our method
It’s ethos…..
Good Company New Bedford opts for an approach that allows rather than corrects. We use this method to teach people to understand themselves a range of feelings—calm and anxious, concerned and relaxed, challenged and comforted. Our aim is to nurture a well developed confidence and humility to bolster leadership, employment, and community building. We have redesigned yoga and movement practices to create a more reliable outcome and less prescriptive benefit. We, staff and youth mentors tailor all of our classes to the group we will be teaching. Our classes are led by young people, which is rare in wellness. We pride ourselves in learning about the community we will teach to in order to curate a a class, workshop, lesson or series for them.
Good Company supports marginalized youth. A 2021 NIH study found many teens have high stress, anxiety, and depression. Marginalized groups like BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and low-income youth experience high levels of stress from racism, homophobia, and transphobia.
Our method creates an inclusive, safe, and inspiring space. We provide local youth with hands-on learning and work opportunities. Learn more below.
R.E.S.T.
R.E.S.T. (Reflective/Restorative, Engaging, Social Time) Youth will experience the benefits of yoga, moving, relaxing, and talking to each other while resting in comfortable yoga poses. This method soothes the nervous system and enhances natural, effortless communication, which can be rare and challenging for these age groups. Our formula often look like this: MOVE, REST, PROMPT, SHARE & DISCUSS. This design, albeit simple has been tried and tested for 6 years by youth for youth. When youth communicate better they approach a level of confident and humility that supports connection. Each time young people meet in a group, they focus on the space, place, and group vibe to shape the conversation around a topic during restorative poses. The main topics are clear thinking and honest communication. Examples include mental health and art.
Our youth teachers/mentors design, teach and assess each class we bring out to the community. The practice of learning to teach and learning to practice are both inlaid in the R.E.S.T. methodology. In today’s fast-paced, phone-focused world, this is the best way to meet the needs of any community, then tailor it to the group or topic. It offers an affordable way for young people to engage in arts and culture by creating spaces.
We have taught from age 5 - 22. Our teacher age from 15 - 24. Groups sizes are from 3 - 20 attendees. We have been collect data on our method, look below.
our research & data
We want to understand how and why our works, and where it doesn’t. We have surveyed participants for years and are now beginning to organize and compare the data.Many studies on things like yoga and mindfulness are biased or incomplete. That’s okay—we’re not here to change your mind, just to show we look to constantly improve our approach.
We surveyed youth both prior to and after participating in R.E.S.T. classes. The nonspecific results column identifies that the youth had some prior experience with yoga or a similar practice and were able to provide a result based on that experience. These results are referred to as nonspecific because they often consisted of honest but general statements describing how the participants felt during their practice. The Pro R.E.S.T. results were gathered by surveying the youth after completing a R.E.S.T. session to determine if the participants were able to communicate comfortably and effectively within a group setting and if they could recognize that change themselves. An adult facilitator measured various factors including the length and cadence of the participants' communication, as well as the pace and depth of their breathing, in order to assess the impact of the R.E.S.T. method according to the goals of our thesis.