invest in the hearts and minds of each other," facilitator Paige Redman told the audience. "We need to extend it beyond our wildest dreams. I ask you to cultivate your own mind so we can shift the way we deal with the world. How would you live if you were exactly what was needed to change the world?"

Flourish Foundation teaches healthy habits of mind to promote personal wellbeing and inspire benevolent social action and environmental stewardship in both adults and children. It has worked with driven youth who have gone on to study international relations in hopes of changing the world. And it’s worked with youth like an 18-year-old who was referred to the program after being arrested for drug offenses.

The Foundation offers tools to mitigate the pain of childbirth and to foster caring relationships   between parent and child. Facilitators are even teaching seniors meditation skills.

The mind is one of the most powerful forces in nature, noted Ryan Redman, the program’s executive director.

“Our focus is on improving the quality of life from the outside,” he said. “Little attention is paid on the inside to repair ourselves…and our beautiful planet. When we neglect inner transformation, our best policies and procedures erode away. The time is now that we come together as a community to bring about a cultural revolution based on transforming our world from the inside out.”

Among those Flourish Foundation has helped is Kim Aranda. She lost her mother in a car accident when their car hit black ice in Salt Lake City. Learning inner breathing techniques helped her overcome anxiety about getting in a car.

"Flourish Foundation helped me appreciate myself,” said the teenager. “I learned I can help someone who's unhappy.”

Alex Garcia, who is studying political science and environmental science at Boise State University, went with the Foundation’s Compassionate Leaders Program to Mexico two years in a row. There she worked with disabled young adults—a population often neglected in that country.

“I learned how important it is to understand people. Instead of just showing up and saying, ‘Do this,’ we need to ask, ‘What do you need?’ It’s all about community—working together. Not us versus them.”

Colby Werley took part in the first Compassionate Leaders Program seven years ago.

Since, her studies at Long Island University have taken her to countries like Costa Rica, Turkey, and India.

“I’ve seen a lot of service-related programs and what stands out to me about the Compassionate Leaders Program is its depth,” she said. “It doesn’t just focus on the physical thing we’re doing but it  asks us to assess: Am I valuable here? What can I bring to this?”

"These stories illustrate transformation that can take place in our moments of greatest adversity," said Flourish Foundation Director Ryan Redman. "This program helps young people to build up their inner resources so they can become engaged citizens."

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

The Flourish Foundation office is located at 1030 Airport Way, in Hailey. For more information, go to www.flourishfoundation.org or call 208-450-9309.