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Joseph, a five year old boy diagnosed with ADHD, was making good progress in yoga class at school. He was coming to friendship group once a week, and his mom and dad were working with me [Lynea] on parenting skills.
For Joseph, change came slowly but consistently. He had learned how to catch himself when excited and ask for help. His breathing practice was more rhythmic and controlled. His parents were learning how to help him regulate his emotions.
Then he was put on medication for ADHD. The results were quick and impressive. He was instantly calmer and more capable of focusing in class. Parenting and teaching him were both a lot easier. But it also seemed like he’d lost some of his fire and passion.
Soon after, Joseph stopped attending yoga and friendship group. His mom and dad stopped coming for parenting classes.
Deciding whether to medicate a child is a big decision. It can give a child the chance to experience life with less anxiety and social conflict. Sometimes, medication is absolutely necessary. But often, there’s an unfortunate side effect: parents drop the skills-training and other support they were providing their child. And their child gets the message loud and clear: When you’re struggling, use medicine. No need to keep practicing your friendship skills or learning tools for attention and how to self-regulate. Put all your faith in the pills.
Yet, as L. Alan Sroufe, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development, noted in a recent op-ed in the New York Times, ADHD drugs offer a short-term solution at best.
Attention-deficit drugs increase concentration in the short term, which is why they work so well for college students cramming for exams. But when given to children over long periods of time, they neither improve school achievement nor reduce behavior problems. The drugs can also have serious side effects, including stunting growth.
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To date, no study has found any long-term benefit of attention-deficit medication on academic performance, peer relationships or behavior problems, the very things we would most want to improve.
But in 2009, findings were published from a well-controlled study that had been going on for more than a decade, and the results were very clear. The study randomly assigned almost 600 children with attention problems to four treatment conditions. Some received medication alone, some cognitive-behavior therapy alone, some medication plus therapy, and some were in a community-care control group that received no systematic treatment. At first this study suggested that medication, or medication plus therapy, produced the best results. However, after three years, these effects had faded, and by eight years there was no evidence that medication produced any academic or behavioral benefits.
Indeed, all of the treatment successes faded over time, although the study is continuing. Clearly, these children need a broader base of support than was offered in this medication study, support that begins earlier and lasts longer.
The skills and strategies we teach in Yoga Calm, of course, aim to provide just this kind of support. Over time, the desired effect of drugs like Ritalin, Adderall and Strattera fade, while undesired effects – i.e., side effects – remain. But when we provide opportunities for kids to develop self-awareness, focus and social skills; when we safely address underlying issues of stress and trauma; when we instill and support healthy habits, we provide them with a body of skills, knowledge and experience they can draw on for the rest of their lives.
And we see this especially with children who have weaknesses in attention and impulse control – like Joseph.
Concurring with this need for a broader treatment approach, ADHD specialist Dr. Edward Hallowell, writes in Ritalin Redux, his response to Sroufe’s article, that what’s most important is
a loving, safe, and richly connected childhood. The long-term study that Dr. Sroufe cited in his opinion piece does indeed show that over time, medication becomes a less important force in a child’s improvement and that human connections become ever more powerful. It is good and heartening to know that human connection — love — works wonders over time. Love is our most powerful and under-prescribed “ medication.” It’s free and infinite in supply, and doctors most definitely ought to prescribe it more!
This doesn’t mean that, as Dr. Sroufe say[s], Ritalin has “gone wrong.” We may go wrong in how we use it, when we over-prescribe it, or when we use it as a substitute for love, guidance, and the human connection.
Indeed, continuing on the current path of biasing treatment approaches toward pills while ignoring proven and complementary behavioral interventions carries some serious risks, says Sroufe:
First, there will never be a single solution for all children with learning and behavior problems. While some smaller number may benefit from short-term drug treatment, large-scale, long-term treatment for millions of children is not the answer.
Second, the large-scale medication of children feeds into a societal view that all of life’s problems can be solved with a pill and gives millions of children the impression that there is something inherently defective in them.
Finally, the illusion that children’s behavior problems can be cured with drugs prevents us as a society from seeking the more complex solutions that will be necessary. Drugs get everyone — politicians, scientists, teachers and parents — off the hook. Everyone except the children, that is.
