Yoga helps a student’s physical health, and mindfulness helps their mental health. Suzanna Singh introduces yoga into her class program, and her students may be seeing the results. We received a wonderful letter from Suzanna Singh, who received a grant from the Okanagan Learning Foundation to help her complete her certification.
Mens sana in corpore sano - A sound mind in a sound body
Suzanna said:
I am so grateful to the Okanagan Learning Foundation for their financial support of my summer 2019 Pro-D: completing my 200hr Yoga Teacher Certification through Mindful Restoration Yoga. As a long-time practitioner, I know firsthand the positive effects of yoga, but more and more I am hearing about studies that indicate the positive impact of yoga and mindfulness on school children, their well-being, and their academic success.
In the Spring of 2019 I met the instructors of Mindful Restoration Yoga, Jeff and Sonya Thomlinson, when they held a Pro-D seminar at Rutland Middle School for their “Take a Breath” program. I was blown away by their skillful way of connecting yoga and mindfulness practices with cutting-edge brain science research. With help from the Okanagan Learning Foundation, as well as from my school Pro-D committee, I was thrilled to be able to sign up for their Summer 2019 YTT (Yoga Teacher Training).
The 3 week YTT was unique in that it was specifically held for educators. Early in July the 12 participants and 2 instructors gathered at KSS for introductions. With a group full of SD#23 teachers and EAs (Educational Assistants), as well as myself from SD#22, instant bonds were formed.
Throughout the three weeks (spread out in three chunks over July and August) the twelve of us did an in-depth and experiential study of the mind/body benefits of breathing, stretching, and mindfulness practices. Most days ran from 8am-9:30pm, making for very long 13.5 hour days. I was fortunate that one of the Kelowna EA’s generously offered me a bedroom in her house so that I wouldn’t have to make the days even longer with a commute back and forth from Vernon!
The course offered an extremely thorough study of 28 yoga poses, as well as various breathing and relaxation practices to support students’ mental and physical health. We learned the principles of proper alignment and core strength engagement to ensure students avoid injury or over-stretching.
One of my favourite things that I learned in the course was NOT to tell students who are having a panic attack to “take a deep breath”. Interestingly, the inhalation portion of the breath is connected with the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the fight, flight, freeze response. It is the exhalation that is related to the parasympathetic nervous system and the rest and relax response. Teaching anxious students to take a small breath in and then to focus on a long exhale can be way more productive than telling them to “take a deep breath”, which can actually have an adverse effect of making them feel more anxious!
Now back in school, my grade 4 class loves to push the desks out of the way and set up the colourful mats. We started out in early September with just 5 mins of stretching, deep breathing, and relaxation, and we are now up to 15mins. Though there are a few awkward giggles and squirms, the majority of students reflect that they really appreciate the opportunity to settle and calm down during the school day. They tell me they enjoy the quiet, the opportunity to feel into their bodies, as well as the relaxation techniques. A palpable calm comes over the class as I lead them through the stretches and deep breathing, and I feel so grateful to offer the kids tools to self-regulate and to focus in these times of mass distraction.
I look forward to tracking the overall benefits of the practice on individual students as well as on the class as a whole. My hunch is that regular mindful movement and relaxation will have a significant positive impact on my students’ overall sense of wellbeing and on their ability to self-regulate their emotions. Who knows, maybe it will even lead to increased academic success!
