“We are excited to give teachers and students easy access to resources needed to build mindfulness skills, to help them focus, recharge, and get the most out of every lesson,” says Simon Holland, co-founder of Vivi.io and a key driver of the partnership. “By delivering access to mindfulness and meditation practices designed specifically for K-12, we hope we can play a role in reducing stress and anxiety in the classroom and further improving emotional health and wellness for all students and teachers.”

A study has shown 30 days of Headspace resulted in 32% decrease in stress, eight weeks of Headspace resulted in a 19% decrease in anxiety symptoms and Headspace has improved focus by 14%. Until now, it has been challenging for teachers to gather insights on students’ social and emotional needs and support them in the moment. By pairing Vivi’s emoji-based polling ability with Headspace’s mindfulness practices, teachers can administer a quick, confidential, whole-class check-in to get a temperature read on how students are feeling about the day or lesson, and then offer targeted support to those students in need.

“Research shows that early intervention is key to prevent poor long-term mental health outcomes with 50% of mental health problems established by age 14 and 75% by age 24,” said Alice Nathoo, VP Social Impact, Headspace. Our partnership with Vivi means we can connect with more students from all socio-economic backgrounds to ensure equitable access to simple, scientifically proven and effective techniques for schools as a preventative measure.”

“Students were very focused and receptive to the mindfulness exercises, and many mentioned how calm and relaxed they felt. Students didn’t even realize they were three minutes long,” said Vivi user Mayra Jimenez, Mental Health Counselor at Ezequiel Tafoya Alvarado Academy in Madera County, California.

As a result of the partnership, all Vivi’s customers across the globe now have free access to these specially curated mindfulness and meditation practices. with short breathing exercises as well as several series for kids and caregivers around how to find happiness at home to address common challenges for remote learners, listening to others and staying positive. Additionally, K-12 educators and supporting staff in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada can access the full Headspace library of more than 1,000 hours of premium mindfulness content for free. Learn more at headspace.com/educators

To learn more about Vivi’s partnership with Headspace, visit: https://www.vivi.io/mental-health-with-headspace/

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(Photo: Camp Yogaville at Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville)

The Yogaville Vidyalayam–Integral Yoga School will reopen Fall 2019! Approximately 5 years ago, the Yoga-based elementary school went dormant, due to low enrollment. Most of the elementary-aged children that had been attending the school had aged out. They had moved on to public middle school, or homeschooling.

For a few years, there were no young children in the Yogaville community. Yogaville now, however, enjoys the sounds of young children once again. Since the need for the Vidyalayam is back again, we have committed to bringing it out of its dormant stage, and opening the doors once again, as a full time elementary school. I truly believe in the saying, “If you build it, they will come.” Since making the commitment to reopen the school, families who have been wanting to move to Yogaville, but who have felt trepidation due to the closest school being an hour bus ride away each way, have now decided to move to Yogaville in time for the reopening. We are hoping that families that live in the county, and close surrounding counties, will also consider enrolling their children in this unique school.

Soon, we will have our primary teacher. She has 17 years of experience and is currently going through the steps to become certified in the state of Virginia. We are still searching for an assistant teacher. With a solid teaching team, supporting and supported by the teachings of Integral Yoga, we will have a perfect foundation for the students.

Since we already have the school buildings and the school grounds, we have made sure to put them to good use, even with the elementary school being dormant. There are two young boys, ages four and five, who currently live at Yogaville with their families. For two years now, we have been hosting a once a week preschool afternoon for them. This program will continue for the younger children who already live at Yogaville, and any additional children who move here, once the current two students move into the elementary school.

Camp Yogaville, a summer camp held on the school grounds, is still going strong, after 30 years. This past summer it was expanded from a one week program to a two week program, and was very successful. It will continue to be offered every summer. It is scheduled during the summer break for the school, which will make it possible for enrolled elementary students to attend, as well.

Nitya Griffith, an Integral Yoga teacher based out of Richmond, Virginia, has also been using the school grounds to host short children and teen programs. These programs primarily happen when there is a popular weekend workshop happening at the ashram. This allows parents to attend the workshop, while the children attend their own enriching program.

(Photo: Teachers, grandparents, parents and kids gather for a Vidyalayam meeting.)

The Integral Yoga School Board is actively keeping programs going, and expanding what is being offered on the school grounds. The board understands the benefit of keeping the energy on the school grounds active and growing. Currently, we enjoy two school buildings, an upgraded community kitchen, and playground, all on forty acres of beautiful land.

Sri Swami Satchidananda, with some very dedicated students, opened the very first Integral Yoga School on October 8th, 1977, in Pomfret, Connecticut. This school was the USA’s first state accredited school to include a Yoga-based curriculum. When Yogaville moved to Buckingham, Virginia, in 1979, the school was transplanted too. At both the Connecticut and Virginia locations, students were comprised of both Yogaville members and children from the local counties.

In 1979, during a talk with the teachers and students of Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville East, Swami Satchidananda, said, “This Integral Yoga School is the culmination of my work.”

The Integral Yoga School is based on open education, Montessori, Steiner, and other methods, that allow children to grow at their own rate. The program is done thematically, and children of all ages can be in the same classroom, and learn at their own level. This is a wonderful method, which can cultivate positive results for all children, including those who might not thrive in a traditional school setting.

We will be utilizing a year round schedule. This will allow for students and teachers to have a few weeks of on time, followed by regular breaks throughout the year. Scheduling breaks throughout the year, instead of one large chunk off during the summer, helps teachers and students to not get burned out. It also creates less time at the end of a school year, and before the next year starts, so children do not forget as much information, as they may with the traditional three month summer break.

