Yoga In Schools
I am currently teaching yoga classes to children from year 7 upwards in Kelly College, Tavistock, and Callington Community College. Kelly College offer yoga classes to their students several times a week as one of their sports options. Students choose to take part in yoga a term at a time, though most come back term after term. Callington students are offered yoga classes as one of their Personal Extended Period options and students attend classes for 6 weeks at a time.
Some of these students simply get a taste of what yoga is about but many students choose to come back for more sessions the next year and clearly enjoy the benefits they experience. I teach these students ways of keeping fit and relaxed but also include teaching about respect and care for themselves and each other.
Children and young adults are very receptive to the physical and mental benefits of yoga. The relaxation and breathing exercises in particular can encourage a stillness and peace not often, if ever, normally available to them. (It can work wonders on stressed teachers too!) I consider it a personal success that I have brought so many classes of 'lively' young people to lying perfectly still with just the sound of relaxed breathing and the occasional gentle snore!
By stimulating their imaginative powers during exercise, yoga encourages natural relationships between body and mind that can be more difficult to nurture later in life. Yoga encourages awareness of the link between mind and body, and helps develop a sensitivity to one's own as well as other people's feelings.
The Effects Of Yoga At School |
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Strengthens the spinal muscles and improves posture ... |
... leading to better health and increasing self confidence |
Brings about correct breathing ... |
... calming down emotions |
Brings about relaxation ... |
... leading to better receptivity to teaching and enhancing learning |
Creates conditions for ... |
... attention, memorizing, understanding |
Yoga can fit into the National Curriculum in various ways. Within the PSHE and Citizenship section of the National Curriculum Handbook, there are many sections in which yoga can play a part:
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in developing young people's confidence and sense of responsibility and in getting them to make the most of their abilities;
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in preparing young people to play an active role as citizens;
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in getting young people to develop a healthy, safe lifestyle;
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in allowing young people to develop good relationships;
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in teaching young people to respect the differences between people.
Some schools are finding that the promotion of social, emotional and behavioural skills (SEBS) is helping them achieve results in attitudes to learning. SEBS are life skills that help young people become more rounded individuals, able to understand and communicate their own feelings and sensitive to those of others. Yoga practices can develop these skills.
Examples of SEBS include the ability to be self-aware, self-confident, and to develop a sense of right and wrong. Young people with these skills are less likely to get into conflict, have fewer barriers to learning, and an increased chance of fulfilling their academic potential.
Please contact me for further information or to discuss how yoga could be introduced into your school.