Consider Joseph, 10 years after first being given medication. He’s now 15. His relationship with his parents is tense. He wants more freedom. They want him to focus on school and get a part time job. As he’s grown, doctors increased his dosage. Since his latest growth spurt, he’s noticed that he feels anxious and is having a hard time paying attention in class. After an argument with his girlfriend, a friend offers him some drugs to help him mellow out.
What have we, as a culture, taught Joseph to do?
Image by jlynn11235, 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
We’re blessed that our work lets us regularly meet so many wonderful school teachers, counselors, OTs, nurses and others who work with children. You inspire us with your stories of using Yoga Calm so successfully and your shared commitment to the health and well-being of our youth. You share ideas for new applications of Yoga Calm and adaptations for its activities. You make Yoga Calm a better, richer and more effective program through your dedication and generosity.
Many have asked for Yoga Calm applications and adaptations in book form. So, inspired by and with input from you, Lynea and I have been putting together a series of curriculum guides. Our goal: to give you more ideas for using Yoga Calm in specific situations than we could ever hope to cover in any single two-day workshop. Our last post gave you a sneak peek at one of these new guides: Creating a Sustainable Future: Yoga Calm Environmental Education Curriculum Guide.
In Creating a Sustainable Future, we are guided by the principles and tools of ecopsychology and Yoga Calm. The basic idea of ecopsych is that mental health – or unhealth – can’t be understood solely in terms of social relations; we must also include the relationship of humans to other species and ecosystems. So we group activities according to the four elements, which are used in many cultures as a way of connecting to the natural world. Each section includes sample activities for observation and reflection, physical movement, storytelling and stewardship, and includes resources for information, material and opportunities to support the environmental lessons you’re teaching.
Last time, we shared a group of three “Earth” activities for observing and beginning to form connections between the self and the natural world – especially appropriate for kids who may not be all that accustomed to spending much time outdoors. Now, we’d like to share some more physical activities from the guide – both to give you more ideas for getting kids moving and to show how academic and character concepts can be taught through the physical activity – in this case through activities that relate to the fire element.
4 Fire Poses
Click each title for pose instructions
- Woodchopper
As the children do the pose, ask them, “Can you feel a sense of strength and power inside of you? This energy is similar to fire. We’re going to feel that fiery part of ourselves and practice letting out just the right amount.” Ask them how they can tell what the right amount of energy is for Woodchopper pose. Have a student demonstrate too much, then too little. Then have the group practice just the right amount together. - Plank
Hold plank for 10 to 20 counts. Ask the kids, “Where are you feeling heat in the body? Now try lifting one leg a few inches off the floor. Does your body get warmer? Why do you think you get warm when the body is working hard?” - Volcano Breath
Tell the students that you are going to practice being volcanoes: “Deep inside the earth it is so hot that rocks melt and become a thick flowing substance called magma. Because the magma is lighter than the hard rock, it rises up, and sometimes it pushes to the surface and erupts into a volcano. Some volcanoes are explosive and others are not. It depends on how thick the magma is. If the magma is thick and sticky, the volcano is explosive. If the magma is thin and runny, the volcano creates a slower moving lava flow. Try being an explosive volcano and a slower moving lava flow. There are three main kinds of volcanoes. Can you find out what they are called?” - Warrior 1 & 2
Warriors learn to use their fierce fiery energy to help protect their families and their lands. Have the children stand in Warrior and think of ways in which they have used fiery words to express strong feelings. Ask: “Can you think of famous people who have used their fiery personalities to change something in the world?” or “Can you think of times when a person’s fiery personality got them into trouble?”
Adapted from the e-book Creating a Sustainable Future: Yoga Calm Environmental Education Curriculum Guide, available for download soon through the Yoga Calm Store.
Learn more about how Yoga Calm and environmental education activities can be used together to foster meaningful connections between personal and planetary health can be drawn, as well as a lifelong interest in science and increased environmental citizenry and stewardship. Join us for the next session of our Creating a Sustainable Future workshop, September 24 – 25 at Still Moving Yoga in Southwest Portland, Oregon.
From the time we began to formalize and integrate the activities that became Yoga Calm, it was important to us to keep the program flexible and adaptable. We wanted to create something that could meet the needs of all students yet be tailored to those of specific populations. After all, while kids diagnosed with ADHD and those on the Autism Spectrum, for instance, share many common traits, they also have their unique characteristics and challenges.