In addition to scholastics, the schedule of the Vidyalayam includes Hatha Yoga, meditation, lots of time in nature, sportsmanship, a healthy vegetarian lunch, gardening, visiting the Light Of Truth Universal Shrine, and much more. The entire ashram is their playground and learning environment! The students learn to work individually, as well as how to work as a team.

Because we live in a community rich in knowledge and talent, we bring in guest teachers from the community. This gives even more opportunities for the students to discover talents and interests that they may not even know they have.

“In my vision of a school, the children are just allowed to play. We provide them with many opportunities, and naturally they go and pick different things according to their tastes and inclinations. There is no set pattern, no separate classrooms based on the ages or subjects. Instead, they will just be playing. The children pick up something and ask about it. Then the teacher starts the lesson. Because the children are going to bring up everything in their questions, one can inject all the subjects into the answers—history, geography, chemistry, physics, and philosophy.”  —Sri Swami Satchidananda

The teachers guide the children with love, not fear, knowing that this approach is in keeping with the teachings of Yoga. Throughout the year, the students are learning perceptive self-correction, self-control, self-confidence, and self-contentment, all skills which develop good character.

“That is how I envision a school. The students learn to respect the teacher. At the same time, respect is not demanded. Because of the very attitude of the teacher, through loving care, the teacher is respected. There should be a spiritual relationship between the teacher and the students.” —Sri Swami Satchidananda

We find great inspiration in this Vision Statement from Satchidananda Jothi Nikethan in Coimbatore, India:
 “We aim at producing global leaders who are physically strong, mentally alert, intellectually sharp, emotionally stable, and spiritually enlightened, to serve the humanity with determination, dedication, discipline, and devotion.” We look forward to working with the Vidyalayam School Board, to create a similar vision statement for our school.

If you’ve been involved in education, and want to send an encouraging word, we would love to hear from you. If you believe in Swami Satchidananda’s vision of education, please consider donating to our Vidyalayam fund to help cover the tuition for those with financial challenges who would like their children to attend. Please visit YogavilleSchool.org to make a donation. Thank you!

Please join us in serving the children, because the future of our country and world depends on it. Applying the principles of Integral Yoga to teach and nurture students, we will create good citizens. Good citizens will build a better world.

“That is the purpose of the school—to make good people.”  —Sri Swami Satchidananda

About the Author:

Lilavati Eberle lives at Yogaville with her husband, Sam, and two children, Miles and Max. She is an Integral Yoga Level 1 teacher trainer, and a member of the Vidyalayam School Board.

The post Creating Good Citizens appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

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Chandra Jo Sgammato, the founder of the Yoga at School™ program developed by the Integral Yoga Institute of New York, shares the vision for the program and how it developed.

Teaching Yoga to schoolchildren was not new for the New York Integral Yoga Institute. In 2001, students from a nearby public school that didn’t have a gym came to the IYI for Yoga classes two mornings a week. That worked out very well, but, now the IYI was about to enter a whole new arena.

Yoga in Elementary School

In 2004, we received a call from Lutheran Hospital telling us that they had received a grant to use for enrichment in inner city schools in Brooklyn, where the hospital runs clinics. After 9/11, studies showed that New York city school kids were very stressed out. A consultant that Lutheran Hospital engaged to find some programs for these kids was interested in Yoga. She searched for Yoga schools and was so impressed by Integral Yoga’s longevity and reputation that she invited us to teach in the schools. We already had the Yoga at Work program for corporations and non-profit organizations which was a big success, so we thought: Why not develop a “Yoga at School” program?

Program for Pregnant Teens

New York City high schools have a program for pregnant teens that offers young, pregnant women the opportunity to obtain their high school diplomas. But in order to get a diploma, they must have some kind of physical education. Since the types of exercise these pregnant teens could do was limited, someone there got the idea of prenatal Yoga. In early 2005, we received a call from an administrator of the program, asking if we could deliver 54 prenatal Yoga classes in four different locations for their students. Again, Integral Yoga’s reputation made us the logical choice.

We were able to pull a program together within two weeks. We dispatched teachers to four locations in Manhattan where we offered a combination of prenatal and postpartum classes to girls aged 15-17. We sent our very best prenatal teachers to these schools to give classes four days a week. Not every one of the students came to class or got into it but those that did just loved it and the teachers loved doing it. Our teachers are so dedicated and I really think they made a difference in lives of their students. Some students came back for the postpartum classes and told us that the birth was easier because of the Yoga and the breathing practices they had learned. We offered this in 2005 and again for part of the year in 2006. But, there was no funding for the spring semester.

After witnessing the post 9/11 trauma and the huge incidence of asthma in New York’s kids, we realized that stress reduction for school kids in New York is essential. We decided to approach the Department of Education and it soon became clear that there was no budget for Yoga classes in the school system. Schools take a long time to get funding in order. So, our challenge has become to go out and find money. Swami Ramananda had the idea to apply to the Balm Foundation for a grant because they have been funding some of our therapeutic Yoga programs. The Foundation came through with a grant for $15,000 in early 2006.

A New Era for Phys Ed in New York City

The timing of this grant could not have been better. Since the 1970s and New York’s fiscal crisis, physical education programs in the schools had not been a priority. But now, Mayor Bloomberg was restructuring the department. The New York City Department of Education recognized that there had to be better physical education, due to the rise of obesity and diabetes in children. Competitive and sometimes violent sports turned kids off to exercise so the department was looking for options that promote lifelong wellness and love for physical fitness. Yoga fits right into that goal.

