Maternal Wellness Project

Integrative Wellness Groups for Low-Income Moms

The Maternal Wellness Project was founded by Jaclyn Long of Mind Body Moms, and now runs under Organizacion Edificando Vidas. Through OEV the Maternal Wellness Program offers FREE services to low-income moms in East Palo Alto and Half Moon Bay, including the following integrative wellness classes in 8 to 10 week modules:

• Nutrition Program – to promote overall physical health and prevent chronic disease, such as diabetes and obesity
• Zumba / Yoga Program – to promote overall physical health and prevent chronic disease
• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program – to promote mental / emotional health and stress relief
• Parent Eduction Program – to promote healthy relationships and encourage healthy child development

Our Mission & Vision

Our mission is to promote maternal health & wellness for the benefit of children, families and communities.

Our vision is to empower low-income moms with mindfulness tools, physical wellness practices such as yoga and Zumba, and effective parenting / communication skills so they can establish safe and healthy home environments as a gateway to success for their children.

Our goal is to serve all moms, regardless of socio-economic status. We currently offer free wellness programs for disadvantaged mothers in East Palo Alto and Half Moon Bay, CA. We believe that by supporting the leaders of the family – the “Chief Emotional Officers” – we are helping children feel safe and secure in their own homes, thereby giving these children a greater chance to experience a nurturing and healthy home environment and to live a fulfilling and successful life.

We are deeply grateful for the generous support of our donors, working in partnership with us to promote a culture of wellness. 

We give special thanks to our generous donors.

Ellis L. Phillips Foundation, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, lululemon, John Lyddon Family Foundation, Stephanie and Charles Knowles, Asawari Agrawal, Matt and Aryn Grossman, Karen Allen, Mina Elbouihich, Kelly Koski, Casey Hirsch, Stephanie Lazar, Arlene Kansora, Teodora Ngo, Donne Davis, Lynn Kearney, Dan Garrison, Evan Cranston, Leslie McNeil, Katie Renati, and Yosi Amram of the Knowledge Freedom Foundation.

Vicky Avila

Lorenia Parada-Ampudia

Lorenia Parada-Ampudia is a leader in the field of mindfulness and leadership training. She supports clients and organizations in the USA and Mexico through a highly effective leadership training style that integrates transformative learning, mindfulness, emotional intelligence and body consciousness. The result: higher-performing, less stressed and more effective leaders.

With Lorenia’s guidance you will:

– Improve decision-making skills.
– Learn to cultivate healthy relationships with yourself and with others in your family, community and work place.
– Increase self-awareness and self-regulation by learning to identify bodily sensations, emotions, thoughts, habits, patterns of behavior and beliefs.
– Enhance abilities to consciously listen, communicate and effectively relate with others.
– Identify internal resources to develop resilience and establish better ways to deal with stress.
– Transcend ones’ edges towards personal, group and societal growth.

Dr. Andrea Castillo

Dr. Andrea Castillo is a mindfulness and Insight Meditation teacher. She grew up among artists, especially dancers, watching and partaking in rehearsals, and performances of her parents company Ballet para Todos in Mexico City. Andrea graduated from Stanford University with a Ph.D. in the Humanities; her multi- disciplinary dissertation dealt with Goethe, music, dance, and the visual arts. She launched the undergraduate music program at the Universidad de las Americas Puebla, Mexico where she taught and was chair of the department for four years. She also taught at Stanford University for three years as part of the Ph.D. program.

The guiding principle of all of Andrea’s studies has been finding meaning, depth, and happiness in our lives. This interest has dovetailed with her deep involvement in mindfulness and meditation, which she started practicing in 1998, at the Insight Meditation Center, with her teacher Gil Fronsdal. She has been teaching since 2007. Presently Andrea teaches at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City and at Against the Stream in San Francisco. She has also taught many mindfulness workshops throughout the Bay Area.

Andrea has danced in a dance improvisation group in Palo Alto for 18 years. She believes in the power of dance as a meditation in movement that allows emotions to flow through us, through movements that originate deep within us and are unique to who we are.

Motherhood has been a very rewarding experience for Andrea and a rich terrain for learning. Her son is a fun, awake, and creative young man working at Google.

Carmen Escobar

Karen Hoffman

Emilie Jobson