Kids
Yoga! It’s Academic
By Deanna Michalopoulos
Schools Create Stress-Free Zones by Putting Playful Poses to Work
Stress isn’t cool. And if yoga classes in schools continue to win the popular vote, a Buddha-like behaved, stress-less child near you will be the next Bevery Hills hottie like Bikram—or even a benevolent mogul like Bill Gates. (In fact, put down your fencing mask, Junior; Harvard’s admission committee wants to know you’ve been self actualizing since mom took you to Baby Om.) Yoga in schools is being used as a secret weapon against issues like anxiety, weight gain, and low self esteem. If three breaths a day can calm ADHD, improve intelligence, and create social skills, you may begin to feel optimistic about your family’s long-term health again.
Y’all could use a “Yoga Moment”
It's a warm weekday morning at Madison Rose Lane Elementary School, in Phoenix, Arizona. In perfect unison the student body puts down their pencils, stops reading their books, and closes their eyes. The voice on the morning PA system has announced it's time for their daily "Yoga Moment." Zen-like, even the antsiest kids put their hands together in front of their chests and take three deep breaths before they float open their eyelids and get back to work. These kids don't have to know that their breath work is actually called Pranayama to feel its calming benefits.
“Stress” might not be in their vocabulary, and “relax” might be something that mom just asks you to do, but kids really do sense the tranquility they get from a yoga class. “It’s really powerful. One boy asked me whether I could teach his parents to calm down,” says Diane Cline, founder of YogaLand, based in Scottdale, Arizona. “I told him that I’m not going to see his parents, so he’ll have to show them.”
As the number of overweight and overachieving kids increases in an over-driven academic world, schools have become open to unconventional solutions to student stress, says Cline. A one-stop lesson in fitness and self-awareness, yoga seamlessly fits into the day without bumping anything off the curriculum; teachers can take their bag of Buddha tricks and sprinkle fun breathing exercises and stretches into their lessons at any time. Since its debut in July 2006, YogaLand has successfully initiated yoga programs that include a daily Yoga Moment in 19 public schools and 5 private schools in Arizona. That’s over 3,000 kids who’ve found a little boost through yoga.
