One of the most indelible and defining moments in my training to become a yoga teacher began with a loud POP! At first, I thought it was my classmate’s back adjusting as our instructor led her into an advanced pose, but the look on her face said, “This is serious.”

Maybe she was predisposed to such an injury. Still, I couldn’t help but think that our teacher – naturally flexible and well-respected in the yoga community – was a little too attached to the student “getting” the pose.

Perhaps you’ve been in a yoga class where you sensed a competitive vibe or peer pressure to “keep up.” Or you’ve seen instructors who, without question, teach a “standard” routine, no matter the age or condition of the students. Or classes in which the teacher says to “listen” to your body and “adapt as you need to,” yet doesn’t show or tell you how. Or classes that move so quickly, you don’t have time to feel what’s happening in your body.

This is why I was glad to read and hear the dialogue stimulated by William Broad’s recent New York Times piece on the risks of physical yoga poses, or asana. (You’ll find the original article here, follow-up comment here and a sample of other reactions here.)

It’s something we regularly address in our Yoga Calm trainings – why we teach only simple poses that virtually everyone can benefit from; why we don’t teach inversions like headstand and shoulderstand; how muscular engagement protects joints and why observing the breath is such an important “stress gauge.” It’s why we had physical and occupational therapists peer review and help use write our book, Yoga Calm for Children. This same inclusive, therapeutic approach is fundamental to our new Yoga Alliance-approved yoga teacher training program (RYT-200), as well.

But what’s missing from the NYT piece is something even more important: The purpose of yoga is more than just physical. Rather, the poses – and the context in which they’re taught – are fundamentally a means of developing self-awareness, character and social responsibility. We feel that such principles are at the heart of yoga – and many other contemplative practices – not how flexible your hamstrings are or how well you can perform the Downward Dog (or any other) pose.

At the same time, the article gives a misleading sense of risk. Estimates say there are about 20 million people now practicing yoga. Compared with other recreational activities, the percentage of reported yoga injuries is incredibly small. Also, we should consider how many injuries yoga has helped prevent. At one recent pro basketball game, I saw half the players doing facilitated yoga stretches as part of their warm-up.

There are much bigger health risks that need to be addressed. One out of every 3 children born in the year 2000 is projected to develop diabetes. Stress and hypertension kill millions. Sitting at a computer for 8 to 10 hours a day causes more back problems than yoga.

These are some of the “physical” reasons why movement practices like Hatha yoga are needed.

In Yoga Calm, the practice is guided by five key principles we developed from more than three decades of educating children and equal time in various meditation and yoga practices. They’re the themes and goals that underlie all Yoga Calm processes and guide in their implementation:

From our book:

Historically, yoga practices have encompassed both physical and mental techniques for calming the nervous system—exactly what today’s stress researchers recommend. And while these techniques are an important part of yoga, they were designed to serve even greater purposes in the individual and the community—those of personal discovery, wellness, and self mastery. These overarching principles or philosophies of yoga invite creativity and flexibility in responding to needs; empower individuals through self-study, exploration, and discernment; and guide without dictating. The cultivation of these yogic attitudes is at the heart of yoga and a key determinant in its effectiveness, adaptability, and longevity.

Stillness
Stillness is the ability to quiet the mind and body; to be self-aware; to develop sensitivity, self control, and self-regulation.

Listening
Listening is the ability to tune in to what the heart, mind, and body have to say. This is important for developing self-understanding, discrimination, self-regulation, and imagination. Appropriate listening reduces the chances of injury and self-destructive behavior.

Grounding
Grounding is the ability to connect to the earth, to be physically present in the body, and to develop a sense of competence, physical safety, and security. A strong sense of balance and other healthy sensory-motor functions are building blocks for academic, behavioral, and emotional growth.

Strength
Physical Strength helps prevent injury and disease and develops capability, confidence, and self-esteem based on measurable outcomes. Mental Strength is the use of positive self-talk, respecting boundaries, and monitoring the things taken into the mind and body. Emotional Strength is the ability to feel, identify, and express feelings without harming oneself or others. Emotional Strength is developed in the social/emotional processes and counseling strategies used in Yoga Calm.

Community
Community nurtures the ability to give and receive support, as well as develop compassion, communication skills, and other abilities necessary to live cooperatively with others.

Read more in Yoga Calm for Children.

This focus on principles lets Yoga Calm be readily adapted to many ages, abilities and environments. For example, in a classroom with students of diverse abilities, Stillness processes can be explored in a chair or while standing, Listening processes can be performed by all, and Community support can be displayed in many ways, such as simply giving attention, encouragement or respect.

In this way, “yoga” is much more than a pose. It becomes a tool, an approach and a perspective that can serve us throughout our entire lives.

Image by Augusto Mia Battaglia photography, via Flickr

2011 was a tough one for both Lynea and me, punctuated by the deaths of so many significant people in our lives. While we’ve both been through series of major losses like this before, something changed for me this time.

In grief, we often remember the many gifts a loved one had brought to us. It’s a poignant sweetness wrapped in the pain of loss. The traditional Japanese symbol of this bittersweet and ephemeral nature of life is the sakura, or cherry blossom. The tree has a short yet brilliant blossoming season. Then, inevitably, the petals fall.

