Posts Tagged ‘incorporate Yoga’

The Need for Yoga in Schools

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

yoga certificationBy Faye Martins

People of all ages and abilities can benefit from Hatha Yoga. It gently stretches muscles and ligaments, facilitates blood flow within the body, and encourages deep breathing. The yogic philosophy includes taking the time to breathe consciously, and still the mind for a time. People can benefit from quick yoga breaks throughout the day, where they stretch, breathe, and re-energize the body and mind. If schools incorporated yoga into the curriculum, or trained teachers to incorporate it into individual classrooms, perhaps students and teachers would be better able to focus, learn, and deal with the stresses of the day.

Academic standards continue to rise on a yearly basis, causing schools to take on a greater burden for the welfare and academic success of all students. Government sanctions require specific numbers of students to reach specific benchmarks, regardless of the diversity of students’ abilities, backgrounds, and needs. As a result, schools are stressed out, teachers are burning out, and the students are feeling it too.

Yoga can help. With little to no cost to school districts, they can begin to incorporate a healthy practice into the classrooms to teach stress management, and to encourage healthy habits throughout the rest of young people’s lives. Yoga requires little to no equipment, depending on how it is practiced, and teachers can easily be trained to teach a few basic, stress relieving poses to students.

I am not suggesting the students roll out the Yoga mats, foregoing other academic responsibilities, but instead to incorporate Yoga into a hectic day. Perhaps teachers can take five minutes before a test to lead students in a deep breathing exercise, or do a series of neck and shoulder stretches for three minutes before a particularly intense class is over. If Yoga practice takes place on a regular basis, students will realize the benefits soon, and might even begin to incorporate Yoga into their lives away from school.

Many schools have varied and exciting physical education programs, where a unit on Yoga could fit in nicely. Sports teams can use it to stretch and cool down muscles after practice, to visualize winning the game, and to relax during particularly stressful times during a match.

Yoga is a healthy, lifelong activity used to relieve and cure a number of common ailments. Who knows what these children’s futures hold. By teaching them yoga, we are giving them a helpful tool to use for the rest of their lives. Schools are responsible for turning out well-rounded, well-educated individuals. They could be doing a disservice to the students if yoga wasn’t part of the school day.

© Copyright 2011 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

To see our selection of Online Yoga teacher training courses, please visit the following link.

http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/store/

FREE Yoga Report. FREE Yoga Newsletter. FREE Yoga Videos. Free Podcasts. Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book, “Yoga in Practice.”

FREE CONTENT: If you are a Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles). Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box above. Namaste!

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in yoga for children | No Comments »

Yoga and Children

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

My experience affirms that it works.

By Linda L. Viel

Children that practice Yoga will lead a more stress-free life. I have been practicing Yoga for six years and during the last few years of my 35 year Middle School teaching career, I found that teaching the students in my grade six classes a few asanas, postures, and simple meditation or relaxation techniques really helped them to focus on the task at hand. We started the day with some breathing and simple stretches while they are in their seats. Before taking a test we stretched and breathed away a lot of the stress. We even did a little tapotement on the head to stimulate the nerve endings and enliven their focus abilities. One of my students saw me while I was out shopping one day, several years later, and told me he still used the techniques I taught him. He said they really helped him get rid of his test stress.

During the last two months before I retired, I was assigned the detention classroom to oversee the students that were having a hard time in class and were asked to leave the regular class for a time out. I would play very calming music as a background and teach them a few stress relieving moves and breathing techniques. They would sometimes enter in a very agitated state and after a few minutes of the calm atmosphere in the room I would see them relax enough so they could actually ask to do work. This was a new approach and had positive results for this classroom. Some students actually asked to come to this class because of the calm they felt there and could then do their work. Just recently I returned to school to help with the testing of a small group of special needs children.

