Stories of Yoga Calm in Action
A boy whose mother is dying in hospice joins a Yoga Calm group. When it comes time for Volcano Breath and the kids are asked to think of someone or something they want to be strong for, he tells the group about his mom. There is silence, then a collective "oooh" from the children. They immediately say they all want to do Volcano Breath for his mom. They begin to breathe with great intention and display wonderful empathy through their movements.
A middle school girl who was constantly teased on the playground bursts into the school counselor's office exclaiming, "It worked! That thing we did in yoga the other day! Some kids were teasing me and I breathed into my belly, told myself that I am strong and in a deep voice I told them to stop. And guess what? They stopped!!"
Instead of blowing up, ADHD boys in an elementary school classroom now use Volcano Breath to get under control and calm themselves.
Yoga Calm’s Trust Walk activity helps troubled kids practice being trustworthy, leading and following. Students are more comfortable with the idea of slowing down, focusing or relaxing.
A 5th grade class found that 20 to 30 minutes of Yoga Calm helped reduce test stress. Now the kids regularly do deep breathing and stretching poses on their own to calm and refocus.
An elementary school counselor walks into her office and finds a student standing in Tree pose before a Yoga Calm poster that says I am strong. I am in control. I can do it. I can be responsible. The student says that she was having trouble on recess, so she came in here to get herself under control. She practices the pose for several minutes then heads back out to recess exclaiming, "I use those words all the time!"
After a relaxation in which students listened to the Strong Voice inside each of them, a 4th grade girl who struggles with anxiety states, "My strong voice told me that even if my mother never gets a good job, some day I will be old enough to get a good job and create a good life for myself."
A developmentally-delayed Hmong student has learned new language skills and the ability to coordinate new movements with Yoga Calm. Another student with developmental/cognitive delays is now able to stay in his classroom for group instruction.
A parent uses a Yoga Calm breathing sphere to help her child during a “meltdown” while riding in the family car. The boy independently uses the sphere and takes three slow breaths before calmly passing back the ball and saying simply, "I’m done." They go quietly on their way.
A 4th grade student tells the group how for the first time he has felt like a leader. He states that the yoga has helped him find peace inside despite the chaos in his life.
A 6th grader asks to lead a sequence of poses, but before beginning, he turns to a new
classmate whose mother has recently died in a tragic accident. The leader looks the new
student right in the eye and says, "I'm doing this for your mother." The whole group growssilent in a moment of honoring. Their yoga is beautiful.