Our lives, too, are short. And beautiful. And precious.

So I was happily surprised when so many of my students said that they didn’t have any resolutions at all; they were happy with who they are. While setting goals and aspiring to be our better selves are wonderful, valuable things, isn’t it also good to think that we are okay just as we are?

This acceptance involves a different kind of resolution, bringing our goodness into sharper focus, into resolution.

It’s also a form of gratitude – a practice that permeates many religions and contemplative traditions through actions such as prayer, giving thanks, Metta meditations and blessing food. For those who practice it, its power is undeniable, especially for teachers and those in the helping professions. They know how acknowledging positive qualities and behaviors reinforces them and teaches skills that lend to happier and more successful lives.

To put it another way: A gardener can pull weeds all day, yet the weeds will grow back and need pulling again. Or you can plant the flowers, shrubs and trees you want and crowd out the weeds.

So, too, we can cultivate gratitude. And its effects are mental, spiritual and physical. As clinical psychologists Drs. Blair and Rita Justice write in the University of Texas Health Science Center’s Health Leader,

Researchers have found that when we think about someone or something we really appreciate and experience the feeling that goes with the thought, the parasympathetic—calming-branch of the autonomic nervous system— is triggered. This pattern when repeated bestows a protective effect on the heart. The electromagnetic heart patterns of volunteers tested become more coherent and ordered when they activate feelings of appreciation.

There is evidence that when we practice bringing attention to what we appreciate in our lives, more positive emotions emerge, leading to beneficial alterations in heart rate variability. This may not only relieve hypertension but reduce the risk of sudden death from coronary artery disease.

The more we pause to appreciate and show caring and compassion, the more order and coherence we experience internally. When our hearts are in an “internal coherence state,” studies suggest that we enjoy the capacity to be peaceful and calm yet retain the ability to respond appropriately to stressful circumstances.

Even more impressive than this growing body of research is watching a gratitude master at work. I feel so fortunate to really learn this from my wife Lynea. She constantly looks for people’s gifts, compliments them and helps them find ways to develop their gifts. It’s why she created so many acknowledgement processes in our Yoga Calm work. It’s what led her to write Good People Everywhere, a children’s book to be released next month.

Appreciation is at the heart of our work with boys, too, such as our “Jedi Training” classes (PDF) and the “Boys and Coyotes” course for parents, teachers and counselors. These started with a simple question: “Why are so many more boys than girls being referred to school counselors and behavior classrooms?” While there are many factors at work, Lynea couldn’t help but ask the logical question: Is there something wrong with all these boys or something wrong with the environment or culture? Perhaps schools, homes and our sedentary way of life don’t really appreciate the sometimes “big” energy boys express.

Yet by honoring, playing with and channeling this energy, the boys we teach prove entirely capable of more self-control and great things. What they need first is to be seen by others as okay.

I, too, am trying to weave even more gratitude processes in throughout my day. I take a moment to notice the good work I’m doing before tackling the day’s “problems.” I take time to really taste my food, appreciate my warm house, smile at a stranger, compliment my yoga students…

And what I notice is that there’s always more to be grateful for, more and more beauty in life.

Thanks for what you do!

For what we’ve found is that – for youth and adults alike – increased screen time comes at the expense of sleep, which contributes to behavior issues, obesity and learning difficulties. At the same time, electronic media are changing the very structure and function of our brains. The constant stimulation and distraction encourages multitasking, fueling a continuous stress response. More, all this screen time comes at the expense of the face-to-face social interactions through which we develop important social and emotional skills, learn compassion and how to work together…

Then it hit me: The symposium series wasn’t about this “dark side” of technology but how to get kids to use even more of it in the classroom.

Now, I’m no Luddite. In fact, one third of my working life was in the telecom industry, developing technological solutions to problems. Yet what I’ve learned over the years is that technology is neither inherently good or bad, but neutral. Its promise – and its danger – is that it amplifies human intent.

Recent reports about the efficacy of educational technology lend weight to this. What are we getting from the billions of dollars we spend on classroom tech? Do we see a boost in academic achievement? The results are mixed, some say disappointing:

“The data is pretty weak. It’s very difficult when we’re pressed to come up with convincing data,” said Tom Vander Ark, the former executive director for education at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and an investor in educational technology companies.

Critics counter that, absent clear proof, schools are being motivated by a blind faith in technology and an overemphasis on digital skills — like using PowerPoint and multimedia tools — at the expense of math, reading and writing fundamentals. They say the technology advocates have it backward when they press to upgrade first and ask questions later.

The problems today require a different mind
than the one that got us here in the first place…. – Einstein

Enter our modern day Einstein, Steve Jobs.

Even months since his passing, people continue to reflect on Jobs’s accomplishments and legacy. What was it about him that led to revolutions in computing and technology design, dramatically altering the way we work, play, connect and live?

Walter Isaacson’s remembrance speaks volumes:

Was Mr. Jobs smart? Not conventionally. Instead, he was a genius. That may seem like a silly word game, but in fact his success dramatizes an interesting distinction between intelligence and genius. His imaginative leaps were instinctive, unexpected, and at times magical. They were sparked by intuition, not analytic rigor. Trained in Zen Buddhism, Mr. Jobs came to value experiential wisdom over empirical analysis. He didn’t study data or crunch numbers but like a pathfinder, he could sniff the winds and sense what lay ahead.

