'Send every dad you know' to Mindful Fathering event, York YWCA says

The York County YWCA is hosting an eight-week course to teach fathers about mindfulness and introspection — an approach that eschews stereotypical ideas around the role of fathers.

"Send every dad you know," said Ruby Martin, chief program officer at the York YWCA.

This program originates from Yorktown Family Services, a community service agency, in Toronto, Canada.

"The training is made up of several sessions that explore masculinity, the way that we were raised, some of the cultural issues associated with being a man raising children. And it really allowed fathers kind of a safe space to unpack a lot of that," Martin said.

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YWCA members are trained to teach the program material, which looks at traditional views of masculinity, toxic masculinity, reflection on how participants were parented, pathways to abuse and how to incorporate mindfulness into parenting, according to Martin.

Through sharing and learning, parents take that information and learn new ways to support their children and how to apply it to their children's growth and development.

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Meetings will be held 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday evenings from Oct. 4 through Nov. 22 at the YWCA York, 320 E. Market Street, with free dinner and childcare provided, Martin said. Registration is required; however fathers can sign up even after the first session at the YWCA website: http://www.yorkcpc.org/.