Much adaptation happens through emphasis, focusing on the Yoga Calm activities that most directly address the particular cognitive, physical and emotional needs of any given group. Here, for instance, are some features typically emphasized when sharing Yoga Calm with ASD students:
- Social skill practice to learn how to read faces, body cues and other social signals
- Reducing environmental sensory stimulation – e.g., keeping lights down and using soft music in a quiet, decluttered space
- Facing mats forward to reduce distractions from other children
- Self-calming activities such as Volcano Breath, Pinwheel Breath, Belly Breathing and Forward Bends
- The incorporation of rhythmic, repetitive movements to help the brain get the input needed to learn how to regulate
Many of those who have participated in Yoga Calm trainings work regularly or even exclusively with ASD populations – educators such as Chris Reano, an ASD teacher at Oak Grove Elementary in Bloomington, Minnesota. She was introduced to Yoga Calm last year when her school brought in Trainer Kathy Flaminio for an inservice training, where staff were encouraged to integrate Yoga Calm into their classrooms.
“As soon as I began using the ideas and strategies I was learning,” says Chris, “I knew I was on the right track for improving the services I was providing the children. Emotional and sensory regulation are two of the biggest needs of students with ASD, and all five Yoga Calm principles are integral to working on just those needs.” She has since taken Wellness 1 and 2 with Kathy, and now practices yoga regularly herself.
We asked Chris if she would share some specifics of how she uses Yoga Calm to help the K-5 students she teaches, all of whom are on the autism spectrum and mostly “high-functioning,” spending their school day between general education classrooms and an autism program. Here’s what she had to say:
I begin all groups with deep breathing. Each group has a specified leader for the day who chooses the specific activity: Volcano Breath, seated belly breathing with a Hoberman sphere, Pinwheel Breath or lying on their backs with Beanie Babies on their tummies and doing deep breaths with the Hoberman sphere.
After the breathing, the leader goes to the Yoga Calm poster of Positive Self Talk, which we call our “magic words,” and the leader guides the group in repeating them twice. The first time, the children hold their hands over their hearts so they can “put these important words in our hearts, where we’ll always be able to find them.” The second time, they put their hands on their heads and pretend to lock the magic words into their brains.
This routine is incredibly powerful, and I witness the children in other settings, using their breathing and magic words independently. For instance, at a parent/community event where I was displaying materials I use with students, a 4th grade boy who was helping with my table told everyone who stopped about Yoga Calm. He explained how he uses the positive self talk on the playground when he doesn’t win a game – how he used to cry but now knows what to tell himself to get through a disappointment.
I also regularly use Mindful Snacks with the students, bringing in unusual, healthy foods that the kids may not be familiar with. We set the table with placemats, “fine china” (that I’ve acquired at thrift shops!) and battery-powered tea lights. We engage all our senses and make observations about the mystery foods we’re experiencing. Many students have very limited palates for a variety of reasons (e.g., sensory dysregulation, cognitive rigidity), but I find that in the context of the Mindful Snack, they’re open to trying to new things and being adventurous with foods!
I also do a weekly Yoga Calm lesson with a general education 4th grade classroom in which four of my students with ASD are integrated. There are numerous benefits for doing the large group lessons in an integrated setting. Especially beneficial have been activities that are community-building. The group LOVES to do Back Drawing and community poses such as Tree Circle. Afterwards, we always reflect, and I hear wonderful things from the children about what they observed and experienced. Also, there are children from many cultural backgrounds in this particular classroom. Every time we do Volcano Breath together and send heart thoughts out to others, I love to hear about the many people in other countries that these children are sending their loving thoughts to.
We also asked for any words of advice Chris had for others who are sharing yoga with ASD diagnosed children. In addition to honoring the power of deep breathing – having the children practice it often and everywhere – she stresses two key points: “Empower the children with Positive Self Talk, and find opportunities to teach the children to draw on these thoughts in difficult moments. These two things are SO powerful because, as I tell the children, we ALWAYS have our breath and thoughts with us!”
We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves! Thanks, Chris, for the wonderful work you’re doing with the Oak Grove kids – and sharing your wisdom and insight with our community of parents and colleagues.
Do you work with ASD kids? Share your favorite Yoga Calm activities in the comments!
