Pandemic talk. Economic cataclysm. Empty shelves in stores. It all seems surreal right now. There is, however, a movement in Sandpoint, primarily in the schools, that is making a difference in the way people respond to challenges.

It’s called Underground Kindness.

Underground Kindness was masterminded by Lindy Lewis, who has spearheaded an effort to expand students’ abilities to empathize with others and to practice tools that foster stress reduction and relaxation in themselves. Even though the schools are closed presently, she hopes students utilize what they have learned about self-care practices while they are sequestered at home.

In an overly scheduled culture where judgements can be harsh and expectations for achievement can be overwhelming, Lewis and her band of traveling “compassionists” are teaching intentional stretching exercises and classes on self-compassion for physical and emotional well-being.

“We also teach them to be themselves because one’s quirks make you colorful,” she said.

Lewis, born and raised in Sandpoint, was a highly successful woman in the corporate world. “I was always amped and ramped, and I got things done, she said.

“I had a really fun corporate life working in Spokane as the Broadway show person, and also in real estate,” she said. But then she found herself in the position of raising three young children as a single parent, along with a Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis. She had to change her lifestyle.

“I started to take yoga after the disease had progressed. I didn’t know how to move stress from my body, but I had to start unwinding my own mind, grounding myself, slowing down. When we are self-attacking in our head, our bodies are going to follow suit,” she said.

Eventually, Lewis hatched the idea of inspiring grace in the mind and body, “meeting yourself where you are and being good to yourself.” When she uses the word “grace,” it is not a religious allusion; it means kindness.

Lewis learned many tools for grounding and being kind to one’s self at age 40. She yearned to introduce young people to the art of self-compassion so they have the important emotional tools they need as their lives start out. “I hadn’t realized how stressed out kids are.”

She set up a non-profit to teach yoga in the schools, or as she calls it, “intentional stretching.” There are no religious ideas presented and there is no subterfuge or hidden agenda going on. “It’s about learning to breathe and to create space in the body that will promote healing. It’s about teaching them to show up for themselves in a kind place, to recognize where they might be holding tension in their body,” she said.

Lewis, the compassionists, and the stretching instructors go to the middle and high schools, including the alternative and charter schools, as well as to the jail for juveniles, and to Kinderhaven every week to conduct stretching classes and a myriad of other self-empowering classes. The regular classroom teacher stays in the room with the presenters and students.

There are eight compassionists teaching in the schools besides Lewis and they are all paid for their efforts. Underground Kindness pays them through fundraisers, grants, and donations. The compassionists are Lewis, Mariela Rebelo, Lacey Raine Barlow, Stefanie Van Horne, Sarah Rusnak, Daniele “Sohini” Huguenin, Kate Fisher, Vicki Longhini, and Cameron Tenney.

Molly Ricckard of Sandpoint was hired last October as program coordinator and scheduler of Underground Kindness classes. There are 10 yoga teachers in the community who guide the students through the poses. Other types of classes offered through U.K. include wellness and nutrition. U.K might go to a speech class to facilitate a presentation on authentic relating, or to an anatomy class for a talk on the nervous system, Ricckard said. “We’ve done yoga in Spanish class, all in Spanish because one of our teachers knows the language,”she said.

Before the school closure, Ricckard said students who had not verbally participated in classes all year were unfolding. “We validate their concerns and offer information we wish we’d had at their ages.

“We encourage a ‘better than’ plan. Be just a little bit better than yesterday,” she said.

Janenne Russell, a Forrest Bird Charter School teacher, feels grateful for Underground Kindness and its work. “I am grateful for a community group such as U.K. whose purpose is to make life more pleasant and meaningful for our youth. I enjoy the professionals who come and share their skills and talents with me and my students. I love watching my students’ high engagement levels in the thoughtful practices U.K. provides,” she wrote for the organization’s website.

Jessica Pennick, who teaches academic support and U.S. history at Sandpoint High School, said one presentation on authentic relating helped the students understand their dreams and hopes really matter. She enjoys learning along with the students: “I get to participate on the same level with the students. It humanizes me,” she said.

Pennick said the students learned how stress affects the body, how to deal with test anxiety, and they came up with their own tools for resetting, such as walking, fishing, deep breathing, and listening to music. “They learned that we all have stress, and they are not alone.”

At a recent all-school ski day at Clark Fork Junior-Senior High School, some students chose not to go to the mountain. Even though some of the students had no mat and some wore their street clothes, Underground Kindness’ originator, Lewis, guided Becky Haag’s class through yoga poses in the gym. When the students were in child’s pose where the head is below the heart, Lewis told them they were nurturing their immune system. To improve balance while at home, she recommended they try brushing their teeth while standing on one foot.

Throughout the class, she included information about the body. For example, she told them a foot has 26 bones. When a few students were struggling with a pose, she encouraged them to do their own practice and not to compare themselves to the others around them. “Do the best version of you,” she said.

And they did.

Lewis is not only the founder of Underground Kindness; she has a regional radio show the first Tuesday of each month entitled, “Your Health is Your Wealth.” She is also an inspirational speaker on authenticity.

Lewis has written three books on different aspects of self-care: “Lindy: Recovering Alpha Female: Inspiring Grace and Self-Acceptance in the Mind and Body,” “Inspiring Grace as an Alpha-Holic,” and “Recovering Alpha Female, Moving Into Grace.” These are available online at http://www.lindylewis.com/author/

Lewis and Ricckard have plans to expand Underground Kindness to neighboring communities with Bonners Ferry in mind as the next place to go.

“In a world of obstacles, doubts, negativity, and fear, Underground Kindness sheds light with activities that increase positive self-esteem, mindfulness, breathing techniques, thankfulness, grace, and kindness,” wrote Russell.

How timely and also timeless are the teachings Underground Kindness brings to our community and its young people.

For more information, see the website UndergroundKindness.org and at lindyletyourcolorout.