The first day we practiced a few stretches and breathing techniques prior to testing. The next day they asked “Can we do Yoga before the test today?” I was surprised they actually asked to practice. I think it helped them relax and focus better the day before because they made sure we did the exercises before the rest of the tests. The stressful middle school years, because of the many emotional and physical changes children undergo, is a wonderful time to incorporate Yoga into the day. My experience with children and the positive results it has, has led me to become a certified Yoga Teacher so I can help students and adults improve their lives.

After completing the Aura training I am enrolled for the YogaEd K-8 teacher training at Kripalu this summer to improve my skills and give me a retirement career. I convinced my 500 HR Kripalu teacher friend to apply for a Grant to take the YogaEd training. He was awarded the Rachael Greene Diversity Ed grant and we will both be working at my old Middle School to train the teachers how to incorporate Yoga into their daily classes and also to train a class of students with special emotional needs to utilize the mind body connection to help them deal with the stresses and emotional frustrations in school and at home. Currently we offer an after school Yoga class for teachers and they tell us they can’t wait for the training in the Fall. I am looking forward to helping students and teachers embrace Yoga as a beneficial life practice.

I did research the benefits Yoga has for children to affirm what I was noticing. I found that there are many programs designed for children and that the professional research confirms what my personal experience has taught me. I would like to share what I have learned about Yoga and children.

I read many articles about Yoga and children. Mira Binzen summed it up nicely after attending a Symposium on Yoga Therapy and Research, in 2007 and found that” real research” has now been done and has proven what she already knew about Yoga and children. She sums up what she found. “Experience has shown [her] that yoga is an excellent system for promoting healthy development and can be an incredibly effective means of facilitating wellness in children. It is noninvasive and its ‘side effects,’ including improved self-esteem, emotional equilibrium, more energy and the ability to self-calm, are completely benign if not totally beneficial.” What she expressed is exactly what the research showed. They are the same things I noticed while working with children.

The specific benefits that a Yoga practice gives children are the same as the ones adults receive.

• It boosts concentration, focus, and attention

• It increases the self esteem and confidence

• It enhances creativity and imagination

• It develops strong, flexible and healthy bodies

• It gives an experience of a relaxed state of body and mind

The children of today lead faster more stressed lives as do adults. Many do not get much physical exercise and eat a diet that is not as healthy as it should be. Obesity is a problem for many today. Just sit and watch the children come out of a school. It doesn’t matter if you watch Elementary aged, Middle School aged or High Schoolers, obesity is a problem. The amount of physical movement has lessened over the years. Many of the more active students still need the benefits of Yoga to relieve stress. The growing bodies of our youth need exercise not only for proper body development but for proper mental development. They need to learn skills which will allow them to slow down and be in the present moment.

They need the proper body alignment which facilitates appropriate balance while their bodies are growing. The mind needs to be able to slow down and quiet the chatter. The relaxation response needs to be relearned so they can deal with the stresses that are generated in their busy lives. Better focus will result from breathing techniques learned in a Yoga practice. Knowing how and when to use the ocean breath, dirga or three part breathing, or alternate nostril breathing will come in very handy when stress begins to get out of hand. By learning to focus on the present, the child will not feel overwhelmed by the amount of homework due or the test they need to study for or take but will be able to focus solely on the job in front of them. All of these needs can be addressed by developing a Yoga Practice for children. So far we know that Yoga can be a form of stress management, it can be viewed as a sport (alternative challenging exercise), it can be thought of as a natural medicine since illness occurs less in a healthy body and mind.

Now we know what it does, how do we go about accomplishing our goal of getting children to practice Yoga? The first thing we should do is show them the need for it. It needs to be enjoyable and rewarding.

In the May 2010 issue of Kripalu Online Exploring the Yoga of life, I read an interesting article that explained the benefits of daily meditation for teenagers. Brian Leaf explained while talking to a stressed teenage boy “Running builds your endurance. Bench-pressing builds your pecs. Sit-ups tone your abs. Similarly, meditation builds your concentration “muscles” and strengthens your ability to stay focused.” He suggested a five minute daily meditation practice morning and night to help deal with the stress and focus problem the student was experiencing during tests. The following is the practice he suggested.

