As the shuffling clatter of leaves upon the ground heralds the waning of Ohio’s warmer months, one may begin to consider autumn’s many identifying characteristics: bountiful harvests, upcoming holidays, an abundance of pumpkin spice or peppermint in just about everything, and the return of school. The school season itself can represent many things, ranging from persistently irksome advertisements to giddy parents all but camping at the bus stop, eagerly waiting to give their children that long-awaited sendoff. To students, however, school may be perceived as a dreaded source of incurable stress and inactivity, and teachers and health professionals have begun to take action against the negative effects that school may cause.

Combating a worrying trend

In August 2013, The American Psychological Association conducted a survey of almost three thousand teenagers and young adults. They found that one in four of those surveyed experienced “extreme” stress during the previous school year, and that one in five teens exercised less than once a week, or not at all. Several teachers at Revere High School are integrating a new, optional yoga program into their classes in an effort to decrease stress levels amongst their students, and to boost activity and productivity within their classrooms.

The instructors are utilizing training and materials provided by the company Yoga 4 Classrooms (Y4C), whose program currently focuses on students in kindergarten through sixth grade. The company is providing the high school with an exclusive opportunity to receive training and test their pilot upper-grade curriculum free of charge in order to collect feedback and improve upon the program. The program, according to Y4C instructor and consultant Jen Griest Hayes, intends to place various yoga exercises and activities into classroom settings, with the ultimate goal of providing students and school faculty members with “evidence-based yoga education.” While the practice of yoga itself has Eastern origins, religion is not a factor in any of program’s activities.

“By giving teachers the tools and curriculum, they can then incorporate as much or as little as they want or [need] into any setting when working with students…. We want to teach strategies that help youth develop resilience, positive perceptions, good health habits, and mindful awareness,” Griest Hayes said.

RHS English instructor Mic Hayes has been teaching at the school for over 16 years and was one of the first Revere instructors to implement the program during the previous school year. He and his wife, Griest Hayes, co-own Afterlight Fitness and Educational Consulting, and each possesses backgrounds in fitness, wellness and education. Hayes explained that he first implemented yoga into his classes after noticing an increase in stress amongst Advanced Placement students who were preparing for testing, only to identify the program’s greater potential.\

“I started to use it almost as a release [for the students], and initially I thought it was just sort of fun and unique. … Little did I recognize that it was going to turn into something that would be a lot more foundational in terms of what I would be doing,” Hayes said.

On February 1, 2015, several faculty members from the Revere Local School District attended the Y4C’s requisite six-hour workshop, which was lead by Griest Hayes, to learn about the program’s curriculum, exercises and implementation methods for use in the classroom. During the workshop, Griest Hayes explained, participants discussed yoga, its utility in the classroom, and “why students and teachers need yoga, movement, and mindfulness.” Participating staff members included music teacher Katie Rizzo, guidance counselor Jenny Kirchner, Psychology teacher Ellen Friery, choir director Alice Forney, band director Darren LeBeau, and now-retired band director Dr. Deborah Devore. Though the Y4C program is new to Revere, Devore, Forney, Friery and LeBeau had all utilized various yoga techniques with past classes. Friery, who has since integrated the Y4C program into her Psychology classes, spoke of her interest in the program and what she believes to be a beneficial activity for both her students and herself.

“[The workshop] was wonderful. I have done yoga since college. I know it is good for relaxation, and I did many yoga [exercises] and breathing exercises in my Psychology classes for years. To think that there was a program put together to actually use with high school students was exciting for me,” Friery said.

Individual techniques gain ground

Each teacher will adapt aspects of the program to suit their own needs. LeBeau described his use of yoga to improve the focus and balance of his Marching and Concert Band students, while Kirchner explained that she uses some of the Y4C techniques to assist anxious or upset students, both individually and in select groups. Forney also plans to integrate the program into her choir classes, believing that yoga “benefits singers immensely.”

“The breathing strategies practiced in yoga are the ideal strategies to use for singing, so it is a no-brainer to incorporate them regularly into choir rehearsals. Not only are they helpful to singers, but yoga is a great tool for stress-relief and concentration, which is beneficial to all students,” Forney said.

In addition, both Forney and LeBeau hope to eventually use Y4C’s methods with several RMS music classes.

About Yoga 4 Classrooms

Featuring a 67-card activity deck, the Y4C program provides teachers with six action genres for use in classroom environments: Let’s Breathe, At Your Desk, Stand Strong, Loosen Up, Be Well, and Imagination Vacations. Each genre is designed to assist participants in achieving various wellness goals, which include improved focus, balance, stress levels, health habits, and mind-body connections.

“Yoga 4 Classrooms provides students with a variety of ways to apply breathing techniques, mindfulness, and body awareness to help better understand their mind-body connection and self-regulate using these tools in any given situation – whether in the classroom, on the field, preparing for a performance, at work, or at home,” Griest Hayes said.

Once they have received the necessary instruction and materials, teachers can modify the program to accommodate the various needs and restrictions of each individual class. According to Griest Hayes, some activities can be completed in as little as 30 seconds. The activities are not mandatory, and do not require traditional equipment or mats, which, Hayes explained, accommodates the lack of space and cleanliness sometimes present in the classroom.

“We [do not have] to wash down mats every time we go to use something or roll them out on the floors [in class]. There is no need to get down onto the floor; we can do [the exercises] all standing or sitting,” Hayes said.

Student response

This school year, Hayes is introducing the exercises into all of his A.P. and Comprehensive 12 English classes, though Griest Hayes hopes to provide more in-depth training to Hayes’ A.P. students. Senior Dana McKinney took Comprehensive English 12 with Hayes, and participated in the yoga exercises with her class. She spoke of her enthusiasm toward the activities and the benefits they have provided her with, which include a decrease in pre-assessment anxiety.

“[Yoga] really does help [students] stretch, because [we] get so cramped up sitting for 72 minutes throughout the day and then getting up for seven minutes, or even less than that. It helps us stretch our muscles. … Today we did [yoga] right before our test, and I was a little stressed out. It kind of calmed my nerves before the test. It was something [that was] fun to do. It just adds excitement to the class,” McKinney said.

Yoga 4 Classrooms hosted a workshop that was open to teachers throughout Northeast Ohio on October 16 at Nirvana Yoga in Richfield. Additionally, the company is working to schedule a workshop for staff members across the Revere Local School District. As the school season continues to progress whether they like it or not, taking time to breathe and stretch might just provide students and teachers alike with a welcome respite from any chaos this year may bring.