The benefits of yoga poses aren’t always apparent to kids. In fact, the poses can sometimes cause frustration, for in asking students to work at holding poses, we’re asking them to start being present in their bodies and to push past boredom and impatience. Hearing children complain, some teachers and parents can’t see beyond those frustrations, and the students drop the practice.
Children are just like us: Even though we know certain things are good for us, we sometimes resist, get bored, give up. But kids who stay with the practice do come to appreciate what we’re teaching them to do. I remember one boy who “quit” yoga for several months before returning to class, saying, “I forgot how good this feels to my body.”
I find it’s important to educate adult Yoga Calm users about the benefits and to help them know that while students may complain about it – like they do any practice – encouraging them to stay with it will give them life long skills.
Here are a few things I do to help kids understand the yoga and enjoy it more:
- I tell stories about my own practice: how sometimes I get bored in downward dog and that I’ve been practicing for 30 years and sometimes don’t want to do yoga, but I remember how important it is to be physically strong and want to be strong for them. I encourage them to tell me why they want to be strong physically and ask them how the poses are helping them become strong. If this is discussed in class, they’ll become able to verbalize reasons for staying with the practice.
- I teach students to practice opening and closing their bodies – either in relaxation or in a walking game – and let them know that at any time they can close their body if they need personal space. I give them lots of permission to “go in” when they need to and make sure they see how I value closing as much as opening.
- Using a drum and moving through the poses quickly can help lift energy. Sometimes when a class is dragging, I do a “sun salutations”-type flow to the count of two. This gets the kids moving a little faster, giving them less time to notice if they’re bored or tired.
- I ask the students to lead poses and determine how long to hold them – for instance, for how many drum beats to hold Plank. I find that they’ll work much harder if they are led by another student and deciding for themselves which poses to do (a lesson built into our Flying Eagle DVD). I also ask them to think of a goal they have and find a pose that will help them achieve that goal. Some choose physically strengthening poses and others choose heart thoughts. Continuing to ask them to verbalize why the poses are valuable to them helps them stay with the practice, and you can share those insights with parents, administrators or others who may ask about the benefits of physical poses.
- Similarly, sharing the value yoga has for you with your students can also help. Children’s bodies know that yoga is valuable, but sometimes they have to tell the brain why it is important, especially when the mind is sending negative or frustrating thoughts. I find that kids love hearing real stories about adults. You can also find good stories at the end of Yoga Journal that are both inspiring and appropriate for children.
- Peppering in new games and activities can also help keep a class focused and energized just by giving an element of surprise. Keeping abreast of new activities is one big reason people stay in touch with us and colleagues they’ve taken Yoga Calm trainings with. Community is such a big part of what we do – not just as teachers, counselors and other professionals who work with children, but as human beings.
Recently, I read a powerful and poignant story about a boy who watched a moth emerge from its cocoon. The moth struggled to release itself from the cocoon, so it stopped to rest. But the boy thought it was stuck. He got scissors and cut open the cocoon so the moth could be free. The moth died. The boy learned that the struggle to emerge was essential to the survival of the moth.
I try to remember this when the children are struggling or I hear others say that yoga sometimes agitates the children. But if we make it too calm, the children won’t grow through the difficult process of emerging.
- Lynea
When we announced our latest pilot workshop – Boys, Coyotes & Other Wild Creatures: Healthy Alternatives for Harnessing “Wildness” – we figured there would be a lot of interest, but nothing like the outpouring of enthusiasm we’ve received.
Scheduled for May 14 – 15 in Portland, Oregon, this workshop will explore the importance of movement and “rough” play, and the need for boys to find meaning, initiation and physical connection to the world. We will 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.
Certified Yoga Calm Instructor and Intervention and Prevention Specialist Jeff Albin will be teaching the course with us, and recently, we asked him if he would share some of his thoughts on how yoga can help connect boys and men with their masculinity. Eagerly, he agreed:
Channeling the Need for Rebellion & Autonomy : Nurturing the Peaceful Warrior
A Lakota elder once joked to me that he felt the reason his people had so many problems with their young men was because nobody let them steal horses any more. In the horse culture of the Plains, stealing horses was a time-honored way for young men to prove their merit. Few died in those escapades, and it gave young men a chance to practice all of their warrior skills. Of course, these days, the ranchers in South Dakota would most likely frown upon young Lakota warriors stealing their horses. Still, I believe the spirit of the idea can be entertained.
