Our mission is to inspire and empower our future generations.
Heartshine is dedicated to raising awareness about the impact of traumatic experiences on children and young people in marginalized communities. We nurture, train, and empower young community members – we call them our Community Champions—to take on this important work. Our unique approach combines creative arts (dance, music, and art) with mindfulness training (meditation, breathwork, and tapping), which helps promote self-regulation, well-being, and resilience.
About Heartshine
We believe that creative expression, inner resourcing and self care practices are superpowers that allow individuals to express themselves and to find meaning and balance in a safe and unintimidating way.
Our unique training empowers young community members to understand the harmful effects of violence and trauma. Through their journey with Heartshine, they not only experience the positive impact of creative arts and mindfulness practices but also learn how to support and work with children facing similar challenges.
Programmes
Our champions lead practical sessions with partner NGOs, where groups of vulnerable children engage in creative arts and learn mindfulness techniques to support their mental, emotional, and overall well-being.
We also facilitate training sessions with ECD forums to raise awareness about the effects of trauma in classrooms and provide a creative arts curriculum that enhances childhood development.
Our children need all the help the can get to unlock their potential.
South African youth, on average, experience 8 ‘highly traumatic’ life events per year versus 4.8 in the entire lifetime of a Western child (USA/UK)*
* Source: Waves for Change
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)
ACEs can have a tremendous impact on future violence, victimisation and perpetration, and life long health and opportunity.
