Strengthening Minds and Bodies, Wellness Yoga Program

Vital Stats

Allison K

North Charleston, SC

people helped75
People Doing It25

The Problem

I do something because I can! Every time I service others, I do it to enhance their lives and improve my own. Growth happens in all directions when you offer help for someone else. I had the fortune of growing up feeling supported by family and friends. Their loyalty and continuous guidance helped make me the strong, confident person I am today. Now it is my turn to give to people who can benefit from feeling loved, without it being judgmental or conditional. I am in my last semester of school with the Honors College at College of Charleston. I make sure the I dedicate time each week to help bring an activity I love to children who live in poverty to help them feel more confident, find focus, connect to their inner peace, and perhaps more importantly relieve stress, make better decisions, and be the most successful people they can be. We bring a physical movement program in the form of breathing techniques and yoga postures to middle school girls who crave knowledge about their bodies and peace of mind. Our program gives them both. It is amazing to see how the students come out of their shells when they have encouragement and support to try something new. I am honored to be a part of this program and look forward to watching it grow! The issue at hand is that there are many children in Charleston County schools who are not making healthy decisions nor doing well in school because they do not have consistent guidance on important matters such as staying physically active, goal-setting, and eating well. Consequently, these children have a very difficult time focusing at school and are barely, if at all, make passing grades. We need to nurture these children and teach them that they can change their own lives if they believe in themselves, make goals and stick to them. Secondly, we need to give these children the tools to use to do so. If we can get these students to fell confident and understand that their choices can positively affect them, it will keep give them what they need to reach for their dreams.

Plan of Action

I am leading a weekly wellness class during the students physical education period that includes breathing techniques to reduce stress, yoga poses to strengthen and expand the mind body, and character building tools that help the students think about what they do before they act and make better decisions over all. I have joined forces with Yoga Benefits Kids, a new non-profit organization in my area. They develop specialty preventative wellness and character development programs for students who primarily live in high poverty areas. The organization is currently working to file 501c3 paperwork. Their website, www.yogabenefitskids.org, will be launched in April. Since starting this particular program, YBK has decided to make this an ongoing project each year. I collaborate weekly with the Yoga Benefits Kids Executive Director, Caryn Antos. She and I have a very good relationship, and we have been able to accomplish a lot together. If you like to contact her, she can be reached at the following email address: caryn@yogabenefitskids.org. She loves to talk about YBK programs! I also collaborate regularly with the school's Communities In Schools School Specialist, Lizzie Davis and the girls' physical education teacher, Celecia Humphrey. Since November 2010 I have observed, co-taught, and am currently the lead teacher for a weekly kids wellness program. Each Friday I meet with sixteen to eighteen sixth grade girls and lead them through breathing techniques, yoga poses, and strategies to relieve stress. It is amazing to see how the girls have already gained so much confidence, knowledge about their bodies, and accountability for their decisions. The girls in the class know poses without using help from me or anyone else. I also notice a significant decrease in their anxiety levels and an increase in positive comments from the class about how they feel about themselves after each class. The students at this school were hand-selected by the county to get special attention because they are finding consistent difficulty with meeting grade standards. For example, most read two or three grade levels below the their grade level. Needless to say, their confidence is compromised. Additionally, these students are exposed to a lot of stressful situations. This class helps to make challenges more manageable. Later this month, there is a Bring a Friend Day where the girls can bring someone only if they earn enough points on our system scale for good behavior and participation. After that, if they continue to earn enough points, the girls will travel from their middle school to a nearby elementary school to present and teach a group of younger students exactly what they have learned. These experiences will give the girls confidence and encourage them to take a chance and go outside of their comfort zone. All the while, the girls will be learning and using physical activity that they can do anywhere they choose. They will know these tools for life! Once they teach the skills to others, they will remember them even better and be able to use them to stay healthy in the mind and body.