It is with these stories and traditions in mind that I approach the young men in my Yoga Calm classes. I understand and appreciate their need to be young warriors. Sometimes when I introduce myself at conferences, I tell people I am a reluctant pacifist. Yet I am a warrior. My true nature is to be a warrior and defend the village, the tribe, the school, the nation from threats. These days I have different battles to fight: addiction, indifference, apathy, abuse, sloth. The battles have changed, but the role of the warrior remains the same.
Young men and boys are no different. The warrior instinct lies deep in their bones. The desire to be strong, competent, fierce and protective at the same time runs through the DNA of all males. Getting boys to do yoga requires a different strategy than the contemporary Yoga Journal image of super-slim, scantily clad 20-somethings in difficult and advanced poses.
Adults beginning a yoga practice are generally motivated by a need to seek relief from pain, spiritual aspirations, the desire to be fit or to ease depression, arthritis and other maladies. Boys have different motivations, and much of which come from the conscious and sometimes latent warrior instinct.
A majority of youth in rural, isolated Eastern Washington communities involve themselves in sports. I tell both boy and girl athletes that practicing yoga will make them better athletes. Depending on my audience, I may expound upon the ability a person can develop during yoga practice to see everything at once, to slow things down internally when everything is happening very fast around them. In a rapidly paced, always-moving sport like basketball, this is indeed a valuable skill to master.
Rebellion and autonomy are primary needs of young men. Rather than trying to quash this trait, I talk about the need to channel it. I introduce them to the idea of intelligent rebellion. There are many fine causes to rebel about: bullying, obesity, addiction, mental slavery from the media and other injustices. I remind them, often, that self-destruction is not rebellion.
During the actual physical yoga practice, I take time to point out that the Warrior poses can actually appear to be a martial form of yoga. I introduce them to the concepts that Dan Millman articulated so well in his seminal work The Way of the Peaceful Warrior.
Perhaps much of my approach comes from my own philosophy and identification with the Peaceful Warrior archetype. The boys know I’ve “got their back” in all sorts of situations. They know that I stand up for what I believe in and say what needs to be said, and practice stillness when that’s called for.
One of my favorite and most popular wind-down activities is getting the boys to sit in a circle and share “scar stories.” All boys – and indeed all girls – have some scars just from being on the planet. I allow enough time for each student to share a story about a scar they have. If it is a physical scar in an appropriate place, I let them show the group. This is akin to a “red badge of courage.” It lends validity to their adventurousness. Every boy has a scar that comes with being young and foolish. It is the joy of being young and foolish that makes them boys.
Jeff Albin, CDP, is a Certified Yoga Calm Instructor and has worked as an Intervention and Prevention Specialist for ESD 112 in rural Washington schools. His rich and varied background includes over 10 years running a high ropes course, owning and operating his own sea kayaking business, co-leading the first joint USSR/USA kayak expedition in the former Soviet Union and extensive wilderness and survival skills experience. Jeff claims to have forgotten more activities than most people will ever learn! Perhaps that’s why he wrote Changing the Message: A Handbook for Experiential Education.
We still have a few spots open for our inaugural Boys, Coyotes & Other Wild Creatures workshop. To register or learn more about the workshop, click here.
Kids love to follow other kids. This was the inspiration for our first DVD for children, Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle, which earlier this month won the Mom’s Choice Award® Gold in Home and Mobile Viewing Category.
It’s an honor we’re extremely proud of, for the Mom’s Choice Awards are known for establishing the benchmark of excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. Parents, educators, librarians and retailers rely on them when selecting quality materials for children and families.
The honor is Yoga Calm’s second such recognition from Mom’s Choice. In 2008, Jim and I received their Silver Award for our book Yoga Calm for Children: Educating Heart, Mind and Body.
Designed for home and classroom use, Flying Eagle presents a very special Yoga Calm class in which 12 year old Haley, graceful and confident, leads a diverse group of boys and girls on a yoga adventure. The children learn how to calm themselves and use simple yoga poses to develop the strengths of the eagle: strength, focus and caring.
To build social skills and a sense of community, each child contributes by leading activities and giving each other compliments. Other team-building activities include Tree Circle, in which the kids help each other learn more advanced balance poses.
