The Kids Yoga Resource

WMUR's NH Chronicle features Yoga 4 Classrooms and ChildLight Yoga

WMUR-TV's NH Chonicle TV News program recently featured ChildLight Yoga and its affiliate school program, Yoga 4 Classrooms, based in Dover, NH.

The thorough piece features interviews with Founder, Lisa Flynn and Lead Instructor, Sharon Trull, as well as with staff, students and the Principal of Horace Mitchell School in Kittery, ME. In addition, the program features clips from the Y4C program in the school, the newly published Yoga 4 Classrooms Card Ceck and shows a bit of the studio and boutique in Dover, NH.

Read more as featured in the Yoga 4 Classrooms blog...

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Seacoast Yoga Community Launches Teen Yoga Network Offering Free Classes to Teens

The Seacoast yoga community is launching the Teen Yoga Network to make the benefits of yoga accessible to teens. Free classes are available to teens ages 14 – 17 at fifteen participating yoga studios.

Spearheaded by Lisa Flynn, founder and director of ChildLight Yoga and Yoga 4 Classrooms, the Teen Yoga Network was designed as a seva (service) project. She presented the idea to area yoga studios and teachers and the response was immediate.

“Teens are stressed, busy and often don't have a lot of funds,” Flynn says.  “And most yoga studios, including ours, typically cater to adults and/or kids, with teens sometimes falling through the cracks. As a yoga community, we are trying to make yoga more accessible to them. In doing so, our hope is that more teens will have the opportunity to experience the positive benefits of yoga, ultimately building resilience, self-esteem and the self-regulation skills essential to a positive adolescent experience and lifelong health and wellness. In the end, healthier teens means healthier adults and communities.”

Participating studios, including Awakening Grace Yoga, Balance Yoga Studio for Women, Bikram Yoga Portsmouth, ChildLight Yoga, My Om Whole Fitness, Peace Tree Yoga, Portsmouth Yoga Shala, Rasamaya Yoga, Sacred Movement Yoga, Salon by the Sea, Seacoast Power Yoga, Symmetry Yoga, 3 Bridges Yoga, Yoga on York, and Zev Yoga, invite teens between 14-17 years old to join an appropriate selection of their regularly scheduled adult classes at no charge. TYN (Teen Yoga Network) classes and related details will be noted on the schedule page of each studio’s website, and ChildLight Yoga will soon have dedicated Teen Yoga Network webpage posted, with links to participating studios.

To celebrate and encourage the growth of this initiative, ChildLight Yoga Studio in Dover, NH will be hosting two teen-focused specialty trainings in 2012 for those who wish to learn more about sharing yoga with adolescents: 

The Yoga 4 Teens Teacher Training with Christy Brock Miele of San Juan Capistrano, CA, Founder of YogaMinded and Author of Yoga 4 Teens, An Instructor's Guide to Teaching Yoga to Teenagers, will be held this month from March 16-18. (Note to ChildLight Yoga Teachers! - Training is $50 off for all those who have previously completed a ChildLight Yoga Teacher Training when you register by March 8. Use coupon code: CLYDISCOUNT.)

As a part of this training weekend, area teens are invited to a FREE demo class with Brock Miele to be held on Saturday, March 17, 10:30 - 11:30am. Pre-registration for the free class is required. Email lisa@childlightyoga.com  


From November 2 – 4, 2012, ChildLight Yoga Studio will also host the Karma Kids Teen Yoga Teacher Training with Erin Wilson of New York City.




ChildLight Yoga, located at 453 Central Avenue in Dover, NH, provides evidence-based yoga education nationwide to children in schools and communities, and to professionals whose work supports the well-being of children. For more information about classes, trainings and the Teen Yoga Network, visit www.childlightyoga.com.

Media Contact or for Information about starting a Teen Yoga Network in your community:

Lisa Flynn
ChildLight Yoga & Yoga 4 Classrooms
453 Central Ave, Suite 103
Dover, NH 03820
603-781-3323
Blog: www.thekidsyogaresource.com
FB: www.facebook.com/childlightyoga
Twitter: www.twitter.com/childlightyoga

Dear Congress, Please Pass the Academic, Social and Emotional Learning Act of 2011

Here at ChildLight Yoga and Yoga 4 Classrooms, we strongly support social and emotional education for a healthier generation of students.  We just signed the following petition addressed to Congress, written by Shanti Generation for Change.org. Please read and join us

Pass the Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Act of 2011

Bipartisan legislation supporting students’ development through social and emotional learning has been introduced to the 112th Congress by Representatives Judy Biggert (R‐IL), Dale E. Kildee (D‐MI), and Tim Ryan (D‐OH).

The Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Act of 2011, HR 2437 will expand the availability of programs that teach students skills such as problem‐solving, conflict resolution, responsible decision-making, relationship building, goal‐setting, and self discipline. “This legislation will help teachers provide result‐driven instruction in skills that keep children focused on learning and prepare them to succeed in the real world,” says Representative Judy Biggert, a member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee. (Bill Summary via Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning)

Again, our hearts break as the story unfolds of another act of violence in schools. Equally as heartbreaking is that it takes a tragedy as deep as a school shooting to bring the dialogue on safety and wellness in schools to the forefront of mainstream media, which, as we know, dominates so many peoples' thinking.

Fortunately, the conversation on wellbeing in schools has grown rich in several arenas of education including the social and emotional learning movement and the school yoga and mindfulness movement. At the heart of these interconnected movements is the knowledge that well being is not only essential to learning, it is essential to safety. Kids who are stressed beyond belief by a world in turmoil and pressured to perform in rigid school environments are bound to snap. Unfortunately, it's not only the kids who commit extreme acts of violence that are hurting deeply.

The victims, and I include here the perpetrator, of the recent shooting in Ohio, have a message that must be heard by each and every parent, teacher, administrator and tax payer:

STOP ignoring the cries of children and teens all over the nation who are suffering in a broken educational system.

STOP piling on the homework and the demands.

STOP standardizing education at the cost of students and teachers creativity.

STOP putting outcomes over sanity.

For schools to become healthy and thrive, the individuals must be respected and honored.

START listening to the voices of our youth that so clearly articulate the need for social and emotional support.

START including children's hearts in education.

START dialogues within communities about the real purpose of education.

START putting the pressure on legislators to respond to research that shows the benefit of social and emotional learning programs.

PLEASE JOIN US IN EDUCATING OUR POLICYMAKERS about Social and Emotional Learning - Sign the petition today.

Yoga in schools...A Band-Aid or a solution?

A recent Chicago Tribune article titled, Yoga in the Classroom, highlighted the benefits of school-based yoga programs. In it, Dr. Michelle Riba, professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, and past president of the American Psychiatric Association, made an interesting comment.

She said, "teaching yoga to children for stress relief is akin to putting a Band-Aid on a tumor. One might say, 'Why don't we de-stress them instead of doing something to fix the stress.' It's like giving a medicine — and then giving another medicine to fix the side effects. Maybe people should look at trying not to put so much stress on the children. Cutting back on after-school activities would be the first step," she concluded.

Though I certainly understand her point and agree there is room to cut back on scheduling, we also should remember that there are endless potential stressors in life which we can not control.  While an overscheduled day may (or may not, as some children actually thrive with a jam-packed schedule) cause Johnny stress or anxiety, a homelife where there is mental illness, poverty or abuse, a walk home that is dangerous, an unfriendly classmate, learning challenges, or even the bright lights and noise experienced during a typical school day may be even more stressful for him.

The fact is, we can not rid the world of stressors. But we can learn to manage our reactions to those stressors, and thus regulate our stress response. Through yoga and mindfulness-based education, we can learn simple, yet powerful skills and tools to help us self-regulate, reflect before reacting, and take control of our state of being. A growing body of mind-body and brain-based research (not to mention our own subjective experiences and observations in the classroom and via parent, child and teacher surveys) shows that when children utilize these tools, they become more present, empowered to manage their emotions, and are in general more content and successful in school and in life.

A Band-Aid or a solution?  We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Reprinted from our Yoga 4 Classrooms blog.

New User-Friendly Card Deck Makes Yoga Easy and Accessible for Teachers, Moms, Kids and Others

Cards Support Nationally Recognized Yoga 4 Classrooms Program And Help Provide Optimal Learning Environment, Peaceful Classrooms

 


November 2011 (Dover, NH) -- Science has shown and educators have experienced first-hand that when children are anxious, frustrated or stressed, it is nearly impossible for them to learn. It is only from a relaxed, calm and present state of mind and body that children can be psychologically and physiologically learning-ready. 

With that in mind, ChildLight Yoga, creators of the innovative Yoga 4 Classrooms™ program, has drawn on its 10 years of experience to produce a new tool: the new Yoga 4 Classrooms Activity Card Deck can be used by teachers, students, parents, and counselors.  No prior yoga experience is required.

