them up for success in the future if taught correctly. What if yoga was taught to children of this age so that as stress, self-esteem, emotions and a need for increased concentration grows, they have the basic concepts and background knowledge of yoga to refer to and fall back on? The information would be readily available to be encoded and utilized. Seems like a no brainer right? 15-20 min of yoga a few times a week is a simple solution to preventing many of the situations that if handled improperly begin to create wounds that might later be much more difficult to heal. Children can learn coping mechanisms for adulthood stressors at a young age so that difficult times are less problematic, they can learn healthy ways boost their self-confidence and esteem through a steady practice and possibly even begin to chip away at the growing childhood obesity epidemic. So what is the hold up!? Well, for starters not everyone feels that way.
Some say it violates the Con stitution’s Separation of Church and State. As a yoga instructor, yoga studio owner and someone who teaches kids yoga from time to time in modern America I actually do occasionally see concern for this. Yes, ancient yoga has a beautiful and rich history and several of the original texts do in fact show a strong link to practicing in order to grow closer to a higher power. For example, Patanjali‘s Yoga Sutras, an ancient text that is widely referred to in yoga classes today, very clearly presents a moral code for yogis to follow and outlines the path toward a mystical state of enlightenment known as samadhi, or union with the Divine. The yoga tradition also recognizes the path of Bhakti yoga, in which practitioners devote themselves to a personal form of God. Its practices include chanting to deities, setting up altars, and even praying. While some choose to still practice these ancient texts, the truth is several of them date back to over 5,000 years ago when yoga was first documented and for the most part, things have changed. I do believe that for adults there is still a spiritual connection that can and often does occur when one practices, but it typically comes from an internal place, not from one the teacher has pushed or even suggested. That’s one of the many wonders of modern day yoga. Several bodies, personalities, religions, political parties, ages, etc., all practicing the same asana (yoga poses) in one room under the instruction of one person, but having a completely unique and personalized experience.
Teaching children, is a completely different ball game. For starters, young children can typically only focus on a particular task for about 15 minutes before feeling the urge to move on and can usually only follow about 3 consecutive commands, so the duration of the class is often a fraction of the time. That leaves little time for much more than getting straight to some breath work and asana. Kids yoga is often just based on having fun with animal named poses, getting comfortable in their skin and learning how to take a few breaths when they get angry or sad before reacting.
According to Anita Lael, a former elementary school principal and current University professor of Education who is a supporter of yoga being taught in schools because she feels that the focus and stress relief associated with yoga would be really helpful for many children, there are a few elements that could be holding schools systems back. She says, “Physical education right now, is honestly, not a priority. This is unfortunate, but the emphasis on testing and test results is at the forefront and not PE. Also, there are factions of parents that would oppose the addition of yoga for various reasons. One, these are typically small factions, but they oppose anything that they feel is being forced on them against their will or beliefs. In other words, they don't like to be told they must do things. Secondly, there is a conservation element, the extreme religious right that would consider yoga the force of a religion they oppose because of the spiritual aspect of yoga. It is unfortunate that a few extreme voices could deter the addition of yoga to a school curriculum. However, in America, all voices must be heard and that faction is in opposition to many things that would be beneficial.”
So then is it best to just leave it alone and allow parents to find an after school program or yoga studio for their individual child if they choose to participate in a yoga practice? I say no and here’s why.
Physically, not only would kids yoga increase the amount of exercise most children get in a mostly sedentary day at school, but it also assists neuromuscular and motor development, develops a strong and flexible body, increases balance and body awareness/coordination, improves posture, alignment, circulation, eliminations and digestion, develops core strength, reduces injuries, strengthens the immune system and relaxes the body to promote better sleep. Mentally, it clams and clears the mind, relieves stress and tension, increases concentration, focus and attention span, promotes memory and thinking, expands imagination and creativity, reduces stress and anxiety, improves the ability to be less reactive and more mindful of thoughts, words and actions. It also balances energy, high or low, preventing mood swings. In addition, yoga for kids, or anyone for that matter, builds confidence and self-esteem, supports character development and emotional intelligence, enhances social interaction, team building and communication skills, develops discipline and self-control.