Armed with our grant, I got in touch with the one of the regional directors of the department. We decided to introduce the idea of Yoga at School by giving some “Introduction to Yoga” workshops during professional development days for teachers in the boroughs of Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens. Our senior teachers taught Integral Yoga to more than one hundred and fifty New York City physical education teachers over the course of three days.

Our grant allowed us to give 150 free Yoga classes to the public schools. So, we invited the teachers who were the most interested to sign up for their school to receive some of these free classes. The response was so tremendous that we could only offer a series of six classes per school! As the program got underway, we had our IY teachers going out to the different boroughs during regular gym periods. Some of our teachers had to travel long distances and it was a real experience for them to go into the public schools, where there is sometimes a chaotic atmosphere (showing how much Yoga is needed!). It was challenging at times, but overwhelmingly heartwarming. I created an evaluation form that we gave to the students who took the classes. The responses were so beautiful, so inspiring. Here is a small sample:

“I felt relaxed and not as tense as I was before the class and it gives you a chance to stretch out your muscles.”
“It was fun, exciting and relaxing. I will love to have it again. Also, it helped me with my worries.”
“I felt good because, when I went there I felt bad; then when we finished I felt good.”
“The Yoga teacher was nice and she didn’t yell. If you did something wrong, she would walk over and help you. She told us never to give up and to try again.”
“It was the best time I ever had. Yoga is all about peace, no violence. I think it should happen again.”
“Yoga is not just about meditating, it is also another way to exercise and if it hurts, it means that you need to exercise more and you can do Yoga.”
“If you are mad or sad all you have to do is some Yoga.
“I really want to be in Yoga next year. It is fun and I really like to relax and feel peaceful. I hope we get it again.”

Yoga for Teachers

Teachers approached us in two of the schools in which we were teaching and said, “This is great for our students, but we want classes for us, too.” So, they organized Yoga classes for themselves and our teachers taught them at those schools. Since then, they have asked us to create a program to train physical education teachers to become Yoga teachers. Kali Morse, Swami Ramanandaji and I consulted with Satya Greenstone (head of Teacher Training at the Integral Yoga Academy in Yogaville) about how to teach TT to teachers who don’t really know much about Yoga, let alone practice Yoga. We came up with an idea to create a prerequisite program that would be a “Fundamentals of Hatha Yoga” course based on a course we offer in our program guide. That would be a way for teachers to learn the basics, take a lot of classes at the IYI as part of the program and then take TT. When we proposed the idea to the Department of Education they were very enthusiastic. They invited us to participate in a three-day professional development leadership program to further refine the plans.

It took us by surprise that this all came about. The response has been really gratifying. We’ve gotten such great feedback and they keep asking us to come back. We are now hearing, “We really need you in the middle schools and high schools,” so we hope to do more with kids of all ages. We are now an official vendor of the Department of Education. Our hope is to find more foundations that would like to give grants to help us continue to offer classes in the public school system. The more kids who do Yoga, the better our world will be.

We are grateful to have been so welcomed by the New York school system as we begin this wonderful relationship. We’re developing a model that hopefully could be used in any school system. It’s an honor for Integral Yoga to serve in this way and we feel that Swami Satchidananda’s love for children helps to guide us. We feel particularly qualified to bring Yoga to school children of all ages and levels of fitness because Integral Yoga believes Yoga is for everyone. Our gentle approach and style make it possible to practice Yoga from the time one is in the womb to old age. Not every Yoga school can say that.

About the Author:
Chandra Jo Sgammato is an Integral Yoga teacher and general manager of the New York Integral Yoga Institute. She also manages the Institute’s Yoga at Work® and Yoga at School ™ programs.

The post Yoga At School ™ appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

Satchidananda Jothi Niketan International School

As the managing trustee, Sri K. Ramasamy explains: “Satchidananda Jothi Niketan is Swamiji’s brainchild. He envisioned building a school that would create true global citizens who are not only empowered by adequate knowledge but also carry with them, a sound value system. He always emphasized that the growth of a child had to include and stimulate intellectual, spiritual, emotional, mental and physical growth. At Satchidananda Jothi Niketan, this is what we strive to achieve. Today, we stand proud as an institution and have watched batch after batch of students graduate from these portals and become discerning citizens of the world. That is why our focus is not on academic excellence alone but rather on creating sound value systems. Our teaching faculty and support staff are the edifice of this institution. Under their love, guidance and 24-hour care, our students blossom into individuals who become positive contributors to the world.”

SJN is today one of the most respected and renowned schools in the region. Its ideals are secular and ample emphasis is given to embracing the rich and diverse traditions and value heritage of our country.

The future of our country and the world depends on children. And as adults, it is our responsibility to mold them, give them direction, sound moral values and a proper education environment. That is why we need good educational institutions with eminent teachers and superior facilities. This is how we can prepare our young people to become better citizens who in turn will build a better world. “ ~Swami Satchidananda

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Despite the increasing popularity of Yoga nationwide, some individuals and families located  in Massena, New York, Aspen, Colorado and Raleigh, North Carolina believe that the introduction of Yoga violates the separation of church and state.  One of the first recorded complaints regarding Yoga’s inclusion in education is found in a 1992 edition of Education Week where it was reported that “education officials in Michigan…dropped a deep-breathing exercise for students from the statewide health curriculum when some parents linked it with occult practices.” Yoga breathing practices have been linked to decreased stress levels in students, which has encouraged some teachers to integrate breathing practices prior to testing and other stressful events; citing the burgeoning research on the positive effects of breathing practices does little to quell the concerns of those who fear that stress-management is a thin veil for the promotion of “Far Eastern” religions. The Rev. Colin Lucid of Calvary Baptist Church in Massena NY stated, “We are not opposed to the benefits. We can understand the benefits. We are opposed to the philosophy behind it and that has its ties in Hinduism…”