 “We found a real need in schools all over the country for tools that teachers, counselors and kids could use within the classroom setting to alleviate frustration and provide the most favorable environment for learning and growth,” said Lisa Flynn, founder of ChildLight Yoga.  “We used what we learned to create this easy to use set of tools that can be applied in any classroom, or by any parent or counselor.  The positive feedback we have received so far has been very gratifying.”

The 67 illustrated activities in the colorful deck were specially chosen for their suitability for the typical classroom space, and can all be done standing beside or sitting at desks, while bodies and hands remain off the floor, away from dirt and germs. The cards include a mix of yoga postures, brain boosting movements, breath exercises, visualizations, mindfulness activities, creative movement and community-building games. There are also wellness and character-building discussion points, such as the power of positive thinking, nutrition, and being a peacemaker, that address the whole child – physical, social and emotional.

Activities fall into six categories: 

Let’s Breathe: helps calm and center, or empower and energize.

At Your Desk: provides physical relief from long periods of sitting, improves focus, and keeps body systems functioning efficiently.

Stand Strong: provides simple, structured opportunities to stand up, stretch, balance and strengthen.

Loosen Up: dispels stress through energetic release or introspection and focus.

Imagination Vacation: offers child-friendly approaches to meditation through guided visualization, helping students bring their awareness to the present moment, which is the necessary state for learning.
Be Well: offers a framework for child-friendly discussions on topics supporting health and wellness.

 

About Yoga 4 Classrooms

In 2007, Lisa Flynn, E-RYT, RCYT and founder of ChildLight Yoga, was inspired by the classroom teachers she encountered to create a yoga and mindfulness-based program focused on the whole child that would also be appropriate for the classroom setting. After three and a half years of research, development and test piloting, Yoga 4 Classrooms™ was born.  Yoga 4 Classrooms helps children develop the self-awareness to realize how they feel and what they need; teaches them strategies to slow down, unwind and manage their emotions; guides them through movements that optimize their strength, flexibility and balance; demonstrates healthy habits; and reminds them to love and forgive themselves. Yoga 4 Classrooms provides students with tools for learning and lessons for life.  For more information, visit http://www.yoga4classrooms.com/

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CONTACT: Susan Harrison/HFS Communications
617.285.9766/susan@hfscommunications.com

Twenty Kids all Focused and Calm

by Elementary School Teacher and ChildLight Yoga Instructor, Joy Bryan Markley

What potential chaos would ensue, I thought, as I tossed and turned in bed imagining Kindergarten kids out of control on and off their yoga mats, fifth graders flailing around, laughing at the poses I modeled up front, refusing to follow my lead. As my nightmarish reverie continued on I felt the harsh glare of unhappy teachers as they whispered and wondered, "What in the world was this woman thinking?" And then as I lay in bed half-frozen in self-doubt, on the verge of looking up the PE teacher's phone number and calling him right then and there (around midnight) to cancel, something settled over me. And with the ease of a high-flying and carefree seagull soaring through the air on a sunny summer afternoon I thought, "I'll do it." "Move into the fear," I laughed at myself as I decided to just do it!I am an elementary school teacher. I teach yoga to small groups of kids after school in the music room of the school I work in. Last winter, for reasons that can only be chalked up to a serious brain cramp, I offered to teach yoga to all the kids in our school during our upcoming Field Day. Field Day. It's the one day of the year that blue and gold battle for 4 hours as kids compete by kicking, skipping, running all the while wearing either a blue or a gold T-shirt. Why on earth did I offer to teach yoga, the most noncompetitive physical activity you can teach kids, on Field Day?

When the PE teacher approached me two weeks before the event and I confirmed, "Sure, I'll teach yoga to every student in our school. You say two-hundred plus kids? I'm happy to do it!" I should have, instead, politely backed out. When he went on to explain that I'd be teaching brief, ten to fifteen minute yoga sessions one after another to individual classes of between fifteen and twenty-four kids in grades K-5, I should have suddenly "remembered" the root canal I had scheduled that very day. The largest kid's yoga class I had previously taught was 8 students. Why shouldn't my next step be to teach an entire school?

"Just have fun," the PE teacher attempted to calm me down. "No stress," he emailed me. I had to laugh. The PE teacher was telling the yoga teacher to have fun and not stress. "I can do that," I emailed him back, hoping my own words would inspire me with confidence. "Move into the fear," I once again advised myself, all the while crazy excuses ran through my head. "My dog aspirated a chunk of her dog food while we were playing "dog bowling" with little bits of dog food in the garage (this actually did happen once!). I have to rush her to the vet," I envisioned myself telling the PE teacher, apologetically, an hour before Field Day. "Sorry, I won't be able to teach yoga!"

