Yoga
Yoga looks different in every class and for every age group, but we all follow similar guidelines when it comes to facilitating:
Age-appropriate poses/activities
Focus on exercise, relaxation, and breathing
Comfortable for everyone and everyone's abilities
Participation is optional but encouraged (students can take breaks as often and for as long as they need by just resting on their mat or at their desk)
Trauma-informed practices incorporated into programming
Music is a bonus
Have fun!
Commonly asked questions:
What is yoga?
Traditionally, yoga is an ancient physical and spiritual discipline and branch of philosophy that originated in India reportedly more than 5,000 years ago.
BUT
Our yoga programming comes from the yoga as exercise approach. Where yoga is a physical activity consisting mainly of postures, often connected by flowing sequences, sometimes accompanied by breathing exercises, and frequently ending with relaxation lying down or meditation. We do not use any Sanskrit, traditional terms, chanting, etc. and only use the postures from yoga, with their colloquial names.
Is yoga a type of religion?
Traditional yoga is associated with Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, but it itself is not a religion.
What does MHCB yoga programming look like?
We use the yoga as exercise approach. We do not bring in any spirituality, religious, or traditional teachings that come from traditional yoga.
A typical MHCB yoga session involves movement/warm-up in the form of a physical activity game (e.g., freeze tag), a breathing exercise (e.g., breathing buddies), or story (e.g., Brown Bear Brown Bear by Eric Carle), some age and ability-appropriate postures/poses for students to try (e.g., Tree Pose), breathing exercises and then a rest period for students to relax and destress.
We use a combination of Chair Yoga, Mini Me Yoga and Yoga Kids for our K to 6 age group.
Why yoga?
Studies have found that kids yoga helps them learn how to release stress, retain more information, and increase confidence and happiness, among other benefits. Positive thinking techniques increase a child’s awareness of the power of their own thoughts and give them access to being the author of their own life. (Mini Me Yoga, 2021)
Examples of books, worksheets, games, videos, or mindfulness exercises that we might incorporate into our lessons:
MHCB Program Manager Notes:
Yoga Programs vary in terms of cost. Some of the programs we have used include Mini Me Yoga, and Yoga Kids. Costs vary.
Yoga programs are most often American resources
Yoga in schools is research-informed.