Federal courts have not found the addition of Yoga to be a violation. Teachers who integrate Yoga into their curriculum are universally sensitive to creating an approach to Yoga that is secular and meets genuine needs of children in the schools. Neuroscientist Dr. Khalsa explains in a previous edition of Integral Yoga Magazine, “The education system has virtually nothing established in its curricula that focuses on stress management, physical and mental flexibility, disease resistance, anxiety and depression, trauma and stress in general…Evidence suggests that the practice of Yoga will improve emotional tolerance and stress management… The regulation of the breath and the stretching of the body are physical activities that generate physiological responses…Although Yoga comes from a culture that has mantras, fancy names for asanas and is deeply spiritual, the truth is, you can teach Yoga without all of that and it is just about as effective.”

That Yoga can be strictly secular to some and an essential aspect to one’s religion to another reflects a divergence of views that is part of Yoga’s transcultural production.  Yoga is not static, but a living tradition that has grown to mean many things to different people. America is now part of this living tradition and this is reflected in the adaptation of Yoga practices to our secular society.

The American public is weighing in on the sides of teachers and researchers who are primarily committed to the health benefits of Yoga. A 2008 US News report stated that 87% of individuals in the country agree that Yoga’s use for stress reduction is appropriate and that fears of religious indoctrination are unfounded; while 13% of the population feel that Yoga is based on Hindu philosophy and should not be in the public schools.  Educators in Americas’ schools have a simple, secular hope that the inclusion of Yoga practices will increase the physical and mental clarity of our students, with the aim of obtaining the insight and awareness necessary to maintain equanimity in the face of the many struggles students confront in their schools.

“For the children in school, who spend two hours a week barefoot, performing opening meditations, practicing various poses, writing in their Yoga journals and sharing experiences in their “counsel circle,” Yoga seems far removed from the nation’s fractious legal debates over religion.

“Francisco Macarrete, 9, simply expressed his excitement at perfecting a new Yoga pose. “We learned to do handstands,” he said excitedly. “When you open your eyes you are like ‘whoa!”

“‘Yoga makes me more relaxed,’ said Elsa Sermeno, also 9, who has been practicing Yoga at the Accelerated School [a charter school in Central LA] for two years. ‘Sometimes when I enter the room mad, I come out happy’ (Breitman, 2006, p. 3).

References
Breitman, R. (2006). Parents getting bent out of shape over Yoga in schools. why? [Electronic Version]. Columbia New Service,

About the Author:

Laura Sevika Douglass is an adjunct faculty member at Hindu University and Lesley University. She considers Sri Gurudev to be her inspiration for integrating the teachings of Yoga into the classroom and into her life. She continues to work to bring greater awareness about the benefits of Yoga to fields of education and mental health. For more information please visit: yogapsychology.org.

The post Yoga in the Public Schools? appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

An Interview with Haris Lender

Haris Harini Lender has been teaching kids and developing Kidding Around Yoga (KAY) since 2000. She offers the KAY training to anyone who works with children and would like more tools for their toolkits. In this interview, she talks about the qualities of a good children’s Yoga teacher and how she leads children and teachers into a deeper Yoga experience.

Integral Yoga Magazine (IYM): Most Yoga classes for kids are just games and stretching. KAY has those too, but you do a full Integral Yoga class. How?

Harini Lender (HL): Yes, if you watch the class, you see fun, games and sometimes chaos, because they are kids! But, we open with a chant and we close with a chant. We do forward bends, backward bends and half spinal twist. We do deep relaxation, which I call, “The Secret Garden,” so foundationally it is an Integral Yoga class. By the time I get through a class, I’ve pretty much touched upon everything in Yoga. I talk about all the branches of Yoga. When they are in The Secret Garden, I may read to them from Enlightening Tales, or I may talk about Karma Yoga. I sometimes say, “Your assignment for tonight is to do some Karma Yoga for your mom or teach The Secret Garden to your sister or brother.” I’m teaching the five branches of Yoga within the class.

My class is essentially stress management for children. Many of the kids we teach are ADD, ADHD and are totally stressed out. The best way to get the kids to The Secret Garden is with lots of exercise beforehand. I teach them how to meditate, and we do all the things we do in an IY class, but in the middle of the class, we jump, we dance, we jog. I firmly believe in high activity. I have to have that in order to get them to lay down and experience Yoga Nidra. I’ll often put on a song and have the kids do some jumping jacks or “jog through the jungle” (a song on one of my CDs) in between doing some of the asanas. I do a high energy activity, or some pranayama games. We’ll chant, but I bounce them around in the middle and let the kids get exhausted and then they happily lay down and do the guided relaxation. Having the KAY music has been really helpful as well for many schoolteachers and PE teachers who use it as a tool. It gives them another way to practice Yoga with their kids, even if they aren’t a certified Yoga teacher.

Most parents who observe my classes can’t believe their kids are lying quietly, doing the deep relaxation. The parents’ jaws are practically on the floor and they’ll tell me they’ve never seen their kids relax like that! Parents write our teachers things like, “My son told me he went to The Secret Garden on his own yesterday.” How great is that! If you use the music CDs, you’ve got a kid in their bedroom doing Yoga by themselves. Do you think 7- or 8-year-olds will go do a little Yoga practice alone? Probably not, but they might decide to listen to the music and do the Yoga poses and things on the CD by themselves at home with their friends or siblings.