He told me he began to appreciate the power of intuition, in contrast to what he called “Western rational thought,” when he wandered around India after dropping out of college. “The people in the Indian countryside don’t use their intellect like we do,” he said. “They use their intuition instead … Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect, in my opinion. That’s had a big impact on my work.”

Mr. Jobs’s intuition was based not on conventional learning but on experiential wisdom. He also had a lot of imagination and knew how to apply it. As Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

This connection between imagination – intuitive, creative vision – and accomplishment is both surprising and not. If we think of imagination as separate from “smarts,” then yes, it’s surprising. But they are, in fact, intricately unified. It’s why we stress the integration of physical, cognitive and emotional learning. Why we need to look beyond just cognitive learning to create tools that address the needs of the whole child in a holistic way. And the results speak for themselves: higher test scores, fewer behavior referrals, stronger learning communities, happier children and teachers.

Interestingly, the stuff of Jobs’s world – technology – consistently fails to generate the academic improvement we’re all longing to see.

Even Mr. Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, turned skeptical about technology’s ability to improve education. In a new biography of Mr. Jobs, the book’s author, Walter Isaacson, describes a conversation earlier this year between the ailing Mr. Jobs and Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, in which the two men “agreed that computers had, so far, made surprisingly little impact on schools — far less than on other realms of society such as media and medicine and law.”

The comments echo similar ones Mr. Jobs made in 1996, between his two stints at Apple. In an interview with Wired magazine, Mr. Jobs said that “what’s wrong with education cannot be fixed with technology,” even though he had himself “spearheaded giving away more computer equipment to schools than anybody else on the planet.”

So perhaps it’s another non-surprise that plenty of techies take a decidedly low-tech approach to their own children’s education. At the Waldorf school in Los Altos, California, for instance, 3/4 of the students have parents with strong industry ties. As one of those parents – a Google executive– told the New York Times, “The idea that an app on an iPad can better teach my kids to read or do arithmetic, that’s ridiculous.”

Furman University education professor Paul Thomas would agree, noting in the same article that “a spare approach to technology in the classroom will always benefit learning. [For] teaching is a human experience. Technology is a distraction when we need literacy, numeracy and critical thinking.”

Thus, the need for a humanistic approach in the classroom – to cultivate conscience and character while instilling knowledge and teaching skills. Then, when we do incorporate technology, students may be more apt to use it well.

This, I think, is the real message of Steve Jobs: We don’t necessarily need more technology; we need more creativity and vision.

Dominic Randolph is one educator putting those to work, complementing academic rigor with social-emotional learning (SEL). As headmaster of New York’s prestigious Riverdale School, Randolph

did away with Advanced Placement classes in the high school soon after he arrived at Riverdale; he encourages his teachers to limit the homework they assign; and he says that the standardized tests that Riverdale and other private schools require for admission to kindergarten and to middle school are “a patently unfair system” because they evaluate students almost entirely by I.Q. “This push on tests,” he told me, “is missing out on some serious parts of what it means to be a successful human.”

The most critical missing piece, Randolph explained as we sat in his office last fall, is character…

He’s since implemented a complementary curriculum focused on nurturing strengths identified by Martin Seligman and others that have been deemed necessary for resiliency, happiness and success. It’s the focus of a long New York Times Magazine article that’s definitely worth your time, detailing the program and reactions to this new emphasis on SEL’s role in education. (You can read the whole thing here.)

Results at Riverside, as in Yoga Calm classrooms around the world, just underscore the point that such programs are a better investment than computers and software. They’re less expensive; don’t break down, don’t get infected or act buggy; don’t require lots of expensive peripherals to use. And instead of focusing on just one area of improvement, programs like Yoga Calm support improvement across the board, for you’re educating the whole child.

Perhaps dedication – or rededication – to this concept is the best and most selfless resolution any of us can make for the incipient New Year.

Image Credits
boy at screen by Paul Mayne, via Flickr
young Steve Jobs, via epicaGear
character sign, via educationkorner.com

Each of these class plans is based on a Yoga Calm principle and tailored to a specific setting and population – a great way for our instructors to apply what they’ve learned to real world scenarios. They also serve as wonderful models and a source of inspiration for colleagues. They’re a way for professionals to share knowledge, highlight teaching topics and encourage best practices.

In 2012, our updated Wellness course series is designed to provide even more examples of and training in the creation of class plans. It’s a powerful way to learn the methods, explore the principles and apply the specific activities of the Yoga Calm system.

Even more exciting is the development of our online library of class plans – part of our new, enhanced website, which we’ll be launching early next year. Soon, you’ll be able to search Yoga Calm’s entire directory of over 500 class plans, using keywords specific to your needs. Imagine doing a simple, Google-like search to find a class plan for a 5-6th grade special needs class…or teen group…or preschoolers…or OT clients in a clinic; or finding a Community-themed plan for use at a treatment center….

Be sure you connect with us via Facebook, Twitter or email for news about these and other new courses and tools.

