Yoga in the Classroom: The elements of stress relief are catching on for even the youngest kids - many of whom face intensifying obligations in daily life
Feb. 15, 2012 - Chicago Tribune

Article features quotes and highlights from us here at ChildLight Yoga / Yoga 4 Classrooms (classroom-friendly activities from our Yoga 4 Classrooms Card Deck), as well as from our friends at YoKid...Stretch Your Limits, S.T.O.P....Your Special Needs Toolbox, Happily Ever Active, and Ananda Kula.

"Yoga helps them release excess energy, tension and stress while instilling a sense of calm, and helping kids develop self-awareness and self-soothing techniques which they can use in any situation." ~ Laurie Jordan

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Our friend, Abby Wills, Founder of Shanti Generation, recently shared this fabulous article on her blog and at Mind Body Green online.  Of course, we couldn't agree more.  She writes...

While yoga has been practiced in schools across the country for several decades, lately the movement has sky rocketed. Organizations coast to coast are successfully implementing yoga in thousands of classrooms via live teachers, digital video technology and even apps. Why has this ancient practice taken root in our schools? Perhaps because yoga offers practical solutions to some of our schools biggest problems. 

1.  Healthy students are effective learners
2.  Affordable and accessible programs
3. IQ, SQ and EQ
4. Inclusive by nature
5. Less stress, more success

Read full article here.

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Zensational Kids, LLC founder and OT, Allison Morgan, shares how she is using the Yoga 4 Classrooms Card Deck to meet the needs of various learning styles in the classroom...... specifically, she shares some wonderful ideas on how to use yoga to prepare kids for handwriting activities. 

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Thoughts on Mindful Awareness Practices in Education, a thought-provoking, must-read article, written by Ramaa Reddy Raghavan, posted today (12/27/11) at The Huffington Post.

"My last three articles dealt with a burgeoning phenomenon -- mindful awareness -- which has been gaining popularity among public and private school administrators, as a method to help kids relax, become more attentive and less aggressive at school. In this concluding piece, I present thoughts from established mindfulness practitioners who discuss the state of mindfulness research, from its practice pitfalls and nuanced lexicon, to its necessity in today's complex world."  Read full article here...

Comments from Yoga 4 Classrooms founder, Lisa Flynn:

SEL (social/emotional learning), resilience, stress reduction, improved academic performance and many other benefits relevant to education and whole child wellness, are natural outcomes of these practices (see research cited in the article), but as Dr. Jennings states, the approach for teaching mindful awareness to children can and should be quite different than with adults. Reputable programs designed for schools understand this and incorporate kid-friend­ly approaches which include breathing, movement, reflection­, focusing exercises, discussion­s, community building exercises and more.

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6 Tools That Support Kids Social Emotional Development for 2012 and Beyond!

Great suggestions provided by our friends at Move With Me Action Adventures includes our very own Yoga 4 Classrooms Card Deck.

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The Omazing Kids Yoga review of our new Yoga 4 Classrooms Card Deck is well, Omazing!  We especially appreciate that Angela Moorad, the founder, notes the features that we feel make the deck and Yoga 4 Classrooms program unique, comprehensive and user-friendly.  



Highlights of the review....



Wow…. The new Yoga 4 Classrooms Activity Card Deck has it all!  The Y4C card deck provides an easy to use, well-rounded & comprehensive approach to yoga for kids. It is a “must have” for classroom teachers & kids yoga teachers.

Here’s what I LOVE about the Y4C Card Deck:



    •    Yoga is so much more than just “poses” so it is refreshing to see this expressed so well in a kids yoga product!

   

•    The instructions on the back of the card are easy to understand & often provide ideas for partner variations, ideas to include books & music and other classroom extension ideas.

   

•    The cards would be very easy to use in any setting with the use of standing & chair poses (no need for yoga mats or floor space) and do not have anything in them that could be viewed as “religious” (no Sanskrit words, Om symbols, etc..) thus avoiding the potential objections school administration or parents might have.

   

•    The cards are colorful & large enough to be seen in a group setting.

   

•    The cards are color-coded by category.

   

•    The illustrations on the cards depict kids of diverse ethnicities & abilities.

  

•    The words on the front of each card capture the essence & purpose of that activity or pose and would be easy to use as “affirmations”.

  

•    The “Be Well” cards  address “Yamas” & “Niyamas” of yoga via “Character Education” in a classroom-friendly way. Yamas are social disciplines –  how we behave toward others & Niyamas are personal disciplines – how we care for ourselves.



READ THE FULL REVIEW AND ENTER THE GIVEAWAY CONTEST HERE.

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December 15th, 2011
By 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/

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We're honored that today, the Chicago Sun-Times Courier News featured the Yoga 4 Classrooms Card Deck as a recommended teacher gift!

Consider giving gifts that do a body good

~ Dec. 15, 2011, Courier News, a Chicago Sun-Times publication

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Dr.:  Yoga impacts students' ability to manage stress - WATCH.  Larger study, funded on the National Institute on Drug Abuse, will look at impact of yoga on attention, working memory, classroom behavior, academic performance, drug use prevention. 

Baltimore program and other school yoga programs, such as Yoga 4 Classrooms, translate these practices to be relevant for youth and educational settings, ultimately having an enormous impact on student's lives and the culture of the school and community.

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CBS News reports Yoga in school showing results. Suspensions are down, test scores are up and students are feeling focused and content.

"95% of our students report that after yoga they feel more ready to learn."

"It's part of our everyday curriculum."

Watch / Read more...

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