“Are you guys ready to go surfing?” Amy MacConnell asked a group of 18 energetic boys in one of Pennekamp Elementary School’s Developmental Kindergarten classes.
“Yeah!” the class of soon-to-be-yogis chirped, all of them spread out on a colorful mat.
MacConnell blasted the Surfari’s “Wipe Out” as the boys got into surf position – in yoga, more commonly known as warrior pose – and grooved to the music. The Bikram-trained instructor, with her arms spread out and face scrunched as she balanced on her imaginary surfboard, fell to the floor. Laughter erupted from the crowd.
Last month, the School Board approved bringing kids yoga to Pennekamp’s two developmental kindergarten classes as part of the artists-in-residence program funded by the school’s Parent Teacher Association.
Schools across the nation are embracing yoga in the classroom, as studies have shown yoga improves students’ attitudes toward themselves, behavior in the classroom and academic performance. A 2003 California State University, Los Angeles study showed that students who “had high participation rates in yoga class had fewer referrals or discipline problems.” More than 400 students participated in the study.
MacConnell, a seven-year yoga instructor, started Club Kids Yoga in 2007 so her then-six-year-old daughter could take her classes. She’s taught at nearly 20 schools in Southern California since. She’s also currently creating a yoga board game called Turasa with her friend Nicole Rigel Thompson, and writing a yoga storybook for kids.
“Working with kids at an early age, you’re giving them a foundation they can use later on in life,” MacConnell said. “You can bring yoga to children…and they are going to be more balanced people.”
MacConnell brings humor and music into the classroom. “I make it fun and I’m silly, I’m not afraid to make mistakes,” she said. “Kids like when you mess up.”
Later, she’d take another class on a trip to the zoo and on a magic carpet ride. During these adventures, the kindergarteners bend into downward dog, child’s pose and plank position.
[scrollGallery id=340]The developmental kindergarteners are the school’s youngest students, and often the busiest, said Principal Debbie Mabry. “We thought, ‘How can we direct all that energy in a positive way?’” she said. “They’re young and they’re busy and they’re learning about their bodies and getting huge gains in physical development. It’s kind of a fun time to capture that.”
According to the 2003 study, there was a 20 percent increase in students feeling good about themselves after taking yoga. The data was based on survey questions taken at the beginning and end of the academic year.
At the end of MacConnell’s class, the kids lay down silently on the mat and focused on their breathing while MacConnell placed sparkly whale stickers on each kids’ hand. “Through regular yoga practice, they learn to love themselves and they learn that they’re okay just the way they are,” MacConnell said.
MacConnell is holding a teacher training session for those who want to learn to teach kids yoga on Saturday, March 24 at 8:30 a.m. in Rancho Palos Verdes. For more information, call her at 310-377-6530 or 310-663-0148.
