OUR STORY
About Mindful Foundations:
At Mindful Foundations, we believe every child deserves a classroom where they feel safe, loved, and ready to learn — and every teacher deserves the support, training, and emotional grounding to make that possible.
Our work was born from a simple truth: early childhood education is not broken because teachers don’t care or children can’t behave. It’s broken because the system has forgotten the heart of teaching — safety, connection, regulation, and relationship. Mindful Foundations LLC. exist to restore that heart of teaching.
We equip educators, leaders, and programs with trauma-informed tools, compassionate classroom practices, and a stabilizing presence that brings calm where there is chaos. Through our education consulting, professional development, emotional intelligence retreats, and L.O.V.E.E. curriculum, we help rebuild early learning environments from the inside out.
Our approach is both practical and deeply relational.
We listen.
We observe.
We value.
We empathize.
And we evolve — together.
We step into classrooms others avoid, offering hope, steadiness, and a new way forward. We prepare teachers to lead with peace and wisdom. Our methods are grounded in evidence-based neuroscience and the quiet strength of timeless principles that honor the dignity and potential of every human being.
Because:
When children feel safe, they can learn.
When teachers feel supported, they can thrive.
When families feel connected, they can heal.
Mindful Foundations is more than a service — it’s a movement to reset and restore early childhood education so children, teachers, and communities can flourish in safety, purpose, and wholeness.
About Mercedes
Mercedes Finstuen is the CEO and founder of Mindful Foundations, an early childhood educator, curriculum developer, and trauma informed consultant who helps restore peace, regulation, and connection in classrooms. She is the creator of the Mindful Foundations curriculum featuring the L.O.V.E.E. Method, a relational approach that brings calm where there is chaos and helps children, teachers, and programs thrive.
Mission
To renew early childhood education by nurturing the whole child – emotionally, socially, and spiritually – through compassionate teaching practices grounded in relational trust, developmental understanding, and emotional safety. Guided by evidence-based frameworks and trauma-informed care, we envision classrooms where educators and children thrive in connection, resilience, and peace. Ensuring children are deeply established in safety and connection to remain in the posture for true learning to exist.
Vision
We envision early learning environments where children feel safe, teachers feel supported, and families experience lasting hope and healing. A future where classrooms are calm, relationships are strong, and every child has the foundation they need and deserve to flourish and reach their full potential.
Our Approach
Having served as a student, teacher, and director, I am familiar with the challenges posed by teacher shortages, burnout, high turnover rates, and student emotional or behavioral difficulties within classrooms. Our method is grounded in practical experience and effective implementation to foster a structured and supportive environment.
Our approach empowers educators, students, and families to progress from merely coping with challenges to achieving meaningful growth and success through the implementation of the L.O.V.E.E. Method: Listen, Observe, Value, Empathize, Evolve.
Using daily classroom recordings, observation, and reflection, teachers can identify triggers that initiate behaviors. This allows teachers to show value for feelings and emotions, empathize with the child, and work to evolve the emotions and behaviors promoting self-regulation within the classroom through intentional social-emotional learning and student role-playing. With the end goal of teaching tangible inner skills that will last the longevity of their lives, for eternal holistic success.
However, our approach understands that true holistic success requires a strong partnership between school and home. This requires pulling families in close to ensure the same success within the classroom translates to home, by providing practical guidance,resources, and support to have the same eternal holistic success away from school.
Note of Inspiration
As caregivers of young children, it’s easy to get caught up in the chaos and stress of the day. But when we pause to remember that our work goes deeper than reading and math, we recommit to what truly matters: we’ve been entrusted with a sweet soul who needs more than academics. Children need love, compassion, guidance, and empathy. Today, we have the opportunity to guide them into their fullest potential through mindful well-being. It’s our honor to walk this journey with you—supporting each child’s heart and strengthening the families who love them.
—Mercedes Finstuen, Founder of Mindful Foundations and the L.O.V.E.E. method