IYM: What makes a good children’s Yoga teacher?

HL: For me it’s about finding my inner child. I laugh a lot and have a lot of fun in class. I know I’m teaching them through my actions. I don’t stand up there and recite sutras but I teach them through actions. I teach the locks and keys early on in class. So, for example, if a child comes up and says, “Bobby said something mean to me,” I remind them of the key to use for that: Disregard the mean. If someone brags about their new puppy and another child complains about it, I’ll say, “Isn’t that delightful that Sally got a new puppy?” If someone found out a grandparent died, we talk about another key: compassion. So, I remind them about the locks and keys and demonstrate how we have an opportunity to practice compassion. Teaching mindfulness is another big thing. The kids will walk in and kick off their shoes. The first thing we teach them is to mindfully place their shoes in a line—which I actually learned from Mataji in the ashram! We have eight activities that teach mindfulness in the class. My Yoga practice is mindfulness all day.

A good Yoga teacher makes the children feel that he or she is fair, kind and loves kids. We don’t do a lot of disciplining. I have ways to keep chaos to a minimum, but the bottom line is you have to be lighthearted and fun; you have to want to find your inner child. Teaching Yoga to kids is not for everyone, but it does keep you young! You need to be able to create a safe place. Especially, because some come children come from very bad environments, teachers need to be able to embrace them and love them for an hour.

IYM: What do you do when things get out of control?

HL: If kids aren’t listening or if they’re fighting I say, “Pick a partner” and I’ll put them in partner poses. That works really well, because it usually takes them a good 30 seconds to pick out a partner and taking that time redirects their behavior. Another thing, I may do is to immediately pull out a story and start, “Once upon a time  . . .” and I continue reading one of my own Yoga stories and the kids act out the story with poses.

I don’t turn children away from the class unless their behavior is really extreme. I really haven’t done that because I feel I can deal with anything for 45-60 minutes! My daughter used to say, “That kid should be kicked out or not come back to camp,” and I’d explain to her that’s the very reason why that person needs to be there.

IYM: Are many of your KAY trainees school teachers, play therapists, PE teachers, but aren’t certified Yoga teachers?

HL: Yes, this was something I really agonized over when I first started KAY. I didn’t want to accept those into my programs who didn’t already have a 200-hour certification in Yoga. But, I soon realized that many of those who were interested in the KAY program weren’t going to teach a 1-hour Yoga class for kids. They were looking for more tools to add to their kits to assist them in working with children. Today, Yoga for kids is a part of play therapy. Therapists were coming to KAY looking for stress management training, meditation and breathing exercises to use as tools.

I spend a lot of time in the KAY training on the science of Yoga. The first thing I tell the trainees is that I’m not there to teach them 400 asanas—they can learn those anywhere. Many trainees think they’ll be doing pose after pose. I actually spend more time on Raja Yoga. Many don’t even know about the Yoga Sutras. I want them to know that Yoga isn’t an exercise class. Many go on to take a 200-hour teacher training course because their interest in Yoga deepens, which is very rewarding to see.

IYM: Are you hopeful that Yoga will be included in public school curricula?

HL: Nothing would make me happier! Kids have so many challenges today and they can’t just sign themselves up for a Yoga class, so I’m on a mission to get it into school systems. How many more adult Yoga teachers do we need? There are videos all over the Internet and news reports of how this is spreading. I feel so grateful to get to see the reaction that the therapists, teachers, nurses and anybody who works with kids have when they see the amazing benefits Yoga has on the children.

So, it seems perfectly logical to me that Yoga in PE classes would be something that is offered at least weekly or optionally after school. Look back at how Yoga for adults exploded over the last 10 to 15 years and mark my words: It is happening now for kids. This is the beginning of a very big boom. And thank goodness, because I can tell you that kids today lead very busy and stressful lives. They need it as much as we do.

Unfortunately though, to have Yoga in the public school system is going to require funding. We all can see that the arts are being cut left and right. There are many non-profit groups raising money for Yoga in the public school system and as yogis we should all be supportive of this. My company, Kidding Around Yoga, is doing our part. I request each of my teachers to teach one class per month as Karma Yoga. Often times it’s in a public school.

We teach in a Title One school in St. Petersburg, Florida. Imagine 35 inner-city kids in a big circle out on the basketball court. We need a megaphone for this class! But, they do know how to meditate and the teachers ask us often to share this with them for use in the classroom. They do know the poses and we have our KAY music to keep them dancing and moving. We tire them out and then we take them to The Secret Garden. This is the most beautiful thing to see. Yoga makes you nicer. Kids are challenging, but when they get up out of deep relaxation, they’ve been infused with bliss and they float out the door.

I once heard Swami Satchidananda say, “It’s Integral Yoga if they float out the door at the end.” So, Kidding Around Yoga is Integral Yoga for kids.

Haris Harini Lender is the founder of Kidding Around Yoga™ and is a certified Integral Yoga® teacher at the 500 level. She has also been certified in Prenatal Yoga, Raja Yoga, Children’s Yoga and Yoga for Stress Management. Haris has traveled around the USA sharing the KAY program and she also ran the Camp Yogaville program for 11 years. In addition to her popular music CDs, Kidding Around Yoga and Namaste n’ Play, among others. Haris lives in St. Petersburg, Florida with her husband and four kids. For more information please visit: www.kiddingaroundyoga.com.

The post Kidding Around Yoga appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

Integral Yoga Magazine (IYM): What is the Calm Classroom?