Leaf explained,“Here’s how to meditate. Sit in a comfortable position on a chair or cushion. You need not imitate a swami with your legs twisted together. Then close your eyes. Relax your face. Relax your body. Sit up straight, but relaxed. Become aware of your breathing. Find a spot where you notice your breathing, either the rise and fall of your belly or the in and out of air through your nostrils. Bring your attention to this place. Now, count 10 normal breaths. Unless you are already a Zen monk or a superhero, your mind will probably wander. That’s okay. You’ll start counting “One, two, three, …” and then wander off and think about breakfast, the SATs, or yesterday’s game. Whenever you notice that your mind has wandered, gently come back to counting the breath. Start over at 1. If ever you make it to 10, start over at 1. Do this for 5 minutes.

“Five minutes of this every morning and every night will change your life. Your concentration will improve. Your grades will go up. Your SAT score will go up. Your stress level will go down. It’s a win-win.”

This practice is easy and it doesn’t take much time from the busy day. It is important to note that “noticing” the mind wander is very important when trying to learn how to meditate. The acknowledgement that the mind is “thinking” helps to “let go” and get back to the practice. The five minute routine doesn’t take long and if practiced will give the results that were promised. Five minutes is easy to fit into the busy day and will become habit because the rewards are beneficial for the whole day. Students of all ages can benefit from brief meditation experiences.

Engaging children in a Yoga practice has some basic elements but will change a little as the needs of the individuals in the group change. It is just like teaching school no two classes are the same and the teacher must be able to adapt and modify quickly as things change.

First set up a routine so the children know what to expect. In a Yoga studio shoes are off at the door, you get your mat, find your space and sit or lie quietly waiting for class to begin. This is good for children too. Classes should be of a length to suit the age you are working with. The younger the children, the shorter the class, due to attention span differences. For an elementary class 20- 30 minutes is good. For a Middle school child 30-50 minutes and High school an hour is fine for a formal practice. Teaching short 5- 10 minute techniques to reign in stress or improve focus is great and can be used throughout the day when needed.

The actual practice can be made more game like for the younger ones and more sport like for the older students. Middle School aged kids think they are very adult so a more mature connection is necessary. A connection to famous sport personalities is a great way to connect with the boys. They need to know it is “manly.” Of course the plan of action would be centering, warm-ups, breathing, asanas and relaxation. There are many asanas that can be looked at as animal poses or actions and really catch the fancy of the children.

Examples of these poses are cat, dog, lion, cobra, eagle, fish, frog, crocodile, and crow, blue whale (bridge pose), butterfly, pigeon, tortoise, locust, dragonfly (shoulder-stand variation), cow, and camel. Relaxation ideas can be as simple as listening to the ticking of a clock or timer to quiet the mind, breathing and counting on the fingers one to five for younger children, or feeling the breath as the belly rises and falls. The child can feel it by placing their hands on their belly or by feeling the rise and fall of a small stuffed animal placed on their abdomen. Of course, calming music can be played as a background while children take up a relaxing pose like deadman’s pose(savasana), child’s pose, candle (legs up the wall), little buddha (lotus),or the sleeping snake. The sleeping snake is good for a group of friends.

Children lie down one by one with their head resting on the stomach of the other. They feel the rise and fall of the belly of the person their head is resting on. Breathing techniques that help are the breath of joy for invigoration; the humming bee breath is good for relieving the stress of oral speaking; the sighing breath helps to relieve stress as does the ocean breath. Alternate nostril breathing is good for balancing the mind and improving focus. Simple chanting of sounds has a very hypnotic effect with children. The vibrations resonate through the body and have a chakra cleansing effect. Practicing diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, visualizations, and affirmations are all ways to raise stress free kids.

A well rounded practice is one the children will want to do because it is fun and they can feel the results. Children that enjoy Yoga will soon be showing it to their parents and friends. Parents of my students and children from other classes have asked me about Yoga and I gladly help out as much as I can. Reducing the many everyday stresses and maintaining a supple, fit body via a Yoga practice will carry over from childhood to adulthood. The children of today are our adults of tomorrow so why not develop healthier ones by practicing Yoga?

