Special Olympics Maryland adds weekly mindfulness sessions on Zoom

Special Olympics Maryland turned mindfulness into a short, repeatable reset instead of a long wellness lecture. The group listed Strong Minds - End of Week Meditation and Mindfulness for May 22 from 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Zoom with Alexea Wentz, and the event copy made the purpose plain: “Take 15 minutes to unwind from everything that happened this week and get your head in a good space to enjoy your weekend.”

That compact format is the point. A second End of Week Meditation and Mindfulness session was already on the calendar for May 29, and Strong Minds Meditation Mondays were set to begin June 1 with David Godoy. The schedule placed meditation alongside other community touchpoints such as Friday Coffee Chat, Storytime with Kegan, Saturday Dance and Community Check In, framing mindfulness as one regular part of Special Olympics Maryland life rather than a stand-alone wellness add-on.

The broader Strong Minds program gives that weekly Zoom slot more weight. Special Olympics describes Strong Minds as an interactive learning activity focused on developing adaptive coping skills, and says it is being further developed to include formal mental health screening measures such as CORE-LD30 and WEMWBS-ID, with referrals to community-based healthcare professionals. Special Olympics also says its Healthy Athletes work has reached more than 135 countries and delivered more than 2.1 million screenings, putting the mental health effort inside a much larger health network.

Wentz brings athlete credibility to the session. Special Olympics Maryland identifies her as an Athlete Leader and Health Messenger, says she has been an athlete for 11 years, and lists cheer, dance, bocce and bowling among her sports. The organization says Health Messengers are trained athletes who lead education and fitness activities and help peers advocate for their health needs. Wentz has said she wanted to become a Health Messenger to help athletes be the best versions of themselves and make doctor visits and health advocacy feel less intimidating.

That is what makes the May 22 Zoom offering stand out: it was brief, scheduled, and built for athletes who need something they can actually return to next week, not just admire from a distance.