Tuesday, 7 October 2008

AFTER SCHOOL YOGA

It's 3:30 on a Wednesday at the St. Vincent Home for Children, and the students in Tarraugh Flaherty's yoga class are weary and restless from a full day of school and a long bus ride back to the residential treatment center.

For these kids, there will be no TV, no after school snacks, no rest.

It's yoga time.

About a dozen students trickle into a small, run down gymnasium with teal colored walls. It now serves as a yoga studio with the addition of mats, blankets, a boom box and a 'Yoga Room' sign scribbled above the door.

Flaherty, a veteran instructor who has taught at St. Vincent for nearly a year, is more accustomed to state of the art studios and students who are doctors, lawyers and corporate executives, students who arrive in class on time.

But at St. Vincent, the teens slowly trickle in after the 3:30 start time. Some complain, some ask questions, some chat about their day at school. Flaherty patiently instructs them to grab a mat, quiet their voices and sit down.

Nationwide, educators and social workers like Deb Russell, St. Vincent's residential treatment coordinator, have been experimenting with yoga classes for at risk youths. They cite the relaxation and concentration skills required of the mind-body practice as especially beneficial for kids like those at St. Vincent, kids who often have difficulty focusing, struggle with low self confidence and sometimes come from homes that include violence.

'Come on in,' she tells the stragglers as she cranes her body forward to demonstrate the downward facing dog pose.

Most of the preteens and teens at St. Vincent come from poor families. Some come from abusive homes and some have incarcerated or deceased parents and are awaiting foster home placements, says Russell. Some have psychiatric diagnoses; others have behavioral problems that parents simply can't handle on their own.

The idea of teaching yoga to at risk youths is catching on in the St. Louis area. In 2005, Meg Krejci started Masterpiece Studios in Kirkwood to provide lessons in yoga, mindfulness and art for children, with several programs geared toward at-risk youths. The St. Louis Ki Aikido Society runs a program that provides regular classes for troubled youths in both Japanese yoga and martial arts, funded with a federal grant and membership fees.

Yoga, an ancient practice that once held an image as a hippie health craze, has been mainstreamed and is increasingly popular.

Yoga teaches the youths concentration and relaxation and serves as a physical activity. And for teens whose lives have known circumstances beyond their years, yoga also can provide a glimpse into a better world.

'These kids have had plenty of experiences that narrow their focus,' Russell says. 'We want to broaden it. Yoga takes them into a more relaxing physical setting and often into neighborhoods that allow them to see possibilities outside their own communities.'

Krejci built her Kirkwood studio so she could bring kids and teens into a more peaceful environment.

But can yoga's teachings really quiet the minds of children who live in loud worlds once they leave the studio?

'The mentors tell me these kids are sitting still more, they talk about practicing volcano breath (a yoga breathing technique) before tests,' Krejci says.

Back at St. Vincent, yoga time is winding down. Many of Flaherty's students have been attending her class for weeks, and they know the poses, and the lingo.

'Can we do the pigeon pose?' a student asks.

'Oo, the crow pose, that's hard,' another says.

All of the students seem eager to get to the yoga ritual at the end of the class.

'Is it time for savasana yet?' they ask Flaherty.

There are no more questions, no more complaints: Savasana is sanskrit for total relaxation.

By Amanda Palleschi

THE LATEST AFTER SCHOOL YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA

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