Students practice mindfulness through after-school yoga

Allentown’s McKinley Elementary School offers its students a wide range of after-school programs, including yoga. Yoga is an excellent way to increase physical activity and flexibility, as well as a great exercise to calm the mind.
 
At McKinley, instructor Corey Shiner of Pratyush Sinha Foundation teaches basic poses to the 10-15 students who attend her after-school class twice a week. The class shows students how to use small yoga techniques to calm them or help focus in the classroom. The after-school yoga class also helps the students to stretch out and improve their posture after sitting in their desks all day.
 
“I see a difference in behavior with the kids who come to yoga,” says Shiner. “They learn how to be patient and calm, not just with yoga but with everything they do.”
 
On the last day of yoga for the students, Shiner also sat the kids in a circle to talk about the things that they learned during their time together, and how to continue their yoga practice at home during summer vacation. The students were thrilled to talk about their summer vacation plans, and eager to come back next year to continue their yoga practice with Corey.
 
Before ending the final lesson, the group silenced for one last yoga pose of the year, and quietly repeated the words “The light in me honors the light in you, Namaste.”
 
The Pratyush Sinha Foundation offers free yoga to McKinley students as well as other schools throughout the Lehigh Valley thanks to fundraisers and donations from the community. Their mission is to assist the local community in achieving health and harmony through yoga and mindfulness programs.
 
After-school yoga is just one example of the many programs that community schools provide for their students. To learn more about community schools and how they help students reach their full potential, visit http://www.unitedwayglv.org/see-the-impact/education/community-schools.