Cited Resources

This is a partial list of the articles that I read while working on this paper. There were many more which concluded that Yoga really works for children.

Archive for the ‘yoga for children’ Category http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/blog/category/yoga-for-children/

Animal Yoga Poses for Kids Article by April Duke Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/health/alternative-medicine/articles/14352.aspx#ixzz0mmCB9Wb8

Benefits of Yoga During the Teen Years An excerpt from “Yoga for Teens” by Thia Luby http://www.beliefnet.com/Holistic-Living/Yoga/Teen-Yoga/Yoga-for-Teens.aspxFour Ways to Help Your Kids Become Stress Free Posted on09 February 2010 http://yogainmyschool.com/2010/02/09/four-ways-to-help-your-kids-become-stress-free/

Freedman, Francoise Barbira, Bell Gibbs, Doriel Hall, Emily Kelley. Yoga and Pilates For Everyone A complete Sourcebook of Yoga and Pilates Exercises to Tone and Strengthen the Body with 1500 Step by Step Photographs. Hermes House. 2006.

Kids Get Health Benefit From Yoga By Megha Satyanarayana Detroit Free Press http://www.latimes.com/sns-health-kids-yoga-benefits-health,0,6282601.story

Taking kids to the mat:Structuring yoga classes for children Fall 2004 by Craig Hanauer Craig Hanauer, a Kripalu Yoga teacher, board-certified art therapist and longtime director of Kripalu children’s programs, has designed and implemented a full-time yoga program at The Parkside School, a special education elementary school on New York City’s Upper West Side. Craig will offer the workshop Every Kid’s Yoga: Teaching Yoga to Children with Varied Abilities and Needs at the 2004 KYTA Conference, Oct. 21-24.

Why Yoga For Kids is Good. November 2nd, 2007 By Yardley Moore. http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/2007/11/02/why_yoga_for_kids_is_good/

Yoga Benefits Teens – Helps Them Deal With Many of the Challenges Specific to Adolescence November 7th, 2009 By Donna K Freeman http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/2009/11/07/yoga-benefits-teens-helps-them-deal-with-many-of-the-challenges-specific-to-adolescence/

Yoga Breathing Exercises – Air Walk Posted on13 January 2010 http://yogainmyschool.com/2010/01/13/yoga-breathing-exercises-air-walk/

Yoga for Children–Now Proven Effective!

Experience of yoga meets experimentation of the West at SYTAR.

By Mira Binzen http://www.yogachicago.com/mar07/yogachildren.shtml

Yoga For School Age Kids. Feb. 25 2010.by Rick A. Lee. http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/2010/02/25/yoga-for-school-age-kids/

Yoga for Kids – Teaching Our Young Ones How to Deal with Stress January 10th, 2008. Bob A Nicholson. http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/2008/01/10/yoga_for_kids_teaching_our_young_ones_ho/

Yoga for Teenagers By Michael Russell . http://ezinearticles.com/?Yoga-for-Teenagers&id=218760

Yogic Tips for Test-Taking Teens by Brian Leaf Reprinted with permission from McGraw-Hill’s Top 50 Skills for a Top Score: ACT English, Reading, and Science, by Brian Leaf. © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Read in the Kripalu Online May, 2010.

Yoga Twists for Kids Simple and Beneficial Posted on18 December 2009 http://yogainmyschool.com/2009/12/18/yoga-twists-for-kids-simple-and-beneficial/

Linda L. Viel is a certified Yoga teacher. She teaches Yoga classes in the Salem, Massachusetts area.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in yoga for children | No Comments »

Yoga for Longevity, Quality of Life, and Awareness

Monday, March 29th, 2010

By Rachael Comeau

Yoga has gained immense popularity due to the short-term as well as the long -term benefits that it provides. There are many reasons why people incorporate Yoga into their daily lives. The issues of longevity and quality of life are 2 very popular reasons. The desire to live a longer life is the reason behind many of our activities as we pay attention to health and good life in many forms, all having more or less a hidden agenda, that of living longer and healthier. Longevity and quality of life are strongly related to one another. The quality of life being the ( intensity of life experience) is a qualitive progression of longevity.