One of the most poignant scenes comes near the end of class when student Rylie invokes her Native American heritage’s love and respect for the eagle through a beautiful original song she performs during Haley’s relaxation storytelling.
Each time I watch this class, I’m touched by the poise and compassion of Haley and the students. And they all continue to practice Yoga Calm at home and school, which delights me.
Jim and I hope that as more children try yoga, they will learn how to direct their youthful energy and passion to helping others and making the world a better place.
- Lynea Gillen
Because breathing patterns have such a profound effect on our general health and mental states, breath awareness is at the heart of almost all yoga practices. Breathing interacts with and affects the cardiovascular, neurological, gastrointestinal and muscular systems. It also has general effects on sleep patterns, memory, energy levels and concentration.
Watch a baby at rest and you’ll see a good example of healthy breathing. The pattern is relaxed, slow, and wavelike, with every bone, muscle and organ moving with each breath. Unhealthy breathing, by contrast, is rigid or inappropriate to the situation and often exhibits excess muscle tension.
While abnormal breathing patterns vary, they are often high in the chest, overly fast and shallow. Often, there is no pause at the end of the exhalation, or there may be breath holding or gulping. Such habits reinforce feelings of tension, agitation and anxiousness. By contrast, a healthy breathing pattern elicits a relaxation response, shifting the nervous system from fight-or-flight mode to a state of relaxed alertness.
In Yoga Calm, one of our favorite ways of teaching and encouraging children to breathe healthfully is by using a geodesic dome made of jointed segments. By lightly pushing or pulling it on opposite sides, you can make it expand and contract, accordion-style. The movement serves as a visual model for the type of breathing we want the kids to imitate by helping them see and synchronize their breath with movement.
The teacher or other supervising adult may lead the group or – something we like to do – encourage one of the kids to lead, establishing the breathing rhythm. As the leader slowly expands the sphere, all inhale deeply and slowly through the nose, from the belly. The leader then pauses, emulating the short, natural pause that happens at the “top” and “bottom” of each healthy breath. As the leader contracts the sphere, all exhale through the nose just as slowly.
This efficient diaphragmatic breath is like watching the waves at the beach, with each breath swelling up from abdomen to chest and back down again.
The expansion-contraction cycle may be repeated as many times as necessary, but we find 5 to 10 cycles to be effective for helping the group calm and focus through this simple breath work.
Rhythm and slowness are two keys to using a breathing sphere effectively. By consciously slowing our breath, especially the exhalation, we can facilitate the relaxation response even more and develop some control over how our nervous system responds to our environment.
In the classroom and school environments in which Yoga Calm is most commonly used, such breath work lends itself readily to focus and mindfulness, preparing students to learn. Speeding thoughts slow. The body as a whole relaxes. Body and mind become centered, grounded. Thus, many teachers, counselors and administrators start their classes off by leading students in breathing with a sphere. Some schools have even used these breathing practices at assemblies or over the school intercom to calm and focus their students.
With the powerful visual representation of a healthy breath, no other words or descriptions are necessary. This tool can be effectively used by teachers who have no yoga experience and is particularly useful for second language learners, visual learners and children who struggle with anxiety and self regulation.
Synchronized breathing in a group exercise is also useful for developing a sense of community and safety as the group’s energy coalesces by breathing together. Simply, we are affected by each other’s breathing patterns. Conversely, it’s hard to relax and concentrate when we are around stressful breathing patterns. And when teachers learn, practice, and model healthy breathing, their classes become calmer and more productive, with corresponding benefits to everyone’s health and well-being.
An earlier version of this article originally appeared at Yoga In My School.
A new school year begins. As the children file in, they are happy to see their friends again, have many stories of summer and are ready to embrace a new teacher. Those of us who are teachers and counselors begin to assess our students and think of all the goals we have for them this year.
We all want to seize that new beginning and create a school environment that will help every student flourish. Setting up positive class routines is one way of focusing that energy, providing a regular rhythm to the days and comforting students with the structure of returning to school.
One excellent way to help establish a general classroom routine is by starting the class with a couple Yoga Calm activities. Just 5 minutes of Yoga Calm can get the group focused, develop a sense of community, energize and de-stress students so that the next 40 minutes of class is productive. It’s like a carpenter spending a few minutes sharpening his saw before beginning work.
