Yoga Cool for Schools

Envision a typical elementary school classroom with about a dozen eight-year olds, slumped in their chairs or fidgeting with their school supplies—or perhaps doodling on a half-filled out test. Then the bell rings, and the mood changes completely: the kids are now focused, alert. Yes, it’s recess break, but not of the usual variety.

In this recess, instead of heading for hopscotch or tetherball, the class gathers together for a fun yet focused yoga lesson for kids, courtesy of a new program from the Yoga Health Foundation: Yoga-Recess.

Yoga-Recess, launched early this year, aims to help combat rising rates of obesity and chronic illness by encouraging mind-body fitness among our nation’s youth. With recent cuts in funding for physical education in schools, Yoga-Recess offers teachers an affordable alternative for bringing health and fitness—and the added bonus of mind-body awareness—into the classroom.

The Yoga-Recess program aims to make yoga accessible to school children all over the country by offering three different age-specific yoga DVDs: one yoga practice targets preschool children, another kindergarteners and day care program for children ages 3-6; an elementary school yoga program targets kids 6-12; and a high school-targeted DVD offer yoga for teens, aged 12-18. The Yoga-Recess DVDs can also be used to encourage mind-body fitness and health by after-school programs, community centers, youth organizations, or even by families in their own home.

By working with the Yoga-Recess DVDs, students (and teachers as well) can take advantage of all the health benefits Yoga offers for children. In addition to the well-known perks of increased strength, stamina, and flexibility, yoga has been scientifically proven to decrease anxiety and depression, aid with weight loss, and improve heart health as well. Yoga brings a unique element to the classroom by helping children develop the ability to focus and calm their minds as well as release the daily stresses of tests and other school activities.

“When I take yoga class I feel like I can just let go of any stress or anything that seems to bother me,” says one student who practices the Yoga-Recess for ages 12+ program.

Another student find the strength-building element most useful: “It’s really helping me with sports also, because it takes a lot of muscles.”

And for some, practicing Yoga-Recess brings kids a subtler, yet equally valuable experience; one student reports, “It just makes me feel, like, in place.”

Already, schools ranging from the Austin Adventist Jr. Academy to Queens High School for the Sciences, and from Western Trails 
Elementary School to the Baccalaureate School for Global Education have adopted the program.

Through Yoga-Recess, the Yoga Health Foundation hopes to bring yoga-based mind body fitness programs to schools, reaching thousands of children and inspiring them to live healthier lives.

School teachers who request a free DVD for their classes will also receive instruction and additional free online training, which offers advice on how to implement Yoga-Recess into their class schedule. No prior knowledge of yoga is required.