LYNN — As part of their education, students in Lynn Public Schools are being taught to remain calm and deal with stress through the district’s yoga and wellness initiative.
“This program is part of our work to facilitate the social and emotional wellbeing of our students,” said Superintendent Dr. Catherine Latham in an email. “I have received much positive feedback from teachers and students.”
Michael Geary, assistant director of curriculum and instruction-health, said the Lynn Public Schools Yoga and Wellness Initiative is in its third year. He said physical education teachers have received professional development to incorporate yoga within classes — those teachers are subsequently able to teach students how to improve flexibility and muscle tone through yoga poses and exercises.
“Yoga by definition is the union of body and mind, and another purpose of the Yoga and Wellness Initiative is to teach students how to remain calm in stressful situations,” Geary said in a statement.
Geary said the initiative has expanded to include regular education teachers at Thurgood Marshall Middle School and Lynn Classical High School. Next year, the initiative will be expanding to other elementary regular education teachers and students.
“The decision was based on research that shows mindfulness increases energy and improves mood while relieving stress and tension,” Geary said. “Teachers at these schools (Thurgood and Lynn Classical) have discovered different methods to include mindfulness into their everyday instruction.
“These methods include controlled breathing and meditation techniques, which are designed to increase oxygen in the brain, calming the nervous system and releasing stress. Intentional breathing energizes the brain to allow students to learn for extended periods of time.”
Providing teachers with that professional development has been Sharon Marrama, a certified yoga instructor and owner of Here Comes the Sun Yoga — Marrama also works with other school districts, including Lynnfield. She has been practicing yoga for six years and teaching for about five.
Colleen Peterson, a PE/health teacher at Lynn Classical, said she started yoga in her curriculum last year after receiving extensive professional development from Marrama.
These days, Peterson said students are dealing with so much between school and their personal lives, and therefore, have a lot of stress and anxiety.
“It’s like a release,” Peterson said.
But it’s not just PE/health teachers incorporating yoga and wellness into their classrooms, Peterson said. She’s seen a lot of other teachers doing a lot of the little things with their classes, including aspects of mindfulness and meditation.
Marrama said the school administration has been completely behind the initiative, which makes it so successful in Lynn. She educates teachers about yoga and wellness, and those teachers can then bring those techniques into their classrooms.
She said teachers don’t have to incorporate an entire yoga or meditation class — she teaches them about little pieces, such as yoga moves at desks, movement and brain breaks to use if things become unsettled in class.
Horman Carcamo, 15, a freshman at Lynn Classical, said yoga has helped him to keep calm during stress. He said it feels good to do the exercise and poses.
Victor Garcia, 15, a sophomore at Lynn Classical, said yoga in school has helped him calm down and focus. He said he runs track, and it also allows him muscle relief.
Through the curriculum, Marrama said students learn how to breathe and calm themselves — by inhaling, she said the part of the brain that becomes energized is activated and by exhaling, the part of the brain that becomes relaxed is activated. So, she said by exhaling a little bit longer, a relaxed state of mind can be created.
Marrama said she also works on teaching two things — “let it come, let it go, let it flow, which teaches students to let things come to them, accept it and let it go, and also that they are in charge of what happens to them.
“The other thing that I think kids get out of this is yoga is a philosophy as well,” Marrama said. “I also teach in my yoga classes a component of whether it’s peace, love, kindness, honesty, understanding, compassion, gratitude. I’m teaching them to live yoga on and off the mat and that’s what I think this is doing.”
Joshua Hernandez, 14, a freshman at Lynn Classical, also talked about how yoga relieves his stress and allows him to feel more calm.
Freshman Bruce Leng, 14, said he was dealing with personal problems before he started yoga.
“After that, I felt a lot of weight lifted off my shoulders,” Leng said.
Marrama said yoga can be settling for kids, a way for them to become more centered and focused, and to deal with anger and emotions.
“I’m not going to say take a yoga class and you’re going to become a great student,” Marrama said. “I think (it) brings a mindset. I think when you practice yoga on a regular basis, it brings a different mindset. You learn how to control your feelings and your emotions. You learn to center yourself. You learn that you’re important.”