Meantime, we’d like to share one class plan with you, which was submitted by school psychologist Wendy Holley-Boen and is noteworthy for its use of mirroring activities, which stimulate the brain’s mirror neurons. These cells are found on either side of the head and are what allow us to experience what others are experiencing by mimicking their physical behavior.

Interesting, huh? But it gets even more amazing. UCLA professor Marco Iacoboni theorizes that mirror neurons tie us to other people’s feelings. His brain scan research has shown that when a subject looks at an image of a smiling face, the neurons that tell our muscles to smile fire up just as they do when we really do smile. And when a subject mirrors the smile, the area of the brain associated with feeling happy fires up even more!

This, says Iacoboni, is a consistent result. Mirror neurons, he believes, can send messages to the limbic – that is, the emotional – system in our brains. It’s possible that these neurons help us tune into each other’s feelings. That’s empathy.

Iacoboni strongly believes this is a unifying mechanism, allowing people to connect at a very simple level. Another researcher, V.S. Ramachandran, suggests that the development of these neurons was a key event in human evolution as a social species, conferring a survival advantage.

Other research has suggested that dysfunction in the mirror neuron network may be involved with autism.

But back to Wendy’s class plan. Tapping into the power of Yoga Calm’s student-leading method, the following Community-themed class plan is a brain-based method for developing empathy and compassion.

Yoga Calm COMMUNITY Class Plan

Class: Kindergarten

Facilitator: Wendy Holley-Boen, School Psychologist

Class Plan

Today we’ll be focusing on working together as a community.

You’ll find detailed instructions for each activity below in our book Yoga Calm for Children.

Belly Breathing, using Breathing Sphere

• Have one student come up to lead 5 breaths while another student counts the breaths. Tell the group to notice the teamwork that goes on between the two students.
• Have everyone breathe while using their hands as a “magic ball,” expanding and contracting in unison with the leader.
• Have the leaders choose a few children to give them a teamwork compliment.

Mirror/Human Activity

• In pairs, have the students practice yoga poses we have learned. One person will model the pose; one will mirror them. Switch.
• Discuss the power of being part of a team: How did it feel to lead? To have someone follow? To follow?

Trust Walk

• In pairs, have one student close their eyes and stick out their index finger.
• Have the other student gently guide their classmate around the room by their finger while watching their facial expressions to make sure they feel safe.

Trust Walk with Sensory Adventure

• Do Trust Walk again, this time handing the eyes-closed partner different objects from around the room (e.g., stuffed animals, flowers, soft fabrics, etc.).
• Discuss: How did it feel to keep your friend safe? To be kept safe?

Mirroring Circle

• Have one person leave the room and one person chosen as leader.
• Have the group practice following the leader, mirroring their movement.
• Have the person outside return to the room and guess who the leader is.

Back Drawing

• Form a circle, sit down and turn to the right.
• Place your hands on the back of the person in front of you.
• Using the back like a piece of paper, use your fingers to draw a story on each other’s back about finding a new friend.
• Now draw a gift the person in front of you might like.
• Lean forward and whisper what gift you would give them!

Learn more about mirror neurons, via PBS’s NOVA.

Mother & child image by Henning Mühlinghaus, via Flickr

It’s that time of year again. Despite nature’s call to slow down and hibernate, we tend to speed up and do more. Holiday commitments, family travels, the end of school terms and corporate years, shopping, family expectations and dynamics – it all adds up to a lot of extra stress!

Not that we’re unfamiliar with stress the rest of the year, right? It’s a regular component in our lives, holiday season or not. As a yoga teacher working with over 100 people a week, and as a small business owner, I’m in a unique position to see how we deal with stress, what strategies work and where the pitfalls are.

One of the things both Lynea and I have grown to appreciate is how vital it is that adults learn how to take care of stress so we can model appropriately for the young people in our lives. No list of fancy yoga poses, props or techniques really matter if the teacher isn’t grounded or connected to him- or herself.

For a complete understanding of stress and its effects, I highly recommend Robert Sapolsky’s book Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. It’s accessible, even entertaining and, of course, extremely useful. Keys to reducing stress, writes Sapolsky, include

• Positive thinking.
• Social affiliation.
• Outlets through which to channel frustrations.
• Rest, quality sleep & nutritious food.

But one thing matters more than all these: creating a sense of control.

Change the way even a rat perceives its world and you dramatically alter the likelihood of its getting a disease. These ideas are no mere truisms. They are powerful, potentially liberating forces to be harnessed. As a physiologist who has studied stress for many years, I clearly see that the physiology of the system is often no more decisive than the psychology.

All five of these factors figure into some tips Lynea and I want to share with you to help you keep stress in check through this holiday season and beyond:

Just Say No!
It’s all too easy to over-commit ourselves, especially during the holidays! So why not make it easier on yourself – and others? Consider scheduling your work party earlier in December – or better yet, in January, when people can really appreciate the break. Ask friends to do the same, spreading out celebrations over a few months. School calendars make family commitments a bit tougher, but we know several families that gather at other times of the year, such as birthdays, graduations and special anniversaries. When all else fails, it really is okay to just say “no” for now and schedule something for later.