Mrs. Cathy Renner, a Kindergarten teacher at Immaculate Conception (a private and Catholic school) in Springfield, Mo., had this to say, “I do believe that children can and do benefit from learning and practicing some basic yoga poses and techniques. Educational research has consistently proven that children learn better and retain more when they are physically active, and at our school we are urged to give our students daily "Brain Breaks." Researchers at MIT have gone so far as to suggest that, "Regular breaks in the school day are the key to forming memories." Channeling a child's natural energy for the good can be a very positive force in the classroom. Although yoga traditionally includes religion and philosophy as well as practices, yoga teachers may choose to give the poses generic names such as: Downward-facing dog, bridge, or tree pose. After my class participated in a 15 minute yoga session, I found them to be relaxed, focused, and more able to attend to our next academic task. Most children enjoyed learning some breathing techniques and basic poses and looked forward eagerly to our next yoga class.”
To put the cherry on top, now there is research to strongly support that a yoga program in school could actually keep kids in school, out of jail and even save the country some money in the long run.
According to Forbes.com, putting these practices into schools could be the difference between failure and success in one’s future. The massive dropout rate of school kids, substance abuse among all age groups, PTSD among veterans, the staggeringly high incarceration, cost the country volumes in human potential, not to mention trillions in dollars. Cecelia Rouse at Princeton estimates that one high school dropout “costs” about $260,000 in lost earnings over his or her lifetime. Given the fact that at least a million kids drop out of school every year, the annual cost of school failure alone is estimated at $260 billion. BK Bose, PhD points out, “Over ten years, the cost is upwards of 3 trillion dollars. And once a kid drops out, homelessness, substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, crime and violence are just waiting to pounce. Not to mention the boatload of chronic disease, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, diabetes “The school-to-prison pipeline is incredibly costly,” says Bose. It can cost upwards of $250,000 per year to keep an inmate in prison. The real culprits are enormous stresses and traumas that are so often present in the kids’ lives. “The single common denominator is stress: Chronic stress, toxic stress, traumatic stress, primary and secondary post-traumatic stress. Trauma is endemic.
It seems to me that even if budget is an issue within a school, the cost of a yoga teacher a few times a week at each school far outweighs the cost of not teaching our youth some extremely powerful fundamental skills that can and are learned from yoga. Most communities would probably even be fortunate enough to find a yogi to donate his or her “karma yoga” time to a school for a several weeks at a time throughout the school year.
Knowledge is power and I truly believe that the most powerful knowledge is surrounded on teaching our youth not only to be respectable, compassionate and loving beings, but also how to deal with traumas, depression, stress, etc., even if it’s at the cost of upsetting a few parents and taking the time to get the word out that a yoga program could effectively be implemented into our school systems with going against Church and State. Rather than slapping a few band-aids on a gaping wound after it’s too late, I propose we introduce yoga a couple of times a week in our school systems and prevent the wound.
Sources : Online Article from The Week “Should Yoga be allowed in public Schools
one of our “band-aid” solutions. “Take this pill for this, this pill for thaand three of these for your other problems. Oh and take some yoga a few times a week.” A sort of “slap a couple of band-aids on the wound and see how long it sticks” approach. I believe however, that Yoga can be a form of preventative medicine for any one of these ailments, if taught at the proper time in life. According to the book Yoga Sequencing by Mark Stephens, close to 10 percent of youth ages twelve to seventeen had a major depressive episode in 2009 and a significant percentage of children also have serious difficulties with emotions, concentration, or getting along with other people. Wikipedia.org states that around age 7 is when awareness of the benefits of memory strategies in learning arises. The greater the background knowledge about to-be-encoded information, the better that the information is remembered in the future. Also, according to an article entitled “School-age Children Development,”written by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, beginning around age 6 a child becomes more aware of their body and the way it looks and feels and both their friendships and schoolwork become more complex calling for a deeper focus. They begin to truly experience failure and frustration, depression and anxiety, compassion and anger, etc. Learning to cope with these appropriately without losing self-esteem is extremely important to success at home and school and can set them up for success in the future if taught correctly. What if yoga was taught to children of this age so that as stress, self-esteem, emotions and a need for increased concentration grows, they have the basic concepts and background knowledge of yoga to refer to and fall back on? The information would be readily available to be encoded and utilized. Seems like a no brainer right? 15-20 min of yoga a few times a week is a simple solution to preventing many of the situations that if handled improperly begin to create wounds that might later be much more difficult to heal. Children can learn coping mechanisms for adulthood stressors at a young age so that difficult times are less problematic, they can learn healthy ways boost their self-confidence and esteem through a steady practice and possibly even begin to chip away at the growing childhood obesity epidemic. So what is the hold up!? Well, for starters not everyone feels that way.
