Namaste.
It’s a simple greeting, often said to another while hands come together at the chest or forehead. It’s given in recognition of the goodness and potential of the Self, and of the potential of the person you’re addressing. “Namaste”, a Sanskrit word, is typically used after a yoga or meditation practice, when the mind is quiet and the body has been centered.
While misinterpreted as prayer, it is rather, a greeting of deep understanding and honoring of another. The honoring of their personal space, their journey, their highest dreams and wishes, their ability to know themselves and to learn. Namaste drops us into the context of allowing, rather than forcing; to let go of judgement and give acknowledgement and acceptance to the unknown.
What a great year for accepting the unknown.
With the return of the school year here and so many additional modifications to our lives these days, there’s no better way to continue the organic flow of summer, than to introduce a practice of yoga and /or meditation to your child or into your classroom this school year.
Studies have indicated that teacher-reports of a yoga practice in the classroom, show positive outcomes in “classroom behavior and social–emotional skills, impairment, concentration, mood, ability to function under pressure, hyperactivity, social skills, and attention.”
Other data from school records and tests showed “positive intervention improvements in student grades and academic performance.” (Khalsa and Butzer, Yoga in School Settings, A Research Review, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. ISSN 0077-8923. 2016)
Kindergarten teacher and author Beth Schulman has integrated two short yoga practices into her daily schedule. The first practice acts as a way for students to transition between morning meeting and language arts time, and the second practice comes in the afternoon following outside recess, helping her students transition back into the classroom.
She finds that the students look forward to the movement and she sees it as a way to quiet the minds of her students, preparing them for more effective learning.
Beth expresses that they delight in moving and balancing the body, but especially in repeating the mantra: “All that is good
in me, bows to all that is good in you.” after each session.
Like any new skill, yoga is a practice and therefore takes time to build. But imagine if we all chose to carve out just 15 minutes to breathe slowly, to focus on nothing but the way our body moves, and affirm that we are a good person—-the impact that those small, but powerful changes would have on each one of us.
And teaching our children to find their center in a very noisy world, is a gift every parent and educator can give without much effort.
To see some easy yoga poses, some of which Ms. Schulman uses in her Kindergarten classroom morning meeting, go to our resource page.
A quick web search for 'yoga kids images' will also provide some more ideas for a kid-centered practice.