One Thing at a Time – Please!
Multitasking creates the illusion of productivity while compounding stress. Yet the demands of our 24/7 culture of e-connectivity easily generate the sense that we must always be “on” or available and make multitasking seem inevitable. One simple way to regain focus is to take control of your media gadgets. Why not devote time first thing each day – before checking voice mail and Facebook and email and texts – to work on important things? Set boundaries. Consider unplugging completely at least one day a week. Block off time for more “immersive” experiences in which you do one activity mindfully and with intent. This can really improve productivity and refresh the brain!

Sleep Better
The more plugged-in we are, the less quality sleep we get. Sleep researchers and groups like the National Sleep Foundation recommend turning off electronic media several hours before bedtime. We know of families where everyone has to turn off and leave their phones on the counter by a certain time each night, which reduces at least one distraction for teens doing their homework on a computer. And with the media you do use, be choosy! Don’t just consume what’s there because it’s there. Watch, read, listen to or interact with media that matters to you and, ideally, leaves you with positive feelings afterwards.

An Hour of Sleep Before Midnight…
You know the old maxim that gaining an hour of sleep before midnight is equal to gaining two hours after? It’s probably true. That extra 30 minutes or hour of late-night TV-watching we “treat ourselves” is the opportunity-cost of time the next morning when we exercise, read for enjoyment, work on a creative project or enjoy a good breakfast. So turn off the tube and turn on your life.

Set Expectations, Give Choices
With family budgets tight and media-fueled expectations high, responding to your kids’ wish lists can be tough. Why not try giving them a choice between gifts on their list? Or take the opportunity to teach budgeting: Tell them something like “Santa is on a budget this year,” and ask them to make a list of the things they can get with X dollars. This gives them a sense of control, maintains your role as parent and helps you avoid breaking the bank. Forming holiday budget agreements with ex-spouses can also help avert the “bidding wars” that can accompany divorce.

Establish Your Health Momentum – Now
The combination of inclement weather, seasonal demands and sugary holiday treats can wreak havoc on health. So this year, my New Year’s resolution was to get more exercise in the fall. Even just a 15 minute walk outside or indoor spin on my stationary bike has done wonders for my attitude, with the added blessing of good time to think about and process all else that’s going on. (And the best benefit? I can now eat those holiday sweets with impunity!) When the average American adult spends about two hours daily in front of the TV, is there really such excuse as “I don’t have time”?

What are some of the ways you manage the extra stress holidays can bring? Share your ideas in the comments!

Image by alancleaver_2000, via Flickr

As a group, they can also be highly distracted and distractible. After all, they’re dealing with a lot: the pressures of school, looming college anxiety, raging adolescent hormones, the demands of 24/7 Internet culture (i.e., being always “on,” always performing and constantly trying to keep up with online happenings), identity concerns, family conflicts…. The list could go on and on.

Those who regularly work with teens understand that much success comes from just accepting the natural chaos that arises when introducing new activities. Being mindfully in the present lets us respond to any given situation flexibly and creatively. And teens respect this. They appreciate your awareness of their reality and responding to it directly rather than trying to force-feed them something “for their own good.”

It’s a basic yogic principle, really: Meet them where they are.

Here are a few more tips for working with teens:

1. Use students to model activities.
   For instance, while they’re in Mountain pose, gently push them while asking about times when they have to stay strong while someone is messing with them. Or have a student demonstrate Warrior 1 while you try to distract them – or ask a few of them to try to distract you while you’re in Tree pose, then pair up students to challenge each other in the same way. All these are great ways to make the yoga “real” to them.
2. Interpret, translate and ask them why certain activities are good for them.
   For example, you could teach some yoga while in the computer lab: demonstrate what happens to our lungs and breath when we slump over computers, phones and other electronic gadgets – and then show how yoga corrects this. Or after an activity such as Progressive Relaxation, ask your students how it feels to relax or about times when they might need to take a relaxation break on their own.
3. Self-disclose with strategic storytelling.
   Share appropriate stories of times when you needed yoga in your life or how you used yoga to overcome a challenge. Even a simple anecdote about using your focus skills while driving in a scary situation can be illuminating – and again, shows how real and relevant the yoga is to their lives. Once your class has practiced together for a while, you can ask your students to share their own appropriate stories of how they’ve noticed yoga helping them. This can help keep motivation and student investment high.
4. Get moving sooner.
   Instead of explaining and then doing, get your class moving right away: Explain and do together. Your instructions are apt to make more sense to the students as they act them out in real time. It will keep the tempo and rhythm of the class moving – and remove opportunities for the mind to wander or walls of resistance to go up. You’ll also be able to fit more activities into a shorter time frame.
5. Speak to their culture.
   In your teaching and relaxation activities alike, try to incorporate imagery and other references that resonate with their culture. While “extend your arms and fingers like lasers” can be a great cue for younger students, teens often need a more relevant and motivating image. So, for Star pose, you might say something like, “Think of a time when you did something great and show it through your body.”
6. Use their music.
   Find a popular but appropriate song with a good, steady beat to do some poses with. A fair number of songs covered on Glee may be adaptable, as well as songs from theatre and other live performances popular with teens – things like Blue Man Group, Wicked, Rock of Ages, Billy Elliot and Cirque du Soleil. One of our Minnesota instructors used music from the Blue Man Group to accompany a Star, Side Angle, Warrior 1 flow, and the students absolutely loved it.
7. Adapt the relaxations.
   Teens like Progressive Relaxations and respond well to things that are common in an adult class. Use guided relaxations that allow them to go where they want to go – having their own car with their name on the license plate, taking a trip to the beach with a friend, thinking about what hobbies and pastimes.