Some say it violates the Constitution’s Separation of Church and State. As a yoga instructor, yoga studio owner and someone who teaches kids yoga from time to time in modern America I actually do occasionally see concern for this. Yes, ancient yoga has a beautiful and rich history and several of the original texts do in fact show a strong link to practicing in order to grow closer to a higher power. For example, Patanjali‘s Yoga Sutras, an ancient text that is widely referred to in yoga classes today, very clearly presents a moral code for yogis to follow and outlines the path toward a mystical state of enlightenment known as samadhi, or union with the Divine. The yoga tradition also recognizes the path of Bhakti yoga, in which practitioners devote themselves to a personal form of God. Its practices include chanting to deities, setting up altars, and even praying. While some choose to still practice these ancient texts, the truth is several of them date back to over 5,000 years ago when yoga was first documented and for the most part, things have changed. I do believe that for adults there is still a spiritual connection that can and often does occur when one practices, but it typically comes from an internal place, not from one the teacher has pushed or even suggested. That’s one of the many wonders of modern day yoga. Several bodies, personalities, religions, political parties, ages, etc., all practicing the same asana (yoga poses) in one room under the instruction of one person, but having a completely unique and personalized experience.
Teaching children, is a completely different ball game. For starters, young children can typically only focus on a particular task for about 15 minutes before feeling the urge to move on and can usually only follow about 3 consecutive commands, so the duration of the class is often a fraction of the time. That leaves little time for much more than getting straight to some breath work and asana. Kids yoga is often just based on having fun with animal named poses, getting comfortable in their skin and learning how to take a few breaths when they get angry or sad before reacting.
According to Anita Lael, a former elementary school principal and current University professor of Education who is a supporter of yoga being taught in schools because she feels that the focus and stress relief associated with yoga would be really helpful for many children, there are a few elements that could be holding schools systems back. She says, “Physical education right now, is honestly, not a priority. This is unfortunate, but the emphasis on testing and test results is at the forefront and not PE. Also, there are factions of parents that would oppose the addition of yoga for various reasons. One, these are typically small factions, but they oppose anything that they feel is being forced on them against their will or beliefs. In other words, they don't like to be told they must do things. Secondly, there is a conservation element, the extreme religious right that would consider yoga the force of a religion they oppose because of the spiritual aspect of yoga. It is unfortunate that a few extreme voices could deter the addition of yoga to a school curriculum. However, in America, all voices must be heard and that faction is in opposition to many things that would be beneficial.”
So then is it best to just leave it alone and allow parents to find an after school program or yoga studio for their individual child if they choose to participate in a yoga practice? I say no and here’s why.
Physically, not only would kids yoga increase the amount of exercise most children get in a mostly sedentary day at school, but it also assists neuromuscular and motor development, develops a strong and flexible body, increases balance and body awareness/coordination, improves posture, alignment, circulation, eliminations and digestion, develops core strength, reduces injuries, strengthens the immune system and relaxes the body to promote better sleep. Mentally, it clams and clears the mind, relieves stress and tension, increases concentration, focus and attention span, promotes memory and thinking, expands imagination and creativity, reduces stress and anxiety, improves the ability to be less reactive and more mindful of thoughts, words and actions. It also balances energy, high or low, preventing mood swings. In addition, yoga for kids, or anyone for that matter, builds confidence and self-esteem, supports character development and emotional intelligence, enhances social interaction, team building and communication skills, develops discipline and self-control.