In normal circumstances for most people they pay more attention to longevity, not being as much aware on the issue of quality. This is truly and totally not the case in Yoga. For in Yoga, the main issue is the quality of life experience that also attracts longevity as a component as the quality of life. Yoga sees longevity as a component, or more exactly as a result as Yoga practice. The fact that the Yogic discipline allows the body to function better and the mind to be under one’s own control has to lead to a longer span of life. But, Yoga is primarily about the quality of life.

From a Yogic perspective, the issue of quality of life has to be seen from both material and spiritual angles. The material angle can be simplified by considering it as an expression of the spiritual perspective. The spiritual side of quality of life takes credit for the material side that becomes just the right attitude towards material things. The spiritual side of quality of life has to be seen from the body and mind perspective. The body issue is essential as harmonizing the body becomes a solid foundation for addressing the issues of the mind that becomes the tool of extension for which we experience the world. Yoga recommends that the body needs to cleansed of impurities and toxins. The belief is that having toxins and impurities in the body alters the perception to a certain degree. It is the quality of the perception that gives to some fact the quality of life. This is the reason Yoga pays great attention towards the body as a vehicle to sense, feel, experience and host mind experiences. From a Yoga point of view, it is essential that the experience of awareness is the focus and end point of the practice. The quality of life is determined by the level of awareness. For some people who have experienced it; Yoga is in some form

The experience of awareness or experience of being alert. Awareness is a gradual process, as your Yoga practices becomes refined and you become more alert towards the environment, the world as whole, all being connected as one energy, and towards one’s own person. Having this awareness can also be described as a transcendent experience. Although we may reach different conscious states, they are mental states, therefore brain states.

Yoga claims that this enhanced quality of life adds to and is connected to the longevity of life, along with a multilevel degree of perception. We might ask “ What is a multi degree of perception”? Yoga explains it in simple words as “ Being able to be aware of more than one thing at a time”. Achieving these levels in Yoga practice not only increase awareness, but this awareness also produces the connection between mind, body, and spirit creating not only a better quality of life but a long life as well. Longevity is not measured by the span of life, but by the quality of the experiences.

As we move on a Yoga path with a goal for longevity, quality of life and awareness, a goal for balance and understanding of what life is and where we are going, the path can sometimes become challenging and complicated. Practicing Yoga which means( the union of the mind, body, breath and spirit), is currently approached in many different ways but all ending in the same result with a sense of awareness, and a long life of supreme quality. Yoga is meant to be a tool to make our life simpler in the end by strengthening the body, the nerves, the mind, and altering the consciousness in a way that life becomes something we can accept, appreciate and flow with it. This tool helps us live as householders in society, and the world at large, serving the family and community in a Yogic way.

Yoga as a physical practice alone can give us the strength and discipline to find and maintain our center, which helps us learn focus and stay focused. Yoga as a mental practice can vastly help us eliminate the baggage in our lives. Life feels simpler for having the discipline and taking the time out to clear the physical and mental cobwebs with mantra and breath. This can also result in a high quality of life, a healthier life, and removing ourselves from the world , meaning being in the world but not of it. Seeing all others as an equal manifestation of life with kindness and compassion are simple and helpful concepts in Yoga. After all, is not a life of simplicity ultimately a life of contentment? So if it is Yoga that gives you peace, give to yourself on a regular basis.

