We’re branching out. More about this in a few days, as we get our new website ready to launch this September. But by now most of you know that nearly all of what we do here is based on the neurological reality that learning only takes place in an emotionally supportive environment. My students have long heard me talk about yoga breathing to reduce anxiety in times of academic stress, but I am not qualified to teach it. It is the tip of an important iceberg of coping skills that I am not qualified to teach.
Enter Emily.
Emily Walsh is our new yoga teacher (as well as friendly neighborhood office manager), and she and I have been collaborating on classes that combine yoga relaxation techniques and proven social-psychological interventions. We ran our first class in August, and it was so. much. fun. For me, it’s also realizing a dream that I have had for years now – the beginning of a comprehensive learning support center where students are met at every level. It’s the beginning of Affect Academics, where student affect (emotion) is the central core of all we do, now in both reading and math. More on this soon…
And before I get ahead of myself, Emily has written a piece on the importance of yoga for our children, so I’ll let her take over.
From Emily:
There is no way I can promote the amazing power of yoga without first describing how I came to benefit myself while at New York University, and how I have come to recognize yoga’s potential to help children and adolescents study, grow, and thrive.
After a while of living and loving New York City, being a small town New England girl, things became a little more stressful in my courses, and I was forced to be a bit more independent (my best friend had transferred away). I became incredibly… afraid. Suddenly, just about everything was giving me a shortness of breath, and I literally felt unhealthy, sluggish in my thoughts. I was blushing like mad and running to use the bathroom as an excuse every time I knew it would soon be my turn to answer a question in French class. My hands would unconsciously clench into fists while speed walking down the street, and things got to the point where I could not take the subway by myself, I was so anxious at the amount of people and the pace of it all. So… after a few mental breakdowns and helpful conversations with my favorite Professors, I changed my major.
I brought back into my studies things that I loved and that I needed to keep simply practicing in order to remain happy. I took incredibly fun dance classes, taught by intensely intelligent professors. I went to creative writing club meetings. All this alongside my more “intellectual” classes (philosophy, psychology, anatomy and physiology, etc.) made for a balanced and happier interdisciplinary approach to my studies and daily life. I was so blessed to have been able to create my own major, to find that I wanted to study the way to lead a good life and how to help others find their own peace, balance, and potential.
Soon, everything was ingrained and meshed together. I got to practice what I was learning in my “Body Awareness Techniques for Performers” class on the subway, using a breathing technique to relax myself and accept my anxiety, facing it head on until I could see and realize how futile and translucent it was. I found confidence and enjoyment out of dancing again, and watching my improvements in the fast but focused teaching styles of college level classes. Most importunity, perhaps, during this high anxiety period, was my finding and keeping of a yoga practice.
Yoga is what has taught me to become curious, instead of afraid, during situations that may seem off-putting to the mind’s judgement. Yoga is also what continues to teach me to release my obsession with listening to that loud voice of judgement and the calls it makes over all that appears before my eyes and within my muscles.
Imagine you are holding Utkatasana, or Chair Pose, as we call it in Western yoga. In Chair Oose, you are pretending you are going to sit on an invisible pre-schooler sized chair behind you. Feet are planted firmly hip-distance apart, and knees bend straight over toes, while weight is being pulled back by the strong feeling of sitting down. Your arms can rise to reach either in front of you, or lifted so that biceps are by your ears (although shoulders should always be relaxed). Continue to “sit” lower; you almost want to feel that you might fall backward if your arms weren’t counterbalancing your weight. If you peek down, you should be able to see the tips of your toes over your knees. The trick here is to try and relax the upper body, as the lower body begins to fire up, creating heat and energy.
Relaxing in difficult poses is eased by finding a calm, steady breath, and by practicing becoming curious, instead of judgmental, in your thoughts. Curious of the sensations arising in certain parts of your being. Curious by the thoughts that flood in once things get maybe a little harder than before. Curious, and observant, like you are taking notes on your particular way of doing things, noticing your way of standing, of holding, of breathing, of thinking about your body and your ability. Once we become simply curious and observant, rather than actively being pushed around by our sensations and habitual reactions, we can begin to recognize where we are in our practice, what we can begin to let go of that no longer serves us or is helping us grow. The body is much more capable than the mind will admit; yoga is as much of an exercise of the mind as it is for the body. And you can learn such a lesson from Chair Pose.
A regular yoga practice offers many benefits for growing children and adolescents. In our youth, we develop postures and mindsets, both often unhealthy, that become habitual over time. Yoga aligns the body to use breath and energy most effectively, helping us learn to be our strong and calm selves during difficult situations, preventing bad habits from forming. And beyond physical well-being, a yoga practice can also aid young people better cope with anxiety, depression, attention disorders, and physical well-being. A child in Chair Pose can learn to be mindful and focus, breathing through the discomfort. Those skills can be cross-applied to test-taking or giving a presentation in school, breathing through the discomfort, finding peace in the face of anxiety.
My style of teaching is appropriate for yoga curious beginners and those flexible seasoned yogis as well. My classes are fun and imaginative, a balance of effort, surrender, thought, and relatable physical feeling. I aim to always lead my students into a relaxed, confident practice which will follow them off the mat, reworking unconscious habits into healthier and happier days.
~Emily
At Affect Academics, Emily will be offering small classes for students of all ages, where they can get individualized attention for their specific needs, and the skills learned will be related explicitly back to real life situations that students face every day. Drop us a note if you’d like to learn more!
Emily (left) at a recent relaxation class given at Affect Academics. On the right, two of her wonderful students are learning to be comfortable taking up physical space in space in the world.