Again, teens are often the hardest ones to teach, but when you connect, the rewards are that much greater.

Image by Andrew Feinberg, via Flickr

The practice can be traced back to ancient pagan, Celtic, Roman and Catholic traditions that, over centuries, intertwined. It was broadly believed that the veil between the realms of the living and dead was thinnest at this time of year. Fearing spirits of the dead, people developed rituals to ward them off, including disguises to confuse or frighten the spirits away.

These days, of course, we see a lot more than people dressed as ghosts, ghouls, witches, monsters and other horrific Halloween creatures. While some kids do gravitate toward the scary and strange, others choose to dress up as their heroes, favorite characters (or villains!) or who they want to be when they grow up. They get to feel what it’s like to be someone they’re not and perhaps symbolically explore aspects of their own selves.

One Yoga Calm activity that can be especially fun and effective at this time of year – both tapping into and focusing what we’ve called “that wild Halloween energy” – is The Archetype Game. The use of archetypes can be especially beneficial in Yoga Calm practice, helping children to explore and integrate the various aspects of themselves in a safe and healthy way.

Archetypes, as you may know, are motifs or images that universally appear in stories and art. They represent different aspects of the self. The image of the warrior, the divine child, the orphan, the wise one – these are all archetypes that represent different aspects of the human experience.

Some Archetypes

• The Trickster = the sneaky self
• The Warrior = the fierce one
• Prince or Princess = connecting with our sense of pride & elegance
• Wise King or Queen = stepping into responsibility
• Monster = our scary self
• Angel = our kind and giving self
• The Content One = feeling satisfied with who we are & our personal gifts
• Kind & Friendly One = our social self
• Bear or the Hermit in the Cave = taking time to be alone
• Peaceful One = the quiet, contemplative self
• Clown = our silly self
• Courageous Explorer = facing adversity

Fairy tales and myths are powerful because they represent these and other fundamental but different parts of the personality and the struggles that occur when we encounter them in life. The stories teach us that the trickster can be both useful and dangerous, and that the path to becoming a warrior involves facing hardship. They are psychological teaching stories that guide and help integrate the varied parts of ourselves. We can relate to the young child who longs to prove her competence as a warrior, queen or brilliant musician. We have empathy for the fool who is trying his best and failing at every turn.

By using the archetypes in yoga, students can play with different parts of their personality. As they practice using their strength, it becomes more available to them in their daily lives, and they gain skill and understanding about the importance of strength in the human experience – just as by practicing the qualities of other archetypes, children can learn how to use the different parts of their personalities constructively. Such play can guide them toward a holistic understanding of the many roles we must play in order to have safe and successful lives.

How to Play the Archetype Game

1. The children spread out around the room, each in a squatting position.
2. Through a slow count to 4, each child pretends to grow into a statue that represents a specific archetype or character.
3. With music playing, ask the kids to move the way their archetype or character would move.
4. When you say “freeze,” all the children must stop moving and go back to squat position.
5. Start over, with each student choosing a different archetype or character.

Ground Rules

• Students must give each other space when they go into squat position.
• No touching. No running. No talking.
• Any student who breaks the rules must sit out for one round before rejoining the game.

Try it with your own class, group or children – then use the comments to let us know how it goes!

Images by Nic Stage & vicki watkins, via Flickr

As we mentioned last time, the line between “normal” and behavior that signals ADHD can seem fuzzy at times.

ADHD is marked by a weakness in the ability to sustain, shift or divide attention, coupled with a biologically-based weakness in the ability to control impulses. One aspect or the other – hyperactivity or attention – may be more pronounced, but in any case, the behaviors must significantly affect learning and social relationships and must show up in several areas (e.g., home, school, sports). If it occurs only in the classroom, for instance, it may not be ADHD but a sign of teacher-student mismatch, learning disability or other issue.

Yet even signaling behaviors can be misread. Sleep deprivation, anxiety, stress, diet, neurological conditions or even inadvertently reinforced behavior can all contribute to ADHD-like behaviors. Consequently, they must be ruled out before a definite diagnosis can be made.

In fact, as Dr. Jeff Sosne discusses in our course ADHD: The Mind-Body Connection, our home and school environments can actually set the stage for behavior that looks like ADHD but isn’t.

For instance, consider the demands for attention made on children in overly structured lives. There’s increased academic pressure and heavy homework loads, even at the K-5 level. There may be afterschool obligations such as sports, music, tutoring, church and service groups, or lessons of some sort. While such activities may be pursued for personal pleasure or enrichment, they’re just as often used to sweeten a youth’s “resume” for later schooling.

The resulting stress easily leads to distracted or “wild” behavior, as children find it harder and harder to conform to such demands.

Much can be accomplished through making sure the child eats right, gets enough exercise and adequate sleep, and has opportunities for unstructured play. We see a big reduction of symptoms when these basic human needs are met – whether the child actually has ADHD or not. Children become more able to learn practices that can help them improve their ability to focus, pay attention and self-regulate. These, in turn, support ongoing healthy habits, for through them, kids are nurtured into mindfulness, including awareness of their bodies and what their bodies are telling them.

