We give kids pencils to write and calculators to help solve problems - but where do they practice the tools to navigate life?

Just Breathe Academy is a kid-led, evidence-based EQ method built for the way kids actually grow.

WHY IT MATTERS?

EQ are the skills kids carry for life.

Builds what a kid knows.

IQ

Builds who a kid is.

EQ

The Research Agrees

11%

academic gain in
EQ programs

CASEL meta-analysis, 213 schools

 $11

returned for every $1 invested in SEL

Columbia, Economic Value of SEL

61%

retention when learners recall it themselves

Roediger & Karpicke, Psychological Science

2x

EQ outpaces IQ in life outcomes

Goleman, longitudinal research

"The science is settled. What's been missing is a method simple enough for kids to lead it themselves."

WHAT THIS COULD LOOK LIKE

A kid with high EQ.

WITHIN THEMSELVES

Has words for feelings.

Kids who meet what they feel: slow down enough to notice it's there, find the word for it, and transform.

WITH OTHERS

Connect as themselves.

Confident to make new friends. Vulnerable enough to be known. Quiet enough to stay.

WITH WHAT THEY NEED

Remains curious.

Asks questions. Tries new things. Explores their world with eyes wide open.

WITH ANY FEELING

Settles their own body.

Brings themselves back to steady. Knows what they need and reaches for it.

AS THEMSELVES

Knows who they are.

Shows up as themselves. Tries the thing. Trusts who they are.

OVER TIME

Returns to themselves.

Awareness is the skill that makes every other skill stick + Gratitude for who they are, becoming and will be.

Every kid is different. In our practice that’s exactly as it should be.

THE METHOD

Everything starts with a breath.
Where you go from there
is up to you.

ALWAYS FIRST

Just Breathe

Every practice starts here. One breath, and you're ready to Just Play.

01

THE PLAY

Just Play

The breath created the calm. Now you decide what you need next: movement, connection, imagination, or words. And you lead.

02

ALWAYS LAST

Just BE

Every practice ends here. A quiet minute to notice how you feel. Then close it the same way each time: Arms wide. Big hug. "Thank you me."

03

EQ skills so simple… a kid can lead.
And they do. That's the point.

THE CURRICULUM

Six pillars. One toolbox.

ALWAYS FIRST

Just Breathe

Arrive. Settle the body. Open the door.

THE VOICE

Just Speak

Out loud, to a friend, or in your journal.

THE BODY

Just Move

Shift emotional energy through the body.

THE BRIDGE

Just Connect

Listening, sharing, being seen.

THE INNER WORLD

Just Imagine

Creative thinking, empathy, perspective.

ALWAYS LAST

Just BE

Stillness, awareness. Thank you me.

FIVE AGE PHASES · 0 TO 17+

Littles · 0–4

Rising · 4–6

Finding · 6–9

Growing · 9–12

Becoming · 12+

Imagine a world where every kid feels seen.

Imagine a world where every kid feels seen.

While I was preparing for school today, I noticed my son practicing a finger-tracing technique I hadn't seen before. When I asked, he eagerly explained it was a skill learned at Just Breathe. He was so proud to demonstrate his new tool over and over again!

-Principal, Columbus, GA

What We Stand For

MISSION

Every kid has tools to learn. We inspire their tools to live.

VISION

A world where every kid feels seen.

PROMISE

EQ skills so simple a kid can lead.

THE PROOF

The world is already asking for what we inspire.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM · FUTURE OF JOBS 2025

After critical thinking, the most-demanded skills for the workforce of 2030 are resilience, flexibility, and agility.

These aren't soft skills. They are EQ skills — the same skills the Academy teaches.

Surveyed: 1,000+ global employers · 14 million workers · 55 economies.
Source: World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025.

From the people doing the work.

  • “We didn't bring this program in to fix a problem. We brought it in because it gave our kids language we have been trying to teach them for years”

    -Principal, Columbus, GA

  • "I am my own best teacher and now I know I can breathe when I'm mad or angry."

    -a kid, in their own words

  • "I've witnessed students who typically prefer to stay in the background step up and take on leadership roles."

    -Pilot teacher, Lonnie Jackson Academy

  • "This program has made an incredible impact on my classroom. In challenging times, it's the kids who lead the room back to calm."

    -Pilot teacher, Lonnie Jackson Academy

  • "I have actual tools now that don't require me to stop teaching to use them. The kids run it themselves, and by November I was watching them use them without me!"

    -5th Grade Teacher, Columbus, GA

  • "What sold me was that it didn't add anything to my staff's plate. It became part of how the day runs instead of one more thing they had to get through."

    -Principal, Phenix City, AL

  • "My daughter started doing a star breath on her own in the car before testing day. I didn't tell her to. That's when I understood what this was actually building."

    -Grownup, Columbus, GA

  • “She uses the skills she's learned at Just Breathe for Kids regularly- especially when she gets frustrated. She closes her eyes and takes a visible, deep breath, and comes away a little calmer”

    -Grandparent, Columbus, GA 

  • “My son, who is on the Autism Spectrum, feels very comfortable practicing these skills. He says the (Academy) tools like movement strategies and the breathing techniques help him relax.”

    -Grownup, Columbus, GA

  • “My child has learned to develop real friendships and built self esteem.”

    -Grownup, Kid age 11

  • "Thank you for providing such a loving and supportive environment for my son as he navigates his anxiety."

    -Grownup, Kid age 8

Work with the Academy

SCHOOLS

Bring the Academy to your school.

Bring the Academy to your school. Consulting, training, curriculum.

PRESS & PARTNERS

Tell the Academy's story.

Journalists, podcasters, and aligned organizations welcome. Press kit available on request.

SPEAKING

Invite the Academy to speak.

Keynotes, workshops, and faculty trainings on kid-led EQ, peer-led learning, and creating a mindful school culture.

FAMILIES

Bring it home — soon.

Family-facing tools are in development. Join the list to know when there's something a kid can hold.

Everything starts with a breath. Where you go from there is up to you.

Follow us on Social Media
@thejustbreatheacademy

We build emotional intelligence curriculum for kids — the kind a kid picks up and leads. It's built on decades inside schools, where we saw that kids have tools to learn. But what about the tools to inspire them to live as the best versions of
Every kid has tools to learn. We inspire their tools to live. That's our mission. Tools so simple. A kid can lead.
We didn't need to prove that these skills matter. That work is done, and it's been done for a while. Teaching them raises achievement. Every dollar spent returns about eleven. Ninety-five percent of teachers say they can be taught. And self-control
Often what a kid knows gets measured. Who a kid is gets noticed. Both are built. School curriculums have the IQ covered. We build and inspire EQ; the life skills kids carry long after the test is over.
A classroom of twenty-four. A kitchen table. The back seat on the way to practice. Same practice in all three. A kid learns it once and it travels with them. Curriculum and training for schools. Tools for families.
One question decides what we inspire: can a kid lead this on their own? A skill a grownup runs stays the grownups. A skill a kid leads becomes the kid's — and a kid who can lead themselves can transform anything!