National Suicide Prevention Month Spotlight: Kiss of Yoga
September is National Suicide Prevention Month, a time to raise awareness and highlight the people and organizations working to support mental wellness in our community. Here in Loudoun County, Kiss of Yoga is helping bring those efforts directly to local youth.
Led by Kirsten Shabanowitz, Kiss of Yoga specializes in curated yoga and meditation services designed to support individuals and communities through movement, mindfulness and greater self-awareness. Beyond the yoga mat, that mission has grown into meaningful partnerships focused on helping young people develop healthy tools for navigating stress, anxiety and other challenges.
Kirsten Shabanowitz of Kiss of Yoga
Supporting Loudoun Youth Through Community Partnership
Kiss of Yoga is a community partner with the Ryan Bartel Foundation, supporting its FORT programming for youth in Loudoun County. FORT provides safe, welcoming spaces where young people can connect with others while learning healthy ways to navigate stress, anxiety and depression. Through the partnership, Kiss of Yoga brings trauma-informed yoga, meditation and mindfulness practices into spaces where young people can experience and practice these tools firsthand. The goal isn’t simply to teach yoga. It’s to help young people build a toolkit they can return to when life feels overwhelming.
Kirsten’s work also extends into youth mental health and suicide prevention education. She is a certified Youth Mental Health First Aid practitioner, serves as a trusted adult and facilitator with the Ryan Bartel Foundation, and is a trained facilitator in Sources of Strength, an evidence-based suicide prevention program. Sources of Strength takes a strengths-based approach to prevention, encouraging young people to identify and lean into the relationships, resources and healthy coping strategies that can help them through difficult moments. Combined with yoga and meditation, this work gives Kiss of Yoga an opportunity to introduce mental wellness practices in approachable, non-traditional settings.
Building Skills That Last Beyond September
By introducing young people to practices centered around self-awareness, mindfulness and calming the nervous system, Kiss of Yoga is helping Loudoun youth develop skills they can continue using throughout their lives. It’s also an example of what community partnership can look like in action: local organizations bringing their unique expertise together to strengthen the community they serve.
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