The first cultural lesson in a Montessori classroom is about living and non-living. Young children in this environment learn to identify food, water, and air as some of the basic needs of living things. We can live without food for a couple of weeks, without water for a few days, but without air for a few minutes only. But most of us live very unaware of our breath. Yet the breath is one of our most powerful tools for physical and emotional well-being.

Science has proven that the shorter our breaths are, the more restless, nervous, or anxious we become. The longer and deeper our breaths are the calmer and more balanced we are emotionally. However, people using their breath consciously are mostly women in labor or highly trained athletes preparing for or at a competition. Most everybody else is purely on automatic with their breathing. This works well as long as we do physically challenging work. Yet, when we sit at a desk, our breath is usually flat. When stressful situations occur, we do not physically engage in a fight or run away, but the instead, the energy which is ready to be released gets suppressed and leads to all kinds of stress symptoms such as sweaty hands, headaches, muscles tightness, fatigue or even all sorts of pain. Many of us waste precious energy feeling stressed, just because we don’t know any better. We need training to become more aware and take the time to inhale and exhale deeply and fully.

Yoga therapist Mukunda Stiles quotes Yoda from the Star Wars movies to explain the importance of the breath as it is transformed into life energy.  In yogic terms this energy is called prana and can be linked to the transformed energy, called the Force, in Star Wars. Wouldn’t we all like to have access to the Force? In yoga, breathing well is one of the keys to unlock transformation. Breathing techniques can be calming or stimulating, cooling or warming. Depending on our needs we can choose the one which helps us best.

After experiencing how difficult it is to take a full breath while sitting in a slumped position, children easily understand the importance of sitting with the spine nicely elongated. If  they sit in a hunched over position all the time, sitting tall may not feel comfortable at first, because the muscles which are stretched in this position may never have been extended. But for a healthy spine and healthy body, good posture is essential and usually quickly learned.

Children learn that whenever they take long deep breaths they become calmer, more focused and alert, and can thus increase their performance. Children want to do well and will use helpful techniques, once they have experienced their benefits. Whether it is to get over test anxiety or the fear of an asthma attack, just to name a few examples, I have seen children use breathing techniques on their own to get control over their feelings and mind set. Instead of feeling afraid, they feel empowered!

Breathing is no-cost preventative medicine. What’s more, it is at everybody’s disposal all the time. All that’s needed is awareness.

As a Montessori teacher, language therapist and yoga teacher I have always been looking for new ways to help children focus better, be ready to learn and also keep my own stress level down. When I found Yoga Ed.’s Tools for Teachers program I truly thought that this was the golden bullet to make my life as well as my students’ life easier. For four years, until I became a full time yoga teacher, I used these tools in a classroom setting, mostly during arrival time and before each SAT test section. I also had a work/center with yoga materials in the classroom. The children could use these materials when they realized that they needed some stretches to help them concentrate and do their work better and with more ease.

The amazing fact was that, once children had experienced the benefits, they would choose these tools on their own – wonderful even for 1^st and 2^nd graders in a Montessori environment. This was particularly important as I worked mostly with children diagnosed with or at risk for dyslexia and/or ADHD. I could clearly see a difference in the performance of ADHD children who had participated in the morning yoga and those who had not. Children with mild to moderate ADHD would function at a normal level. Children with severe ADHD showed some improvement, but needed additional help to function well in a classroom setting.

Yoga has also proved to be extremely beneficial for children with anxiety issues. As long as children are afraid, they are in a fight or flight mode. Their ability to learn is strongly impaired. By giving children non-invasive tools to release their anxiety, they become ready to learn without experiencing negative side effects. Breathing techniques helped those children feel in control again and do well. The students would use a specific technique on their own whenever they needed, once they had been taught which breath worked best for a certain situation.

The great plus of the Yoga Tools for Teachers program is that it can be learned and taught without the need for extra space or equipment. It is easy to learn and for all body types. What is most exciting to me is that by using this program teachers can improve their own and their students’ health and wellness at the same time. In addition to feeling better, efficiency and performance are improved too!

Have fun with yoga while learning to experience peacefulness and relaxation! Kids yoga camps are a proven wellness program helps children focus, release anxiety and stress and improves coordination, balance, flexibility and strength. Classic yoga poses, games, discussions and creative expression complement each other to make this class a powerful tool for transformation. Please bring a yoga mat or towel.

Tuesday, July 20 to Friday, July 23, Bicentennial Park

Ages 4 – 6: 2:45 – 3:45 pm

Ages 7 – 11: 1:30 – 2:30 pm

Standard charge: $ 51.84/ camp

Sign up at www.southlakeparksandrec.com or call 817-748-8019.

1. Attitude of ‘ahimsa’ or non-harming

This does not just mean ‘do no harm to others’, it also means enjoy yoga pain-free. In yoga, pain is seen as an alarm signal with which the body tries to communicate that something is wrong. Pain has often been compared to the lit-up oil lamp in a car. To fix the car, I would not cut the wire to the oil lamp. Instead, I’d drive the car to the next garage. In yoga, this usually means: ‘back off’ or ‘don’t try so hard’- just the opposite of the ‘no pain, no gain’ attitude – a very difficult concept in our Western culture. First, I had to learn to be more respectful to my body. Particularly when I started practicing yoga, it was  difficult to distinguish between discomfort and pain or pinching. I had to learn to relax and not worry. For the first time in my life I learned that it was okay to work hard and still be gentle with myself.

2. Awareness

Only when I am aware of what is going on in my body, mind or spirit, I have a choice about what to do with it. Otherwise I am running a program or a movie over and over again – or possibly, even worse, I am numbing myself against the reality of my life. Awareness means waking up from the dream state of ‘should be’ or ‘if only’ and facing the reality I may have avoided for so long. It means becoming fully present to the moment, one moment at a time – without fear or judgment.

3. Alignment

So many of our diseases are created by poor posture and misalignment of the spine. The way we sit in front of a monitor or drive a car, so very often in a hunched-over position or protruding the neck is not helping either. Pulling our shoulder up in stressful situations, lifting heavy objects by using the muscles of the small of the back rather than by bending our knees increase the stress on our spine and decrease its efficiency.

Just by aligning my spine I can contribute tremendously to my health and wellness! The immune system and overall communication of the nervous system with the extremities and organs improve. Results are less or no pain, more energy,  more balance in my life, and a new sense of vitality. Elongating my spine when I sit or stand and rolling my shoulders back and down help me ground myself and refresh any time I choose to correct my posture. It is as simple as this!

Just by sitting up tall, I am better able to breathe deeply and avoid many stress reactions. By standing tall, engaging my quads, glutes and abs, I distribute the weight equally on both feet, and can experience a sense of strength and power.  I become the full expression of Mountain, resting peacefully in myself, deeply connected to the earth, confident and ready to take on any challenge I may face. This may sound too simple – but it works. Attitude, awareness, and alignment are the bedrock of yoga. You’ll see when you give it a try.

All this was not achieved in one day, but, through constant awareness and practice, I got there a little at a time. Celebrating these baby steps in my new-found connection to my body was very important when I started the process!

Without awareness there is little progress. This is why awareness is so important to a successful yoga practice and a successful life . Even if my body may not be ready yet to align perfectly, this is okay. All I need to do is to imagine doing it perfectly and I will get there.

Yoga is so much more than an exercise program. It unites body, mind, and spirit if  I am willing to let go of my resistance. However, I have to bring my body, mind, and spirit to my mat on a regular basis and let them work together harmoniously as well-tuned instruments in the concert of my life.

Namaste