he overarching theme of this special issue is the necessity of “setting the stage for synergistic collaboration between scientific research on contemplative practice and educational programs designed to foster the cognitive, emotional, social and ethical development of 21st century youth”. Collectively, the papers highlight the need for systematic, adapted practices, which have the potential to induce desirable and positive plastic changes in the developing brains, and call for more focused programmatic research of various practices being implemented in school settings.