The Om generation

Mindfulness and yoga are regular practices in Toronto schools, teaching kids to stay calm and handle performance anxiety

Kyle Punch starts his teaching day with mindful movements. He gathers his Grade 7 and 8 students at Toronto’s Equinox Holistic Alternative School outside in a circle daily to execute some Tai Chi movements or extended yoga poses. The students then file into class for their “check-in” circle, where they briefly discuss events or news in their lives. After another minute of meditation involving deep breathing, they face their day.

“Even students who I might not think were taking in mindful things tell me about doing their breathing to calm down when something happens — maybe an exam or placement meetings for high school,” Punch says.

While Punch’s school is a holistic one, mindfulness meeting education isn’t restricted to alternative schools. In fact, the Toronto District School Board has included mindfulness as part of its overall TDSB Mental Health Strategy, and schools are reflecting it more and more by offering in-class mindful activities such as deep-breathing exercises and yoga.

Yoga instructor Lauren Brown has been teaching an after-school yoga program for almost a year at her daughter Veronica’s school, Selwyn Elementary, in East York. The hour-long weekly program, much more casual than a traditional adult yoga class, is divided into segments. The first half is dedicated to physical exercises, such as mastering poses including the Tree or Pigeon; after that, Brown does Pranayama or meditation work with the students.

And Brown has been hearing feedback from how her students are using the mindfulness practices.

“Performance anxiety is a huge challenge for kids, (for) anything from reading your poem to the class to doing the talent show,” Brown says. “Simple belly breathing can settle and ground them before taking that on. Or it can also help children regulate their emotional responses. So if they’ve had a disagreement, they can find a quiet spot for some breathing. It’s a great way to decelerate.”

Or, for kids such as 9-year-old Helena Kirk of Selwyn Elementary, it can help them hit the hay. “Helena says it helps her sleep at night,” says her mom, Sarah Calderwood. “It’s the relaxing part she likes the most. She says she finds the class so relaxing she wishes she could do it all night.”

MELISSA RENWICK PHOTOS/TORONTO STAR Yoga and mindfulness teacher Lauren Brown poses with her students in the schoolyard at Selwyn Elementary School.

Molly Grant, 10, in pigeon pose: “I like the pigeon because it gives you a really good stretch . . . I do yoga with a lot of my friends and if you’re ever stressed, and you know some poses, even if you’re not in a class, you can just do them and...

Veronica Brown, 10, in dancer pose: “I am a dancer and I like to stretch my muscles before I go on stage or go to dance practice. I like yoga because it helps strengthen my muscles and it’s also great for flexibility.”

Emily Mirarasigan, 9, in downward dog pose: “It’s really simple. I’m not that flexible but I can do it. Yoga is really calming — I get really angry and impatient so I do any pose and it calms me down.”

Sarah Watson, 9, in wheel pose: “In gymnastics it’s called another pose, it’s called bridge and I like to do gymnastics. I get to stretch more in yoga and in gymnastics it’s moving faster.”

Claire Shayer, 9, and brother Connor, 6, in double downward dog pose: “I’m doing it because my sister is doing it. I like the tree pose. I am balancing,” says Connor.

Olivia McConnell, 8, in dolphin pose: “I like to do the dolphin. It’s fun and I like how it feels on my body.”

Athena Dominique, 10, in reverse plank: “I like yoga because it calms me down and it just helps me concentrate better.”

LiLi Browning, 10, in dragon pose: “I like to do yoga because it’s fun.”

Arwyn Williams-Young, 7, in tree pose: “I like to do tree; I don’t really know why .... Yoga feels good when I do it.”