by Tiffany Goulet
Imagine entering a kindergarten classroom and seeing a group of 24 children practicing pranayama, connecting with themselves and each other and setting their intention for the day. Imagine the difference that this might make in their lives, if systems adopted just a few of these practices and truly dedicated time to emotionally educating our children. Would we have children who experience less stress, know themselves more deeply, show respect and empathy for those around them, and feel more balanced? I truly believe so and as a result I'm working toward changing our approach to emotional education in our classrooms.
Imagine entering a kindergarten classroom and seeing a group of 24 children practicing pranayama, connecting with themselves and each other and setting their intention for the day. Imagine the difference that this might make in their lives, if systems adopted just a few of these practices and truly dedicated time to emotionally educating our children. Would we have children who experience less stress, know themselves more deeply, show respect and empathy for those around them, and feel more balanced? I truly believe so and as a result I'm working toward changing our approach to emotional education in our classrooms.
I'm both a yoga instructor and a kindergarten teacher and having my foot in both professions has allowed me to reflect deeply on what it is that we are offering to our youngest learners. Are we really setting them up for success? Honouring who they are? Providing them tools that they will need? The stress behaviours that we are seeing in our schools are a clear indication that we need to do better, to update our learning and to change our approaches. Each and every morning we do a short practice together as a community of learners, and children as young as 3-years-old are embracing some simple yoga practices and the impacts are being seen throughout the entire day and are being carried forward to their home life.
Several years ago, I found yoga at a time when I was having significant challenges with the stress level in my life. At the same time, I was also seeing stress behaviours in my classroom that I wasn't able to resolve. I had children struggling with grief, anxiety, social challenges, focus issues, etc. The more I learned about yoga and practiced it myself, the more I felt a huge shift in my stress level and my response to stress. I wondered if this might work for the young children in my care. I was saddened with our society's approach to mental health being "reactive". We wait and wait until people are at a breaking point, then offer services to try to help them. I thought our approach needed be more similar to our "preventative" approach to physical health, where we work on it every single day, so that when stress or crisis hits, we are in a healthy place to respond and recover. I knew there had to be a better way to teach kids about their mind, body and breath and their relationship with stress.
I began by sharing some simple pranayama practices in a fun and playful way, carving out time each morning during our community circle for this; bumble bee breath and big deep belly breaths seem to be the favorites in the class. Slowly, as they became familiar with these, we began adding affirmations, intentions, mudras and simple asanas. It's so very interesting to watch which postures and practices are chosen by each child throughout the day. It is a great indicator of their stress levels, fatigue levels, alertness; and this short practice communicates so much to the educators. As the year went on, we noticed some of those challenging issues starting to melt away. Children seemed to have a much better response to stress and the challenges of their lives. Parents were also beginning to see these practices appearing at home when their children needed to self-regulate; children chose breathing practices instead of escalating into a tantrum state and were able to articulate what was bothering them instead of melting down in frustration. It was with that feedback that I knew that this was something that was going to be a major part of my life and my work. Witnessing these changes first hand has also changed the way I support children when they are in crisis, both at home and school. When children are struggling with their emotions, we will guide them with breath work to calm themselves and if they are scared or nervous, it's not uncommon to hear an educator offering an affirmation to the child to repeat. It's a significant shift from the adult controlling and managing the children, to working alongside the children to help them to regulate themselves. It is very reflective of the way I feel when I am at a yoga class — my teacher gently supports and guides me to learn more about myself so I can carry those lessons forward into my own life.
The following year, with a new cohort of little ones, we began practicing together in September and by December our four-year-olds could tell us why they place their hands on their tummies during pranayama practice or might have compared themselves to a rooted tree articulating the sense of calm that they felt. They fully embrace these practices without fear or hesitation, and it is truly one of the most beautifully rewarding things to watch. Other colleagues and administration became intrigued by what was happening in our space: the calm vibe, the reduction in behaviour and the increase in both self-esteem and self-regulation. I began supporting other colleagues and parents though workshops to learn, embody and use some simple mindfulness and pranayama practices in their classrooms and homes. As a school, we now have this happening in some way in 77% of our classes, including all of our kindergarten and primary classrooms, some of our junior rooms and a few of our intermediate classrooms.
As the staff and community support continues to increase for this approach to emotional education we have now written it into our School Improvement Plan and our school Board is supportive of implementing these practices throughout our entire board. I have written a Teacher Led Leadership Project for the following school year that will provide my team funding to further study the impacts of mindfulness practices on self-regulation, create resources for others, and train more educators in our board. It is my goal that within 5 years of beginning this journey, we will be offering this throughout our school board and our community. I would love to see this approach continue to expand in other areas, knowing that all children would benefit and that the impacts of practicing yoga are both immediate and long lasting.
As yoga teachers we have the potential to change the world by educating and inspiring people including our children. We have a unique opportunity to work with them to lay the strong foundation that they need to carry them through their lives and we have the potential to build all of this with them ....one breath at a time.
As yoga teachers we have the potential to change the world by educating and inspiring people including our children. We have a unique opportunity to work with them to lay the strong foundation that they need to carry them through their lives and we have the potential to build all of this with them ....one breath at a time.
Tiffany Goulet
CYA-RYT500
CYA-RYT500