Courtesy of Dr. Sosne, here are 9 tips for nurturing those skills – useful for all children, but especially for those diagnosed with ADHD:

1. Attitude is everything! Emphasize a positive, “Can Do” attitude and internal motivators (e.g., “This is a good time to clean your room.”).
2. Make eye contact during activities. Practice not responding to a child until they make eye contact, too! Some good games for practicing this skill: Red Light/Green Light, Steal the Bacon, 20 Questions.
3. March toward a goal. Talk out loud about the process so the child can later internalize it. Announce a goal and timeframe for every activity.
4. Start with small goals – things the child can do in 15 minutes. Observe and reward small changes. Don’t give too much time for an “ADHD child” to complete a task.
5. To teach that things change, occasionally stop activities at random and reward the child for handling it well.
6. Focus on accomplishments. Have the child write a note on what he or she accomplished in school today.
7. Acknowledge their agenda and pair it with a request from you – e.g., “While I am getting you a sandwich, could you pick up that wet towel?” Getting something they want does not in itself promote a sense of entitlement.
8. Build habits and routine. Build skills, not consequences.
9. Don’t put too much emphasis on the label “ADHD.” It stereotypes and only points to weaknesses, not strengths. Redefine. Instead of saying, “Robert is ADHD,” say “Robert loves baseball and does better when in the middle of the action (i.e., infield),” or, “Jillian has a great sense of humor but has trouble listening, as well as telling jokes.”

Want to learn even more? Join Dr. Sosne and us for our next session of ADHD: The Mind-Body Connection, October 22 – 23 here in Portland, OR. Registration is required and spots fill fast, so enroll today! CEUs are available.

Image by woodleywonderworks, via Flickr

We all know that ADHD is rampant – but just how much is “rampant,” exactly? As they say on Marketplace, “Let’s do the numbers.”

As of 2007, almost 10% of children between the ages of 4 and 17 had been diagnosed with ADHD at some point in their young lives. Most of them were boys, who are twice as likely as girls to be so diagnosed. Overall rates have risen at a pace of about 3 to 5% each year.

And as they have, so has speculation as to why we’re seeing so many more cases. Some focus on environmental factors, including diet. Some say it’s just better reporting and greater awareness. Some worry about over-diagnosis, either from hyper-vigilance or the desire to explain and control behavior that goes against what we want or expect.

As a result, there’s sometimes confusion between “normal” and ADHD. Even a cursory glance at the current DSM criteria can make you wonder. Fails to pay attention? Avoids or dislikes tasks that require sustained mental effort, such as homework? Fidgets? Talks excessively? What child doesn’t act like this from time to time?

The key is in the frequency and severity of symptom clusters. Child and adolescent specialist Dr. Paul Ballas offers a good illustration of the distinction:

Of course, a girl who doesn’t know the answer to her teacher’s question because she was daydreaming hardly constitutes a psychiatric emergency. However, if you ask a small girl with ADHD why she didn’t finish her test by the end of class, she may tell you she was trying very hard but kept getting distracted by the window, the kid in front of her, or got lost thinking about yesterday’s cartoons. She may do this on every test and it may result in her repeating the 5th grade. To me, this girl doesn’t have normal childhood distraction, but problems with attention.

Additionally, the child with ADHD consistently feels unable to control their behavior. Rather, they feel controlled by it, unable to stop, even when they know they should.

One of the reasons this distinction gets lost – and why boys bear the brunt of it – is that growing boys have a developmental need for more active, physical play. As Certified Yoga Calm Instructor and Intervention and Prevention Specialist Jeff Albin wrote here previously, “The desire to be strong, competent, fierce and protective at the same time runs through the DNA of all males.”

The key is to channel it – to guide boys to and through positive, pro-social ways of filling that desire; to teach, showing them how to grow into responsible men. Without adult guidance or traditional coming-of-age rituals providing a proving method and outlet for that drive, the result can be wild, thrill-seeking and even self-destructive behavior.

We address these issues at length in our course Boys, Coyotes & Other Wild Creatures: Healthy Alternatives for Harnessing “Wildness.” In this class, we explore the importance of movement and “rough” play, and the need for boys to find meaning, initiation and physical connection to the world. Participants learn how to use traditional stories of animals such as wolves, coyotes and cougars, as well as current cultural mythology such as Star Wars and its Jedi knights, to explore the warrior archetype and its importance in addressing the global challenges of this era.

Our next session of this course will be held at Lewis & Clark College here in Portland on October 15 – 16. Complete course info and online registration is available here.

We’ve also developed a special Yoga Calm course we call “Jedi Training.” Designed for boys aged 7 to 12, this kids’ class puts those “Wild Creature” course principles into action. A new 8 week series is just getting underway at The Children’s Program in Multnomah Village, running October 5 through November 23. Late registrations may be possible, space permitting. To learn more call us at 503-452-8002 or email us for more info.

Of course, many of the activities we use in the Jedi Training and other children’s classes – and thousands of teachers, counselors and other professionals use in their work with children every day – are entirely suitable for kids with ADHD and may be just as helpful. When working with ADHD populations, we adapt and emphasize those activities that address their most pressing needs.