JL: It’s our primary program that trains teachers and administrators in a series of easy to learn exercises that are implemented in the classroom for thirty seconds to three minutes in duration. The techniques are comprised of a combination of age appropriate stretching exercises, breathing techniques, concentration practices, visualizations and creative games. These practical skills help students and teachers develop a neutral self awareness, which leads to inner calm and mental focus.

IYM: What is so effective about neutral self-awareness?

JL: Once you develop inner self awareness you begin to notice your thoughts, emotional states, moods and physical feelings. As you begin to concentrate the mind you start to calm down automatically. The students and teachers develop an attitude of neutral self-observation and begin to bring upset or unfocused emotional and mental activity under calm control. Most states now have guidelines for teaching social skills and emotional control. Our program directly correlates with the social emotional learning guidelines that schools now know are important to student success.

Our training staff travels from Chicago to anywhere in the country and sets up the initial system. We supplement this with a mentoring program, where we go in and coach the teachers in an ongoing manner. We are starting to explore how to have the type of success we’ve had in the Chicago public schools across the entire country. I met with Swami Ramananda at the New York Integral Yoga Institute, and we are discussing how to reach the New York public schools. I’d like Integral Yoga teachers to know that we are available to start a program in any school district. We are looking for people who are committed and have the combined skills of Hatha Yoga and meditation in their life, as well as business expertise.

IYM: What inspired you to bring concentration and breathing practices into the schools?

JL: My lifelong love for Yoga and Gurudev and my desire to expose our children to practical life skills at a young age so they have the tools they need to not only manage stress, but to thrive and to live peaceful, useful and healthy lives.

IYM: What did Gurudev share with you about teaching Integral Yoga?

JL: He said that you can adapt the outer form of the teaching to meet the needs of whatever group you are working with. The real goal is helping uncover the inner peacefulness in each person. He said that if your intention and outcome is to support people in coming to a more peaceful, healthy and useful life you are teaching Integral Yoga. These words have given me the freedom and creativity to adapt Gurudev’s teachings to the terminology and capacities of the students and teachers in the public schools.

IYM: Would you talk about the impact Swami Satchidananda had on you?

JL: He was by far the most influential adult in my life. He completely changed my life— a total turn around. I needed to meet someone like him and the experience was beyond anything I ever imagined. The influence he had on me, during all of the years I lived at the ashram in Connecticut is hard to put into words. He shared himself as an example, as a role model of a wise and wonderful teacher and an unconditionally loving human being. It was not only what he shared with me intellectually but how he actually lived the teachings of Yoga. Not a day goes by that he isn’t in one way or another present for me.

About Jai Luster:

Jai Luster is the founder of the Luster Learning Institute, a nonprofit organization that helps kindergarten through 12th grade classroom teachers and students. To find out more about Luster Learning Institute go to: calmclassroom.com.

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A teacher, producer, and philanthropist, Tara Guber is the founder and CEO of the nationally recognized Yoga in schools program, Yoga Ed.™ Originally motivated to try Yoga by her movie producer husband, Peter Guber (Mandalay Entertainment), Tara has now been practicing for almost four decades and for the past 24 years has shared the benefits of Yoga with children. She explains the philosophy that guides and inspires her service and generosity: “The best gift I could give to the world is the gift of Yoga.”

Integral Yoga Magazine: How did you begin working with children?

Tara Guber: Alan Finger was my first Yoga teacher and in the 1980s we wrote Yoga Moves. I was an elementary schoolteacher and had minored in art. This led Alan to ask me to create an after-school class at his studio for children ages 7-12. When the children first came in from school, they were bouncing off the walls. So, I had them sit on the floor, gave them paper that was folded in half and asked them to draw a picture on one side of the paper. Then we did Yoga and after Yoga, I said let’s draw on the other side. Their before Yoga pictures had dark colors, ragged edges and were filled with tension. After Yoga, the drawings had bright primary colors, happy and rainbow-like colors. I saw the impact of Yoga and how it takes us from darkness to light.

IYM: Then you became an education advocate?

TG: I wanted to bring the decay of our educational system to public awareness. So, I co-founded Education First, a program where once a year, all the studios, all the networks and agencies participate in raising awareness through public service announcements, TV programs and a one-hour after school special on CBS. It was great and raised awareness, but I after awhile I got tired of telling people that our education system was in crisis. I wanted to do something more. So, 15 years ago, I helped create the Accelerated School in South Central Los Angeles, where we raised 50 million dollars to build the school and we put Yoga Ed. into the school as a pilot program. We were part of the physical education (PE) program. Half of the students went to Yoga and half to PE. Teachers soon saw that the best time to give a test was after Yoga. They also saw that Yoga started changing how the children treated each other. When we give children time to take time out, they can take time in—time to find peace and stillness—and to give them a feeling of focus and concentration so they can show up and be present.

IYM: What is the mission of Yoga Ed.?

TG: To develop health and wellness programs and materials that utilize the psychological, emotional and educational benefits of Yoga and creative play, and to distribute them to  children, teachers and parents through schools and communities nationwide. We now have hundreds of teachers trained to do Yoga Ed. We also have 15 teachers who can certify others to be Yoga Ed. trainers. The program is throughout the USA (including Puerto Rico), in Canada and soon will be in Japan and India. Corporate women are giving up careers and becoming Yoga Ed. trainers and teachers in order to have a positive impact on children in schools. The quality of people coming through in the past few years is amazing.

IYM: Would you tell us more about the program?