Mrs. Cathy Renner, a Kindergarten teacher at Immaculate Conception (a private and Catholic school) in Springfield, Mo., had this to say, “I do believe that children can and do benefit from learning and practicing some basic yoga poses and techniques. Educational research has consistently proven that children learn better and retain more when they are physically active, and at our school we are urged to give our students daily "Brain Breaks." Researchers at MIT have gone so far as to suggest that, "Regular breaks in the school day are the key to forming memories." Channeling a child's natural energy for the good can be a very positive force in the classroom. Although yoga traditionally includes religion and philosophy as well as practices, yoga teachers may choose to give the poses generic names such as: Downward-facing dog, bridge, or tree pose. After my class participated in a 15 minute yoga session, I found them to be relaxed, focused, and more able to attend to our next academic task. Most children enjoyed learning some breathing techniques and basic poses and looked forward eagerly to our next yoga class.”
To put the cherry on top, now there is research to strongly support that a yoga program in school could actually keep kids in school, out of jail and even save the country some money in the long run.
According to Forbes.com, putting these practices into schools could be the difference between failure and success in one’s future. The massive dropout rate of school kids, substance abuse among all age groups, PTSD among veterans, the staggeringly high incarceration, cost the country volumes in human potential, not to mention trillions in dollars. Cecelia Rouse at Princeton estimates that one high school dropout “costs” about $260,000 in lost earnings over his or her lifetime. Given the fact that at least a million kids drop out of school every year, the annual cost of school failure alone is estimated at $260 billion. BK Bose, PhD points out, “Over ten years, the cost is upwards of 3 trillion dollars. And once a kid drops out, homelessness, substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, crime and violence are just waiting to pounce. Not to mention the boatload of chronic disease, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, diabetes “The school-to-prison pipeline is incredibly costly,” says Bose. It can cost upwards of $250,000 per year to keep an inmate in prison. The real culprits are enormous stresses and traumas that are so often present in the kids’ lives. “The single common denominator is stress: Chronic stress, toxic stress, traumatic stress, primary and secondary post-traumatic stress. Trauma is endemic.
It seems to me that even if budget is an issue within a school, the cost of a yoga teacher a few times a week at each school far outweighs the cost of not teaching our youth some extremely powerful fundamental skills that can and are learned from yoga. Most communities would probably even be fortunate enough to find a yogi to donate his or her “karma yoga” time to a school for a several weeks at a time throughout the school year.
Knowledge is power and I truly believe that the most powerful knowledge is surrounded on teaching our youth not only to be respectable, compassionate and loving beings, but also how to deal with traumas, depression, stress, etc., even if it’s at the cost of upsetting a few parents and taking the time to get the word out that a yoga program could effectively be implemented into our school systems with going against Church and State. Rather than slapping a few band-aids on a gaping wound after it’s too late, I propose we introduce yoga a couple of times a week in our school systems and prevent the wound.
Sources : Online Article from The Week “Should Yoga be allowed in public Schools
More than ever we seem to be living in a world of “band-aid” solutions to our ever growing problems. Dep- ression, anger, low self-esteem, obesity, anxiety and chronic pain are plaguing Americans of all ages, including our youth.
Yoga, known to relieve stress, promote strength, flexibility and a calm sense of being, lower cholesterol and more, happens to be
Preventing the Wound
by Nikki Love-Adkins
This all levels Hatha Yoga class is designed to teach participants the fundamentals of yoga postures and breath work while fostering community. Participants must bring their own mat.
Student testimonial:
"In January 2013 I started practicing yoga at the Fayetteville Public Library because I thought it would be fun to learn "how to do it." After all, a library is a place where we are seeking to learn, right? After two years, I can say that learning how to do it is the least of what I have received."
"After a few practices, I realized that perhaps the strangers in the room were seeking to learn too, and in that regard, we had a common bond. For that hour on Monday evenings, we are all yogis working in one accord, with our eyes on our own mats. Each of us finding strength from within and sending it out to lift up others in the room and beyond. It's because of this common bond, this sameness, and this thread, that I find inner and outward peace, quiet and stillness in an otherwise crazy, hectic world. The time that we spend together for this hour is proof of how easy it is for us to find somaething in common with others, strangers, who now I count as friends."
-Kim Reddin Peters
Free Weekly
Community Yoga Class
at Fayetteville
Public Library
Taught by Casey Prock, 200 RYT
Pat & Willard Walker Community Room
Monday evenings 5:30-6:30pm Fayetteville, AR.