The benefits of our yoga practice have gone beyond the classroom and into many aspects of the day at JFK. Just last week, while on playground duty, I spotted many "trees" and "rocks" during the tag game! Students were using yoga poses to enhance their game and were teaching others the poses so they too could adjust to the new aspects of the game. What a way to take the game of tag to a new level. My heart was singing!
Also, in a quest to earn the Presidential Physical Fitness Award, two yoga students, Mike and Emily, both increased their time on the mile run from September. Mike ran the mile in 7:09, which is an improvement from his time of 7:58 in the fall. Emily ran the mile in 8:56 in September and achieved a time of 8:20 this spring. Both Emily and Mike say that the yoga class we did before PE class this spring was a great way to get into the right "space," to run their best. Also, when running, each student said that they were "aware of their breathing," and were able to slow their breath to control their pace and fatigue, which resulted in improved times.
16 weeks of yoga, and focusing on yoga strategies across the curriculum has benefitted these students tremendously. Yoga rocks!
