Mindfulness And Yoga Help At-Risk Kids Cope With Stress

Education, Yoga and Youth Development

Guest article

Mindfulness And Yoga Help Kids Cope With Stress In Low-Income, High-Crime Neighborhoods

Stepping outside the perceived yoga “norms” of thin and stretchy folks sipping green smoothies and spouting quotes from a bottomless well of inspiration, somewhere in the middle of high-crime, poverty-level, gang-ridden neighborhoods, school kids stand strong in mountain pose.  Some such kids currently reside in East Palo Alto, CA where they are faced with very real stresses and anxieties that should be beyond their years, but instead take the form of piled on anger, fear and sadness.  For the students of Cesar Chavez Academy, though, a new yoga and mindfulness program may help them cope on the inside with the violence and noise going on outside.  

PBS NewsHour reports on how a Stanford University backed project is bringing yoga and mindfulness practices to Cesar Chavez Academy where middle schoolers, at such a young age, are already showing signs of PTSD just by living their daily lives.  

According to Dr. Victor Carrion, a professor at Stanford University’s School of Medicine and head of Early Life Stress Research Program who is overseeing the project at Cesar Chavez Academy, up to 30 percent of children living in low-income, high-crime neighborhoods will show signs of PTSD which can in turn affect and impair their ability to learn.  In fact, there is a link between stress and behavior that actually shows up in the chemicals and activity of the brain.  But Dr. Carrion is hoping to help the kids at Cesar Chavez by providing the tools of  yoga to ease the stress before things go too far.  

Says Michael Fu, a Stanford University medical student involved in the project:

“The principals of mindfulness really try to make you focus on the present moment.  So whether or not you came in this morning experiencing something stressful at home or something bad happened, for you to be able to come into the classroom and really embrace it and embrace the learning, I think it really allows students to reach their potential.”  

While it took a little while to get the kids to be OK with doing poses and breathing in front of everyone else (these are middle schoolers, we’re talking about!), students are showing improvements in their attitude and reactions, which can translate into better learning abilities, and environments, as well as more positive temperments overall.  

“When I get home, I want to play, but [my mother] doesn’t let me because it’s too dark now.  And I get so mad,” says student Brayan Solorio.  ”And then I put my yoga mat that they give me, and I start using it.  The difference is that I’m angry, and then as soon as I use it, I’m not angry no more.  It calms me down.”  

Principal Amika Guillaume echoes young Brayan adding, “If we can get kids to the point that they realize that, oh, I’m getting hotheaded, oh, my adrenaline is flowing, I am not thinking clearly, I need to stop, step back and reassess, then maybe we have a chance.”  

Watch the full PBS NewsHour report.  It’s an inspiring and sobering look at how yoga can make a real difference for current and future generations even in its simplest of forms.  

This article originally appeared here

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A'sanas [Yoga Postures] and Mudras

 'A'sana' means 'a position in which one feels comfortable' -- 'Stirasukhama'sanam.'   A'sanas are a kind of exercise by regular practice of which the body stays healthy and hardy and many diseases are cured.  But a'sanas are not prescribed for the general cure of diseases; only those diseases which create trouble in the path of meditation may be cured by the help of specific a'sanas, so that sa'dhana' [intuitional practice] may more easily be done.

          The relation between the physical body and the mind is very close.  Mental expression is brought about through the vrttis, and the predominance of the vrttis depends on different glands of the body.  There are many glands in the body and from each there is a secretion of a particular hormone.  If there is any defect in the secretion of hormones or any defect in a gland, certain vrttis become excited.  For this reason, we find that in spite of having a sincere desire to follow the moral code, many persons cannot do so; they understand that they should do meditation, but they cannot concentrate their minds because their minds become extroverted due to the external excitement of this or that propensity.  If a person wants to control the excitement of these propensities, he or she must rectify the defects of the glands.  A'sanas help the sa'dhaka to a large extent in this task, so a'sanas are an important part of sa'dhana'.

          A list of a'sanas is given below.  The same a'sanas are not necessary for everyone.  There are more than 50,000 a'sanas; among them a few are named here which are most necessary for the path of meditation.  A trained intuitive will teach particular a'sanas to a person according to his or her need.