Discover Our Yogic Roots
Dive into the world of mindful movement for young minds. Let’s embark on a journey of self-discovery and tranquility, one downward dog at a time. Yoga isn’t just about stretching; it’s about unifying our minds and bodies.
Say hello to a more grounded, centered, and joyful school experience. Together, we can breathe light and love into the hearts of our future.
My yoga lineage is Iyengar and Hatha yoga. BKS Iyengar created a form of yoga that focuses on structural alignment. This desire for structural alignment brings in the use of props, enabling almost anyone to do any pose. Hatha yoga is all about slowing down and feeling each pose, feeling how the body responds to each movement.
Combining these two forms of yoga creates a mindful and anatomic consensus practice. Leaving one refreshed and reconnected afterwards.
Why Yoga?
What is Hatha?
Hatha Yoga is a form of yoga that is slow and intentional in every pose. Hatha connects our mind back to our body. It forces us to acknowledge the tightness in our bodies due to stress, fatigue, fear, and every other emotion we feel. Hatha yoga isn’t about getting a “good sweat on” it’s about reconnecting.
Why in schools?
School tends to be a difficult time for many. It is a rollercoaster of emotions, trying to fit in, figuring out who you are, and learning to be yourself. While yoga cannot take away all those things it can help make them more manageable. Yoga activates our vagus nerve which is the main nerve of our parasympathetic system. By activating this nerve we signal to our body it’s time to rest, restore, and digest. That’s why you leave a yoga class feeling so relaxed.
How does it fit into school standards?
Every state will have its own set of school standards. I teach Health and PE so it is easier for me to incorporate yoga. Besides looking at your state standards look into Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and how to bring it into the classroom.
New Mexico Health 9-12 Standards
What about meditation?
Meditation can be as simple as working on pranayama (breath work) with your eyes closed and allowing your thoughts to wander by. Or it can be mantra work where you create a small saying like “I am light and love” and repeating that in your mind while listening to music for some time. There is also guided meditation called Yoga Nidra. How you use meditation will be unique to your classroom and school.
How does yoga work?
Yoga activates the rest and digest function in our body, it helps us slow down and reconnect. A common phrase in the yoga community is “our issues lie in our tissues” which reminds us we don’t just feel emotions in our minds. Everything is connected. Yoga acts as a buffer, giving us the time to realize and recognize how we feel. By realizing how we feel, we can make better decisions.
Props and Practice
While companies make yoga props such as straps, blocks, balls, and bolsters you don’t need any of those to get started. A bolster can be a bundled-up hoodie or jacket, instead of a block, use chairs. There’s a whole type of yoga dedicated to using chairs as props.
Yoga practices can be as short as 3 minutes or take up the entire class. What your students need will dictate how long you’ll want to spend on a practice. If you implement regular meditation throughout the week, establishing a baseline for your students’ needs will be easier.
Getting Started…
Each yoga space will look different, use the resources you have to make it your own. Talk to your school’s wood shop to make shelves; ask maintenance if they have any materials you can use. You’ll want space for your props as well as your yoga mats.
My classroom came with a supply closet which I transformed into my yoga closet. I was fortunate enough to add my yoga equipment to my adoption year supplies but that’s not always the case. So! If you have a bookshelf you’re not using that would be a great storage place for blocks and mats. There are grants you can apply for to help with the cost I’d first suggest talking with your schools’ admin, PTA, and school board first. Check with your maintenance team to see how they’d like to proceed and what timelines may look like.