The one thing that is constant in this world is change. This accelerated life most people experience depreciates the quality and longevity of people seemingly younger and younger every year. People approach Yoga because they desire change. Yoga is a living process that changes moment by moment, watching when we eat, what we eat, when we walk, how we walk, what we say and how we say it. All of these things must be present in us to change and effect the quality and longevity of our lives. So remembering to be of flexible mind, looking for answers in life and through Yoga practice learning to go with the flow, remember that change is constant, so as we evolve, so does our practice, constantly improving our lives. Yoga is a way to teach us to concentrate the mind, to transform our thoughts, patterns and habits. The mind controls the entire human presence, and the way one progresses to get out of the cycle of misfortune and improve the quality of our life is to master the control of the mind. Our problem is that we lack the ability to concentrate. Yoga teaches us to control the mind and transform our self through practice. Helping us to become strong yet supple. Because the practice is so physical, and the mind once again plays an important part. You must have time to be by yourself, where there is nobody else, and work with yourself in practice. Sometimes we make all kinds of changes in hopes to transform our lives, improving the quality of our lives. We change our jobs, our looks, our diets, our spouse, our location, only to find our deep rooted unsettled issues are still present. In order to transform our lives through Yoga, it is helpful to alter our old ways of thinking and being. Often we are forced to transform our lives through loss, pain, or fear. Yoga can help us reach deep within to help us draw the lesson and learning. Yoga can and will is open transform all areas of our lives. Yoga teaches us to look for those unusual experiences, big or small, as they make us remember the wonder of life and each other.

Yoga is a unique science, and is the most complete approach to a healthy, long, high quality lifestyle. It urges us to explore and challenge our minds, our bodies and the very nature of our beings. Yoga is perhaps the only discipline through which an individual can truly experience inner harmony. Yoga is perhaps the only discipline that brings about an overall personality, separating us from the world of other people who have no definition. Not living under the control of the ego. Yoga leaves on feeling confident, energetic and motivated. It creates the perfect balance in all of our systems of the body. It tones the nervous system, releases anxiety, and promotes inner well being and harmony. Yoga strengthens the immune system, and helps to develop concentration, focus and mental flexibility. In our daily lives, it helps to develop awareness about the effects of the world around us, and Yoga provides us with the tools to mage it. It’s benefits extend from the home and the work place, to every aspect our daily lives. Regular practice of Yoga is proven to bring improved health in mind and body, higher energy levels and increased productivity. Yoga helps us come out of the vicious circles we create that are abundant in our daily scheduled lifestyles. Yoga teaches us to be humble, kind and giving to others. This most importantly makes us happier, healthier, and fitter. A better human being to others is undoubtedly the most high calling and most vital requirement of our times. If this can be accomplished not only through us but others, think of how enormous the magnitude the quality of so many peoples lives would become.

We hear that Yogis live a very long life to an very old age. Not only do Yogis live long but they live with excellent health. The quality of their life is great resulted from the Yogic lifestyle. There are many known benefits to the regular practice of Yoga which help to minimize many of the problems associated with a poor quality lifestyle. Yoga helps with stress, anxiety and depression, aiding in the maintenance of mental and physical health. The diet of a Yogi, (a vegetarian diet) can improve the quality and longevity of ones life as well. It has been shown that vegetarians live longer, have less heart disease, and lower rates of cancer. Yoga practice is a natural and healthy way to achieve many benefits of a long happy life without any associated risks, and aid in this manner the slowing of the aging process.

We need to realize there are healthy ways to regulate our lifestyles from this crazy world. Regulation is the key word here for the well being of the human personality and man kind. Yoga says there are certain methods to extricate yourself from the sticky part of the mind. In order to harmonize and balance yourself and the quality of your life, you need to develop certain qualities and aspects of your nature, beginning with the ability to release the tensions through the process of relaxation. It helps to remove blockages not only in the mind but also in the body. After you have adapted to Yoga and are able to relax physically, mentally, and emotionally, you are instructed through your Yoga practice to develop personal awareness. Awareness is the result of leading the Yogic lifestyle also developing a sense of positivism towards yourself and the world around you. This all resulting again in the goal for longevity, quality of life, and awareness.

Rachael Comeau is a certified Yoga teacher.  She teaches Yoga classes in the Big Bear Lake, California area.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Yoga for Health, Yoga Teacher Issues | No Comments »

SEARCH