The ascend of attention deficit disorder (ADD), decreasing significance on physical fitness, and the increasing stress levels of our children, worry us all. With this in mind, few educational programs as well as public schools are giving Yoga a chance, by means of allowing their students to practice from an early age.
Parents who relish Yoga are content to share it with their kids. Even the federal government supports efforts: federal Physical Education Program (PEP) grant worth almost $750,000 has helped train some 200 teachers nationwide in "Yoga Training."
According to an article in Education News, in October 2010, Yoga classes for students range from year-long regular exposure, as part of a standard Physical Education class to voluntary classes, commonly less intense and every now and then offered amid the school day, or before or after, school. Providing the Yoga education costs, on average, $70 per class, but the value to the school varies reliant on students' capability to pay.
Nonprofit organizations, which recognize the worth of Yoga practice, have jumped on the bandwagon to support it. Charitable group, Bent on Learning, raised $325,000 for children's Yoga in schools in June 2011, through an elite fundraiser, with guests such as Gwyneth Paltrow. Other organizations raise funds on a tinier scale or "match make" opportunities between local Yoga instructor volunteers and needy schools.
Best of all, there is definitive proof which Yoga in schools leads to positive outcomes for students. The Program Evaluation and Research Collaborative (PERC) is an independent entity, overseen by California State University, and provides program evaluation together with analysis services to local, state, federal agencies, as well as schools.
In 2003, they rated the "Yoga Ed" program in The Accelerated School (a California charter school). The study subjects were 405 students from kindergarten to 8th grade, and 18 core subject teachers. The Accelerated School is located in South Central Los Angeles, with a student body composed of 62% Hispanic and 36% African-American students.
Highlights of the results of this study are brought up below.
"Yoga class participation appears to assist students' enhance their attitudes toward themselves.
Yoga class participation helped elevate students' behavior.
Yoga class participation helped improve students' physical health.
Yoga class participation helped students perform better in school academically."
Conclusion
The introduction of Yoga programs has not been without controversy. Some critics of Yoga see its memorable base, in Hindu spirituality, as a conflict with the ban on religious activity in public schools. To avoid this, the Yoga programs have changed alternative terms for components that have common names or supposed spiritual aspects. Hence, breathing techniques are now termed "balloon breath," "bunny breathing" as well as "dragon breath," for example.
Therefore, if you are a Yoga teacher, who has been invited to educate Yoga in a public school, be aware that extremist objections can possibly surface. In such a case, it may be irrealizable to reason with the unreasonable. One option for public schools is "Yoga Fitness" or "Stretch and Breathe Classes." At the very least, our children will learn to be fit, centralize on their studies, as well as cope with daily nervousness.
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