It’s a familiar idiom on social media: I feel some feels. I’ve got all the feels. This hits me right in the feels. Shorthand for the word “feelings,” Know Your Meme describes “feels” as a word used to describe an intense emotional response, such as sadness, excitement or awe. The term is also commonly associated with the phrase ‘right in the feels,’ which indicates that something has deeply affected the speaker. Context is often enough to at least give you a rough sense of the type of “feel” that’s been felt. Other times, though, the emotion remains vague – as if the speaker may not be abl ..read more

We all know school is about so much more than just academic learning. Yes, the knowledge gained in reading, math, history, science, writing and the like is important. The academic foundation gives them the necessary tools to keep learning and growing their brain power. But school also helps children develop socially and emotionally. Interacting with classmates, teachers, and staff lets them practice important people skills like communicating well, working together, solving conflicts, and understanding others’ perspectives. Every day brings new opportunities to learn how to be responsible, disc ..read more

While the youth mental health crisis doesn’t discriminate, some populations have taken a harder hit than others. According to a four-year study out of DePaul University that explored pre- and post-pandemic mental health among elementary and middle school kids (age 11 – 14), “Latino students are up to twice as likely to be at risk for depression and anxiety. This was even more pronounced among Latina girls and…nonbinary students.” That’s the bad news. The good news is that research has also shown that “Latino children have less stress and more classroom success in programs that mix regular phys ..read more

Watch a baby at rest, and you’ll see a good example of healthy breathing. The pattern is relaxed, slow, and wavelike. Every bone, muscle, and organ moves with each breath. Unhealthy breathing, by contrast, is rigid or inappropriate to the situation and often exhibits excess muscle tension. The breaths are often high in the chest, overly fast, and shallow. Often, there’s no pause between breaths, or there may be breath holding or gulping. Such habits reinforce feelings of tension, agitation, and anxiousness. By contrast, a healthy breathing pattern elicits a relaxation response, shifting the ne ..read more

If you’ve witnessed stressed little ones find calm or hyperactive preschoolers grow focused thanks to a simple yoga flow or even a couple minutes of following a breathing sphere, you understand the power of mindful movement. You’ve seen it first hand. What you’ve witnessed is backed by science. In fact, since we first began developing Yoga Calm nearly 25 years ago, a wealth of research has confirmed and built on what we observe every day: yoga and mindfulness help improve self-regulation, mental wellbeing, and learning readiness, leading to better academic outcomes, even for the littlest learn ..read more

Silence isn’t singular. There are lots of different kinds. There’s the positive silence you experience in mindful meditation, for instance, or defiant silence, where the withholding of information becomes a form of power. And then there’s the silence that comes from fear or shame or a tangle of both. This is the kind that kids often find themselves shunted into during and after trauma. “People don’t get it,” said one teenager in the current trauma group for girls I lead. “They compare. They say things like, ‘Oh, I’ve been through worse.’” Another agreed. She described reaching out to a respect ..read more

Digital media can present all kinds of challenges for kids. Sometimes, it’s about content – extreme depictions of violence, for instance, or self-harming behaviors. Sometimes, it’s about the theft of time from activities that are critical to children’s healthy development, such as physical movement, free play outdoors, or just interacting with others in real life, non-virtually, face-to-face. Excess screen time may even interfere with a child’s development directly, if the results of new research in JAMA Pediatrics holds up. The Impact of Screen Time on Kids’ Sensory Processing For the study ..read more

Sometimes even a slight change in perspective can be absolutely transformative, as Jim Gillen describes in this post we originally published back in 2017… My first yoga class of the year is always a big one – as many as 50 people squeezing into a small space, each wanting to start off the new year right. Usually, I ask my students about their “resolutions.” This year, I asked a different question: Reflecting on last year, what is it about your life that you love and would like to have more of? Their faces lit up as they shared stories of loved ones, families and friends, travel, good food, t ..read more

The holiday season is here, and, as every teacher knows, it usually proves to be one of the most hectic times of year. December often demands an extra dose of patience and energy from us when our reserves may be nearly tapped. So we’ll keep this week’s post short and sweet. We just want to draw your attention to a study that just came onto our radar regarding mindful movement in the elementary school classroom. “Significant Improvements” – Subjectively & Objectively Published early this year in the journal Mindfulness, the study employed a mindful movement intervention meant to improve sel ..read more

Although Thanksgiving Day has passed, giving thanks isn’t something to be relegated to just one day of the year. It’s an every day thing, and that ongoing gratitude is something that supports our health and well-being, as well as our hearts and our minds. Gratitude sustains us. Of course, if you already have an ongoing gratitude practice, you know this. And if you don’t, read on for some ideas on how you can get one started (and help the kids in your world get one started, too)… Lynea had just finished helping a student lead her second grade peers through our Hoberman Sphere breathing process ..read more