Benefits of Storytime Yoga

         

           Last week I finished a year of teaching a 4^th/5^th grade class of students with disabilities ranging from ADHD to aspergers to oppositional defiant disorder.  Nearly everyday my heart broke when I learned of what they had done the night before, what they had eaten for breakfast and brought, or didn’t bring, for lunch, as well as their attitude toward their bodies.  War video games were the number one evening activity.  Some were not allowed to even go outside their apartments.  Many didn’t eat breakfast and if they did it was from McDonalds, which they picked up at the same time as their lunch.  It wasn’t uncommon for a student to bring nothing for lunch.  And it was a positive thing to have a large belly because it looked cool when you drummed on it and made it wiggle.  It should come as no surprise that the majority of my students were irritable, overweight, often complained of not feeling well, and missed a great deal of school due to illness.  I will never forget my athletic teacher friend in the grade above me genuinely concerned about my students moving up to his class because of these factors.  In fact, he requested to teach middle & high school students next year and got it approved.   

            Children today are in desperate need of not only learning about healthy lifestyle choices but being given the opportunity to make them.  The alternative is children who CAN NOT cooperate with adults or peers and disease.

            Storytime Yoga is effective at enriching our children’s lives in many ways.  Practicing yoga results in greater muscular strength, flexibility, posture, coordination, and bone/joint health.  The brain activity that goes on while the body is moving through and holding yoga poses contributes to increased attention and concentration skills and an overall sense of calm, relaxation, and inner peace.  Learning techniques for self-health and inner fulfillment helps children respond to life’s challenges in a positive way.  When yoga is combined with storytelling children improve their listening and comprehension skills and utilize their imaginations as they contemplate the layered meanings of each story.  Practicing yoga also reduces stress and helps one focus on the present moment, as it engages the mind and body simultaneously.  This is especially important for our youth who so often can be found watching a TV program while texting and listening to music through earphones.  Additionally, it encourages self-esteem and body awareness through a noncompetitive activity, which in turn fosters cooperation and compassion. Children, parents, and teachers all win when the benefits of yoga help children achieve balance.

            My students from last year have already been diagnosed with some form of disorder.  The good news is that engaging in activities such as Storytime Yoga can dramatically lessen the effects of those disorders.  For others it can prevent them from ever hearing a doctor give a painful diagnosis.