A Pioneering Framework
for Holistic Education

Empowering Adults to Help Young People Thrive

At Creative Lives, we help adults and children unlock their unique potential to learn, relate, and thrive in all aspects of their lives.

Our approach, "A Framework for Wise Education" by Ellen Tadd, empowers people of all ages with greater agency in their own learning and well-being.

Adaptable to any setting, age group, or individual’s needs, training in the Framework approach equips you to help young people cultivate:

  • Wonder & connection

  • Focus & wisdom

  • Curiosity & confidence

  • Caring & courage

  • Emotional well-being & empathy

  • Healthy relationships & creativity

  • Self-disicpine & responsibiility

Thousands of educators, counselors, and parents have already seen these benefits in action. Discover how Creative Lives can support your teaching, parenting, or counseling—and strengthen your own well-being in the process.

  • “I have never encountered a more powerful or meaningful framework for approaching education.”

    —Sharon Webster, elementary educator

  • “If every teacher and teacher-to-be took this course, there would be a positive worldwide revolution in the field of education. This course is a MUST for anyone who will be in contact with young learners."

    —Tracy G., University Mental Health Director

  • "I wish every educator in our school could take this training."

    —Alex M., elementary educator

  • "The wisdom of this approach can and will transform classrooms whether or not you have ever heard of a chakra before. Maureen Burford and Ellen Tadd outline a simple and powerful framework to better understand the human beings teachers steward, and to better support their growth.”

    Tatum B., educator

  • "We are noticing ripple effects throughout the school day. Children are expressing creatively where they were too shy before. They're talking with each other about new ways of handling their feelings. There are children for whom this approach has truly shifted their direction forward."

    —Marcia M., educator

  • “The chakra-system approach is...amazing. I work with students who have trauma and train many teachers about dealing with trauma. This is the approach we need.”

    —Kay J., social worker

  • “Martial arts educators have no particular training in how to teach! Your approach so beautifully aligns with our philosophy and gives our staff concrete tools and strategies for helping every child succeed. I would love to see your course offered to my many colleagues at other Dojos.”

    —Kevin C., karate instructor and Dojo director

  • “Creative Lives Director Maureen Burford is an inspired, dedicated, and extraordinary teacher—and teacher of teachers. Decades of experience in music, theater, education, and contemplative discipline have seamlessly merged into her framework for teaching and professional development.”

    —Steven G., middle school educator

Whole-Child Learning.
Whole-Community Impact.

Curious how our approach supports your work or parenting?
Schedule an introductory workshop for your team or community, or join a training today:

Free Webinar

The Epidemic of Disconnection:
4 Root Causes — and a New Way Forward

Disconnection isn’t just a behavior problem.
It’s a deeper developmental crisis.
Discover what most approaches miss—and how A Framework for Wise Education® offers practical, powerful tools to help kids re-engage from the inside out.

Self-Paced Online Mini-Course

The Inspiration Factor:
Fostering Inner Happiness & Intrinsic Motivation

Children are struggling. So are the adults who guide them.
The Inspiration Factor helps you build the inner foundation that fuels motivation, openness, and connection — a must in times of challenge and uncertainty, and a key to lasting well-being and fulfillment.

Live Online Training

Pioneering Tools for Today’s Challenges
In-Depth Courses with Hands-On Support

Strengthen clarity, resilience, and connection with strategies that build core capacities across every category of the Framework. This immersive training supports holistic development of mind, body, spirit, and relationships. Graduate credit and PD hours available.

Stacked smooth stones of various sizes, increasing in size from top to bottom, with a blurred background of water and sunlight reflections.

The work of Ellen Tadd:
A Critical Missing Piece

In an era of increasing challenges, Creative Lives offers a holistic approach that fosters the core attributes of our essential selves.

A Framework for Wise Education® stems from educator Ellen Tadd’s in-depth exploration of the human energy system, often referred to as the chakra system, and its fundamental role in healthy human development.

The Framework organizes Tadd’s discoveries into seven categories—each addressing distinct attributes of our human nature, such as wisdom, curiosity, self-discipline, caring, emotional well-being, resilience, and empathy. Developing strength in each category supports optimal learning and well-being for every individual.

Tadd’s approach provides a vital missing piece in our collective effort to help young people thrive.

Join us and be part of the solution.

Meet Our Director

Creative Lives Director Maureen Burford invites you to explore our free webinar, The Epidemic of Disconnection (register above), and discover how our approach addresses today’s pressing challenges.

Hear From a 4th-Grader

In this video, a young boy shares a powerful Framework strategy he learned and used to navigate a challenge with friends.

Note: Although this child uses chakra terminology, children can experience the same benefits using alternate language, such as “Wise View” in place of “Third Eye.”

A young person with blonde hair writes on a blackboard with multicolored chalk, writing in Portuguese and English about flowers, growth, and life's tempo.

Based on Tangible Outcomes

Creative Lives has introduced Ellen Tadd’s Framework for Wise Education to thousands of youth, yielding remarkable outcomes. Now we’re scaling the impact by training the adults who guide children every day. Here is a sampling from our 2024–25 Outcome Data:

  • 93% of our trainees report significant improvements in their ability to help children learn and develop their unique potential.

  • 73% of our trainees can consistently help children make wise decisions and assess next steps with clarity, compared to 27% before training.

  • 81% of our trainees report experiencing regular joy in their work and/or parenting, compared to 30% before training.

“I have never encountered a more powerful or meaningful approach to education.”
— Ree Webster, Educator

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