Purpose – Mindfulness-based interventions – which train capacities for attention, awareness, compassion, and self-regulation of thoughts and emotions – may offer unique benefits for urban youth exposed to chronic stress and adversity. Urban schools are promising settings in which to integrate mindfulness-based interventions; however, they pose complex challenges for intervention implementation and evaluation. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reflects on the experiences of our community-academic partnership conducting two school-based randomised trials on a mindfulness and yoga programme. The programme was developed by the Holistic Life Foundation and was delivered to middle school students in public schools serving disadvantaged urban communities. Findings – This paper discusses barriers and facilitating factors related to effective intervention delivery and evaluation, presents recommendations for future work and reflects on the potential benefits of mindfulness-based practices for students, teachers and schools. Originality/value – The paper offers a detailed account of challenges and opportunities associated with implementing mindfulness-based practices in urban school settings.

In the past years, the number of mindfulness-based intervention and prevention programs has increased steadily. In order to achieve the intended program outcomes, program implementers need to understand the essential and indispensable components that define a program's success. This chapter describes the complex process of identifying the core components of a mindfulness and yoga program for urban early adolescents through the systematic study of fidelity of implementation of the intervention. The authors illustrate the CORE Process [(C) Conceptualize Core Components; (O) Operationalize and measure; (R) Run analyses and Review implementation findings; and (E) Enhance and refine], based on data gained from a mindfulness and yoga intervention study conducted as a community-academic partnership in Baltimore city.

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