At this summer’s inaugural Children’s Wellness Conference – now available in its entirety on DVD – Dr. Jeff Sosne discussed the positive impact of using mindfulness activities to develop healthy attention and learning habits. Among other things, the development of healthy classroom habits and routines, said Dr. Sosne, frees the brain’s executive functions for the process of learning.
Similarly, adding more time for review process and relaxing the brain further supports learning in that we integrate learned material much more effectively during times of rest than extended bouts of additional studying. Rest is very much an academic support! Providing a short 5 minute movement break with a Yoga Calm flow or a guided relaxation, may be particularly effective.
Likewise, using a “brain recess” activity such as the “One Minute Vacation, a good relaxation story or a “Mindful Moment” contemplation periodically throughout the day allows time and opportunity for students to integrate the material they’re learning.
Image by Old Shoe Woman, via Flickr
The week of our Summer Intensive – an annual event encompassing all three of the basic Yoga Calm workshops – is our favorite week of the year. Not only to we get to spend time at the beautiful Still Meadow Retreat, but we get to meet and share our life’s work with interesting people from all over the world. All of us come together for one fundamental reason: We care about children and want to give them the tools to be successful and happy in their lives.
While the challenges to children’s health and well-being are significant, we find strength and inspiration from our growing Yoga Calm community. Knowing that there are so many talented and passionate professionals working together gives us hope. And that’s the real gift of our Summer Intensive – finding that we are not alone in our belief that we can create a positive future for our children and ourselves – a future that includes joy, love and beauty. The week at Still Meadow helps us to remember that. Here are a few of the highlights from this summer’s event.
Restoring with Yoga
Daily yoga classes with YogaJim – plus our Yoga Calm workshop sessions – helped participants heal from past injuries, develop new skills and strengths and rest and restore themselves. Here’s what a few of them said:
- “The training was nothing short of amazing. I had a very powerful mental, emotional, and physical shift in my body – very grounding, centering and healing.” – Desiree Gruber, Children’s Yoga Instructor
- “I want to thank you both for a most wonderful experience. [I] had no idea how great the experience was and how quickly the week went by. There is much that I can bring to our clinic as well as the yoga classes I teach. I really did not look forward to leaving. It was so peaceful to be there.” – Tess Kerzner, LMSW, LMHC
- “When I read the flier on Yoga Calm, I decided [that] I really wanted to see what this was all about. I have struggled with group ideas and how to truly involve the middle school students. I want to especially reach the students who on a daily basis cannot focus or organize themselves. I thought this workshop [could] be the answer for what I have been looking for in my practice. I was excited about the experience and it was much more than I expected. I believe that I left there a stronger person physically, emotionally, and professionally. I love the curriculum and came back and read the book from cover to cover. I find my mind exploring the possibilities of the different ways that I can implement this in my school. I am confident that the students who are involved in Yoga Calm will not only benefit from the classes but will develop skills that will be life-long. – Sandra Luecke, Middle School Counselor
Dancing with Lynea
Accompanied by Jim’s percussion ensemble, Lynea got everyone moving with her infectious African Dance class on Thursday night.
Time to Relax
We always include one “rest” day during our summer retreats – part to provide the opportunity for relaxation and processing all we’ve covered over the first few days, but also to take advantage of Oregon’s spectacular environment. Some took the opportunity to hike the old growth forest surrounding Still Meadow. Others headed to the beach.
Some paid visits to the nearby lavender farm or Columbia Gorge waterfalls.
Pretty active “rest” if you ask me!
Eating with Impunity!
With all the yoga and dancing and hiking, we all could certainly afford to have second helpings of the amazing food Kristin and Thomas made for us. (Be sure to check back here for future posts that will include some of our favorite of their recipes – including Thomas’s incredible gluten-free chocolate-raspberry cake! Yum!)
Add to that many enjoyable evenings telling sharing stories and singing songs around the campfire, massage and other health services from Tommy and Leslie, and the general atmosphere of camaraderie as we all got to know each other – all this made for a most memorable week.
In fact, we’re already looking forward to next year – and we hope to see you there. So save the dates: June 25 – July 1, 2011. We’ll be posting the Yoga Calm Summer Intensive 2011 event and registration info on the main Yoga Calm site as we have it available.
Image credits: Alan Vernon., (^_^)wellwin via Flickr.