TG: I think Yoga Ed. should be in every school. Yoga Ed. philosophy is  personal awareness. How can we teach students math, social studies and science and yet not teach them emotional intelligence—how to be nonjudgmental, to use nonviolent communication, to really listen—how to be conscious and aware? Yoga Ed. curriculums consist of time-in (includes meditation), discussions on anatomy, postures, partner poses, visualizations, relaxation and homework. In approaching schools, we share with  them studies that have been conducted on how Yoga enhances performance, helps at-risk children and children with learning differences. Yoga Ed. also offers a two-day “Tools for Teachers” workshop bringing 5-15 minutes of Yoga into the classroom by teaching children visualization, meditation, postures at their desks and talking circles regarding their feelings to aid emotional healing. One tool is to teach children how to take a breath and do an affirmation before a test, “I know how to do my work. I am relaxed and am going to do the best I can do on this test. I trust myself.” Yoga is not just an exercise, but a way of life.

Fritz Perls said that boredom is a lack of attention. Once we are present, we are more interested. Once we show up in our body and have more awareness, we make better choices in our lives. We eat better, we cultivate healthier relationships to food, to our families and to ourselves. When we show up in our body, we have more awareness and make smarter choices in our diet. We teach nutrition, how to cultivate a healthy relationship to food, to our families, to ourselves, to everything.

In our high school curriculum we teach students about the inner advisor—that they can ask for help with any issue that concerns them. We teach them that breath and Yoga are one. Without breathing, there’s no Yoga.

IYM: Are you pleased with how Yoga Ed. is developing?

TG: I’m excited about where it’s going. We’re in home schooling catalogs, in PE catalogs, so PE teachers can buy the curriculum to bring into school. We’ve created decks of cards that are divided into groups—forward bends, back bends, time in, visualizations, partner poses. A child can pick a card and then the whole class joins in. Or, as the teacher, if you want to bring a feeling of oneness into the classroom, you can use a time in card. We are creating an ecology deck to teach children about such mindful practices as recycling and being globally aware.

We do a lot of partner poses based on my book, Contact Yoga, which uses seven points of contact as the foundation: trust, passion, commitment, love, communication, vision and union (which is Yoga). We teach them the seven points and what it means to trust, to make a commitment to friendship, to relationship; what forgiveness and love are about, what honest communication is about. To hold the vision for the friendship which helps create intimacy which is sorely missing in our school systems. We want to encourage clarity, centeredness and peace so our children see the world as a great place to be. All the tools of Yoga—whether it’s Hatha, Raja, Bhakti—help bring us to a place of inner harmony.

IYM: What is your view of meditation vs. medication?

TG: I think they both have their place. When you do Yoga it gives the individual the tools to make themselves feel better at any given moment. Since children with ADD have a problem with concentration and focus, Yoga is a tool to bring them into their center and it absolutely helps. It can calm them, relax them. When we stand on our heads it shifts our state. To me, if everybody in the world did something to bring themselves inside their bodies, this world would be a better place!

IYM: Why is Yoga is so effective for so many people?

TG: Yoga is an inside job. It’s not what is out there, it’s what is in here that will put us into a place of peace and wellness. Due to all the external stimuli assaulting us at every moment, we are being driven to take better care of ourselves. Yoga gives us focus and concentration, posture alignment, strength, flexibility, flow, grace and balance and helps us lead a more peaceful, less stressed life. It really gives us a better life. Meditation is not the same as running or working in the garden. It’s wonderful to do those things, but meditation is time in. Meditation is sitting still and being in a state of quiet and non-doing. It stills the mind. There is no doubt, when you run you still the mind, when you garden you still the mind. But meditation is just being and that is probably the hardest thing—to just be with ourselves and then to go beyond to just being. The expression “we are all one” is right on. Meditation takes us into the oneness. We could be in the darkest place, but if we have that tool, if we know how to open our crown chakra, like the lotus opens its petals—to open to that collective consciousness where the light shines through, that’s the way. Just as Gurudev says: “Truth is one, paths are many.”

IYM: You hosted several talks for Swami Satchidananda (Gurudev) at your Yoga House.

TG:  To be in the presence of Gurudev is to be in the presence of love. He just emanates kindness and love. I always found that his inner child was always present. He really gave us permission to be that. We live in a world where we don’t have permission, we protect ourselves, we isolate and he brought us to the moment of presence. Just wonderful! Joseph Campbell said that the privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. And yet we don’t know who we are. I remember talking to Deepak Chopra about this, and he remarked, “Isn’t it strange that the essence of who we are is hard to find and yet it’s who we are!” I think the most beautiful gift in life is the gift to be yourself. Yoga is one of the most powerful tools to bring us to that possibility.

About Tara Guber:

Tara Guber is co-founder of Education First! a media based, education advocacy non-profit organization, a Points of Light Foundation board member and a founding board member of the Accelerated School, named “Elementary School of the Year” in 2001 by TIME magazine. She has authored two books, Yoga Moves with Alan Finger and Contact: The Yoga of Relationship. For more information please visit: www.yogaed.com and www.contactyoga.com

(photo left to right: Peter Guber, Swami Satchidananda, Tara Guber)

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Yoga Calm

The program is a unique blend of the traditional Yoga practices of mindfulness, physical activity, and nervous system regulation with social skills games and counseling techniques. Integrating fitness, social/emotional and cognitive learning into 5 to 40 minute processes, the program includes more than 60 activities specially designed for use in school and therapeutic settings.

Yoga Calm works with a wide range of students, including those struggling with ADHD, anxiety and other behavioral and emotional challenges. The physical elements are safe for and accessible to people at all skill and fitness levels. Individual activities can be taught in as little as five minutes—by anyone, in any environment.

Yoga Calm addresses barriers to children’s learning by meeting their basic needs—needs for community, safety, structure, discipline, health and self-control.

