With deep appreciation to Annaka Harris, whose role in this book, and the companion set of cards that follow, went far beyond that of an editor. She and I would like to thank Amy Rennert, our agent, for shepherding this project through to publication; Cortland Dahl, Sue Smalley, Sam Harris, Anna McDonnell, and Seth Greenland for reading and commenting on early drafts; Mark Greenberg, Joseph Goldstein, Surya Das, Trudy Goodman, Carolyn Gimian, Jim Gimian, Barry Boyce, Steve Hickman, Mark Brittan, and Tandy Parks for answering questions and tossing ideas around with us; and Diana Winston, Martin Matzinger, and Mira Matzinger for sharing their daughter Mira’s game. Mindful Games is far richer, and frankly better, because of the wise and insightful contributions from these close colleagues and friends.
Thank you to Lindsay DuPont for her playful drawings, and to Suzi Tortora for her early help in weaving movement into several of these games, especially those for young children.
To Beth Frankl, and the team at Shambhala Publications, thank you for helping me keep an eye on the broadest possible audience for this book, and for your patience and encouragement.
This book is a synthesis of more than eight hundred pages of manuals that I developed over the span of close to a decade while training parents, teachers, and clinicians in how to share secular mindfulness with children and families. More people have offered me support throughout this process than I could possibly name, but here are a few who I’d like to single out:
To the remarkable meditation teachers who graciously agreed to serve as advisors to the Inner Kids professional training program—Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, Surya Das, B. Alan Wallace, Gay MacDonald, Trudy Goodman, and Diana Winston. I deeply appreciate, and feel honored by, your support of this work.
To my exceptional teaching compatriots in the various Inner Kids trainings—Daniela Labra, Ryan Redman, Daniel Rechtshaffen, and Tandy Parks. Thank you for your friendship, good humor, and commitment to practice.
Thanks to Michelle Limantour, Nick Seaver, Lisa Henson, Sue Smalley, Charlie Stanford, Shelly Sowell, Jenny Manriguez, Deb Walsh, Mary Sweet, and Melissa Baker for your help during the formative stages of the development of the Inner Kids program.
To those who have participated in an Inner Kids training and who are now taking this work forward and making it their own, a sincere thank-you for your energy sharing mindfulness with children, teens, and families.
Last, I wish to express my appreciation to all of my teachers for their warmth, care, and instruction, with special thanks to two remarkable brothers whose teaching has inspired me in ways that are tough to articulate yet meaningful beyond measure—Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.