Research & Development
Our research centers on sustainability at the most local levels.
Current Research
The Butterfly Project: Testing the Effects of Mindfulness Training for Children
Our purpose is to collect and analyze both quantitative (academic scores) and qualitative data (self-report) on children participating in an Effective (critical) Thinking Program. The program utilizes a variety of methodologies to guide the students as they learn basic critical thinking skills. Storytelling, discussion, meditation, and movement frame each hour-long class; and a challenging question is posed. The children are encouraged to explore each question in class as well as within the accompanying journal. A questionnaire is administered at both the beginning and the end of the 12-part course. The comparative academic data is collected similarly, once at the beginning and once at the end of the course period. We are ready to begin this pilot study as soon as a sample group becomes available.
With the help of friends, donors, and volunteers, Sustenance Research Institute is poised to continue the necessary research to bring yoga into the mainstream educational community as a component of critical thinking curricula.
With the help of friends, donors, and volunteers, Sustenance Research Institute is poised to continue the necessary research to bring yoga into the mainstream educational community as a component of critical thinking curricula.
Past research
In early 2011, Heather Promise Ricciardi conducted a (pilot) case-study to determine the efficacy of yoga therapies on old injuries. The results of the study were quite conclusive. It works, as stated by the participant, himself:
“I enjoyed yoga from my first class; particularly the feeling of peace and calm that I felt most often afterwards…Heather opened up new worlds for me when I started to evolve while working with her individually for this study. She helped me rehabilitate my injured body and experience a feeling of life that encouraged me to go further and seek more sources to change my diet and fight pain using a holistic path…I have relaxed so completely during savasana [corpse pose] that I fell asleep in a brightly lit room with about 30 people. These experiences led me to seek sources of meditation, meditative music, and learn more about yoga.“
-Morgan (motorcycle accident survivor)
The import of this line of scientific inquiry cannot be overstated and Heather intends to continue to study the effects of yoga on a wide variety of physical and mental-emotional issues. It is her claim that yoga and related therapies are key technologies to sustainable living at the most “local” level; the human body. With the help of friends, donors, and volunteers, Sustenance Research Institute is poised to continue the necessary research to bring yoga into the mainstream healthcare community as a preventative medicine.
“I enjoyed yoga from my first class; particularly the feeling of peace and calm that I felt most often afterwards…Heather opened up new worlds for me when I started to evolve while working with her individually for this study. She helped me rehabilitate my injured body and experience a feeling of life that encouraged me to go further and seek more sources to change my diet and fight pain using a holistic path…I have relaxed so completely during savasana [corpse pose] that I fell asleep in a brightly lit room with about 30 people. These experiences led me to seek sources of meditation, meditative music, and learn more about yoga.“
-Morgan (motorcycle accident survivor)
The import of this line of scientific inquiry cannot be overstated and Heather intends to continue to study the effects of yoga on a wide variety of physical and mental-emotional issues. It is her claim that yoga and related therapies are key technologies to sustainable living at the most “local” level; the human body. With the help of friends, donors, and volunteers, Sustenance Research Institute is poised to continue the necessary research to bring yoga into the mainstream healthcare community as a preventative medicine.