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YogaKids International

YogaKids Tools for Schools is a comprehensive program using Yoga, Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory, curriculum integration techniques and character education to accomplish its mission.

o Yoga: Students will practice breathing techniques, poses, games, activities, relaxation, and visualization.
o Multiple Intelligences Theory: The program allows all students to flourish by honoring their individual learning styles.
o Curriculum Integration: All basic curriculum areas are addressed, as well as classroom management, test preparation, fitness, and environmental and multicultural education.
o Character Education: Yoga is traditionally associated with the development of positive traits such as confidence, compassion, respect, tolerance, patience, and nonviolence. The YogaKids Tools for Schools program brings the character education aspects of yoga into the foreground.

Goal: Management of Students’ Classroom Behavior, Energy, and Attention

Objectives:

o Equip students with simple behavior management strategies.
o Equip teachers with peaceful strategies for managing classroom behavior.
o Revitalize students when energy is sluggish.
o Provide yoga “Desk Breaks” to improve focus and attention.
o Create appropriate outlets for excessive energy and emotional overload.

Benefits: Imagine… Walking into a classroom full of students. Many are fidgeting, and some are slumped over their desks, while others are staring off into space. “Take 5,” their teacher announces. All at once, the children take a deep breath for 5 seconds and release their breath over 5 seconds. The teacher says, “Let’s do Tree pose,” and for the next 30 seconds, the students stand at their desks, take a moment to focus straight ahead, and lift one leg and both arms into the pose. Their teacher walks them through the pose, using a yoga Pose Card as a guide. The students sit back at their desks – calmer, more alert, and focused. Even their postures look better!

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Children need to feel safe in school because pressure, stress, and fear undermine learning. And when the safety of students in schools must be protected by metal detectors and armed guards, and when students in America’s most elite upper schools report worrisome levels of stress, pressure, and fatigue, it’s safe to conclude that something’s wrong. This distorted picture is made worse by the escalating incidence in both children and adolescents of depression and other stress-related disorders, which have dramatic effects on learning and social development, as well as by similar increases in the incidence of learning and attention disorders.

Published research on the Transcendental Meditation program in educational settings has shown a wide range of practical benefits for both students and teachers. Benefits for students include decreased stress and stress-related disorders, reduced substance abuse, increased intelligence, increased learning ability, improved memory, improved academic performance, and improved standardized test scores. Benefits for teachers include decreased stress and stress-related disorders, decreased anxiety, reduced substance abuse, increased creativity, improved job satisfaction, improved interpersonal relationships, and reduced health care utilization and costs.

Validation: Scientific Research and NIH Grants

During the past 30 years, more than 600 scientific research studies validating the benefits of the Transcendental Meditation technique have been conducted in 33 countries at 210 independent research institutions and universities, including Harvard, Stanford, and UCLA Medical School. These studies, more than 125 published in leading peer-reviewed scientific journals, show that the Transcendental Meditation program provides benefits for mind and body that are highly relevant to improving educational outcomes. The National Institutes of Health has granted over $21 million to researchers studying the effects of the TM technique in reducing high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease.

The David Lynch Foundation bears all TM instruction costs, TM instructor cost, and the cost of the follow-up program, which includes faculty and staff training in the proper supervision of the Quiet Time period.

DAVID LYNCH SPEAKS:

In today’s world of fear and uncertainty, every child should have one class period a day to dive within himself and experience the field of silence—bliss—the enormous reservoir of energy and intelligence that is deep within all of us. This is the way to save the coming generation.

I have been “diving within” through the Transcendental Meditation technique for over 30 years. It has changed my life, my world. I am not alone. Millions of other people of all ages, religions, and walks of life practice the technique and enjoy incredible benefits.

Someday, hopefully very soon, “diving within” as a preparation for learning and as a tool for developing the creative potential of the mind will be a standard part of every school’s curriculum. The stresses of today’s world are taking an enormous toll on our children right now. There are hundreds of schools, with thousands of students, who are eager to relieve this stress and bring out the full potential of every student by providing this Consciousness-Based education today.

Our Foundation was established to ensure that any child in America who wants to learn and practice the Transcendental Meditation program can do so. The TM program is the most thoroughly researched and widely practiced program in the world for developing the full creative potential of the brain and mind, improving health, reducing stress, and improving academic outcomes. We provide scholarships for students to learn the technique and to receive the complete follow-up program of instruction throughout their student years to ensure they receive the maximum benefits. We also provide scholarships for students who want to attend the growing number of highly successful schools, colleges, and universities founded on this Consciousness-Based approach to education.

I have had the pleasure of meeting many students who are “diving within” and experiencing Consciousness-Based education. These students are all unique individuals, very much themselves. They are amazing, self-sufficient, wide-awake, energetic, blissful, creative, powerfully intelligent and peaceful human beings. Meeting these students, for me, was the proof that Consciousness-Based education is a profoundly good thing for our schools and for our world.

Research and experience document the profound benefits to society as a whole when our children dive within. Individual peace is the unit of world peace. By offering Consciousness-Based education to the coming generation, we can promote a strong foundation for a healthy, harmonious, and peaceful world. For this, the Foundation also supports the establishment of Universities of World Peace that will train the coming generation in a new profession: that of professional peacemaker.

Thank you very much for your interest. And please remember that Consciousness-Based education is not a luxury. For our children who are growing up in a stressful, often frightening, crisis-ridden world, it is a necessity.

About David Lynch:

David Lynch, founder and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace, is an award-winning director, writer, and producer. His work includes Eraserhead, Elephant Man, Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, Straight Story, Mulholland Drive, and Inland Empire.

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