Next time, we’ll be sharing some tips from our ADHD: The Mind-Body Connection course for helping children with ADHD practice attention, focus and self-regulation skills. Until then, you may want to check out our earlier set of tips from ADHD expert Dr. Jeff Sosne, as well as these videos:

Want to learn more? Our next ADHD course will be held in Portland, OR, October 22 – 23. Register now!

Images by mangpages and pixieclipx, via Flickr

For instance, the first time we offered a training in Colorado, low enrollment forced us to cancel. But one who had registered offered to help us try again. An occupational therapist (OT) in the Littleton Public Schools, Ilga Paul helped make our second try into a big success.

What’s more, she’s since become a Certified Yoga Calm Instructor and trainer, and she’ll be teaching our next two Denver workshops: Integrated Approach to Wellness 1 with Kim Oliva, September 17 – 18; and Integrated Approach to Wellness 2 – Physical Connections to Learning with Jim Gillen, September 24 – 25.

Ilga first began sharing yoga with students several years ago, after learning that her OT intern also practiced. “We were working with a group of 2nd graders who all needed help with developing fine motor skills,” she says, “especially as it related to legible handwriting. The students also had very poor muscle tone, decreased core muscle strength and difficulty paying attention. We worked with them outside of the general education classroom, starting our sessions with poses such as Tree, Downward Dog and Cat/Cow. The students loved it!”

After she began working at a school where special education services were provided within the general education classroom, Ilga’s use of yoga expanded. There, she says, “I had a Kindergartener on my caseload and was asked by his teacher to collaborate on a 30 minute weekly session with the whole class. One thing led to another, and soon I was visiting many classes, teaching poses and breath work to support their academic effort, concentration and ownership of their learning.”

As soon as she began learning Yoga Calm’s principles and activities, Ilga put her new knowledge to work. At the time, she says,

my caseload was such that I served students at five schools (Pre – 5) and supervised three OT Assistants. At the same time, word spread of my 10 – 15 minute yoga sessions. At one point, I was going into 19 classrooms a week!

I saw amazing benefits from even this little bit of time and came to realize that Yoga Calm was the most meaningful and results-producing approach I had used in my 35+ years as an OT. Becoming a Certified Instructor seemed like the natural extension of what I had been doing, and now it’s opened the door to a new career! Some things are just meant to happen.

Using Yoga Calm in the classroom is a wonderful way to provide Response to Intervention support, particularly for students who struggle with attention or are highly restless or anxious. Kids love these short “yoga breaks” and get excited when I arrive. I stand quietly at their classroom door and watch the transition process, as that tells me how to structure the session.

One day, I silently walked into a 3rd grade classroom while the teacher instructed the kids to put away their math activities. When the students saw me, without any further instruction, they put away their things, pushed in their chairs, found their personal space and were ready for yoga. It’s so wonderful – and fun and exciting! – to see students go from being silly, distracted and restless to focused, able to complete activities with attention and intention. When a whole class is calm and focused during an activity such as Roots, the energy feels almost magical!

I regularly see students use yoga on their own to help them self-regulate. I have seen 3rd graders with significant anger issues use Belly Breathing to de-escalate. I have seen others use poses such as Chair Twist and seated Forward Bend during standardized testing to help them attend to their task.

The power of Yoga Calm, I believe, comes from students becoming aware of the messages their body is giving them, knowing what to do with those messages and implementing strategies to maximize academic achievement. I find it extremely well-suited to help manage anxiety and distraction. The physical yoga is a wonderful way to work on things like posture, core muscle strength and awareness of the body in space. Students on the Autism Spectrum definitely benefit from the activities, yet even those with more profound needs may benefit in a small group outside of the general education classroom.

In practice, I use a problem-solving approach in which students participate in developing strategies and are responsible for trying them out between sessions. They then report the strategies’ success or failure, and we determine the next steps. The sense of empowerment-in-action is amazing!

And all students can become so empowered, not just those designated with special needs, even though the special needs student was why I went into the classroom in the first place.

I believe that students with almost any dis/ability can benefit from Yoga Calm, in part due to its sheer adaptability to student and class needs. If needed, sessions can be shortened: Better a successful 15 minute session than a disjointed 30 minutes. If you have a group with mixed physical abilities, chairs or bolsters can be used to provide extra balance support. Completing yoga poses with Deaf and hard of hearing populations is a great way to improve vestibular functioning. (Having Deaf students lead poses also gives them an opportunity to practice oral skills.) With blind students, I stand nearby and mindfully use clear, specific and descriptive words in my directions. Often, a sighted student can be paired with a blind student, so they can help position them.

I love watching students change over the course of the school year, and it is so exciting when they independently use strategies that I have taught! I also love watching the teachers. Their class interactions evolve, and they, too, receive the benefits of yoga. Every day, I see the seed Yoga Calm spread and grow. It’s exciting to be able share strategies that really work!

Our next Denver workshops will be held September 17 – 18 (Wellness 1) and September 24 – 25 (Wellness 2). To register online, just click the appropriate date.

Trainings are also slated for January and March 2012, including courses needed for Certification. To see our full schedule of courses around the US, visit us at yogacalm.org.