By the time Field Day rolled around, however, I felt as ready as I was going to be. I had made one-hundred-ninety cute little yoga pins with the help of my supportive husband. I had borrowed twenty colorful yoga mats from four different staff members and carefully noted which purple mat belonged to which staff member. I had run through my ten-to-fifteen-minute yoga routine sixty-seven times with my inflexible husband, my gracious yoga teacher buddy, and my loyal, slightly bored, dog. And I appealed to two of my colleagues who I knew could handle challenging student behaviors. Fortunately for me, they both agreed to help with crowd control, even though one of them had never taken a yoga class in her life. If mayhem descended over my well-planned, albeit brief yoga sessions, at least I'd have witnesses to vouch for the fact that I did try really, really hard to create a calm, positive space amongst the frenetic and competitive energy of Field Day.

And so, with the sun gently shining on a beautiful spring morning, and all our yoga mats carefully laid out in a colorful half-circle under the cool shade of a giant oak tree, I taught yoga on Field Day. "Can you teach my fifth graders yoga during one of the water breaks?" a teacher asked me in the confusion of things getting started. "Sure!" I answered not really getting the fact that I was already scheduled to teach yoga to grade two at that very same time. As the second water break was announced over a screechy megaphone, thirty-five grade school students congregated under that oak tree.

With a very deep breath in and a "here we go" attitude, I announced with the authority of a conductor waving her baton as she directed her first symphony orchestra, "Stand in mountain pose and clasp your hands like this." And to my amazement, they did. With feet grounded in their mats and hands clasped together about the level of their sweet little hearts, this giant group of elementary-aged students appeared as peaceful as the morning sun over a calm and quiet lake. And, I was starting to have fun.

And instead of teachers glaring and questioning my sanity, many sat right down with the kids and began bending and twisting as I demonstrated Downward Dog and Warrior I. Several were shocked as their students stood peacefully and still, slowly breathing in and out. "Maybe you can try this in your classroom," I offered to several teachers who I knew might be able to get their inattentive and even rowdy students to focus back in the classroom with calm, rhythmic breathing and a few yoga poses.

As one group disassembled and moved on to the water toss, their teacher smiled and whispered to me, "This is your calling." Several teachers said that our yoga station was their student's favorite activity of the entire, competitive morning. And for one sweet, shy little girl, who had been in my after school yoga class before, our yoga station was the only activity she participated in on Field Day.

"Do you really think you can get 20 kids to focus at one time?" a staff member remarked on the morning of Field Day as I walked down the hall in my yoga clothes, ready, yet a little nervous for what the morning would hold. "We'll see!" I smiled tentatively.

Twenty kids all calm and focused. Easy.

Let's Move with FIT Kids: A Follow-Up

In our March 30th blog titled "Let's Move with FIT Kids!  What You Can Do to Support Wellness Education in the Schools,"  we advocated for the FIT Kids Act, urging you to visit the FIT Kids website to show your support for this initiative.  If you haven't done so yet, it's not too late!  The website makes it simple, providing a pre-written letter and a list of your congressional representatives.  Meanwhile, we wanted to share a recent response we received from Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire.  We are hopeful that your letters to your state representatives will garner a similar supportive response.    

    Thank you for contacting me regarding the Fitness Integrated with Teaching Kids Act (S. 576).  I appreciate hearing from you.

    As you may know, on March 15, 2011, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced S. 576, which was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.  If enacted, S. 576 would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require state and local educational agency report cards to annually include information on school health and physical education programs.  The Act would also require training for physical and health education teachers and would direct the Secretary of Education to contract with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct a study investigating the impact of health and physical education in schools.

    As the mother of two children, I recognize the important role that health and physical education play in providing students with a well-rounded education.  However, I also believe that strong families are the foundation of our country and provide an invaluable support system that allows our children to grow into successful adults.  That is why I believe parents, first and foremost, should take the responsibility in advocating physical education for their children.

    The epidemic of obesity in our country is certainly troubling, and I appreciate the role of physical education teacher in encouraging children and families to emphasize physical activity as part of their daily routines.  I will be sure to take into account your support for S. 576.  Although I do not sit on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, please know that I will consider your input should the bill come up for a vote in the full Senate.

    Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me.  As your Senator, it is important for me to hear from you regarding the current issues affecting New Hampshire and our nation.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if I may be of any further assistance.

Sincerely,

Kelly A. Ayotte
U. S. Senator