The Heart of the Matter

The heart of Yoga4KidZ is the power of yoga as active living and as compassionate living. Yoga4Kidz is designed to inspire active living and healthy hearts and minds for the next generation of young Canadians, enhancing physical fitness, mental fitness and social fitness.

Yoga4Kidz

Merits of Yoga

• Physical Fitness: Children learning the magic of movement and the importance of activity for lifelong health and wellness.

• Mental Fitness: Children gaining the tools to think openly and clearly and make the most of their learning opportunities.
• Social Fitness: Children understanding the value of shared experiences, friendship and human relationships.

Merits of Compassionate Living

Yoga4Kidz Relays for UNICEF is a wonderful way for young Canadians to make a difference for other children around the world, many of whom are not as fortunate. It inspires Compassionate Living in a way that creates new and exciting avenues for Global Citizenship, International Kinship and Community Leadership.

• Global Citizenship: Children learning about the global community and the challenges and opportunities around how we share the planet;

• International Kinship: Children gaining greater awareness of the many languages, many cultures and many diverse backgrounds which make the world what it is;
• Community Leadership: Children feeling good about what they can do to contribute in their own community and the power of setting examples for others.

Benefits of Compassionate Living

• Children taking responsibility to help others faced with life-threatening adversity;

• Young people with the tools to listen to and understand global diversity;
• Students with great pride and schools with great morale.

     Physical Fitness

• Gives another option for students who are not athletically inclined; yoga is excellent for toning and stretching muscles
• Helps students to breathe properly
• Having yoga in the schools decreases the focus on competition in sports
• Students observe their actions and speech, learn to focus and concentrate, and work on a healthy body through creative movement, visual arts, music, and yoga practice

Data associated with today’s school-aged population has raised increasing concern with physical inactivity, overweight and obesity and emotional health (depression and anxiety) among today’s youth.  Becoming a healthy school can positively influence levels of physical activity, healthy eating, and improve school connectedness, leading to increased emotional and physical well-being, all of which can significantly reduce preventable illnesses.
www.bced.gov.bc.ca/health/hsnetwork/assess_tool_sec1_2.htm

     Mental Fitness

• Reaches into the heart of happiness unleashing a power that can influence the whole world into well-being
• Promotes a feeling of well-being increasing states of happiness and a positive outlook to life
• Addresses the crisis evident in society today by promoting well-being in light of increasing levels of depression and suicide

''It helps them concentrate, especially on rainy days when there's a lot of nervous energy,'' Ms. Gee said. ''These students are under a lot of pressure to succeed. Testing is coming up, reports are going home, so we're doing more yoga.''
Patricia Leigh Brown, New York Times, March 24, 2002   Latest Way to Cut Grade School Stress: Yoga

In the United States, youth suicide rates increased by 14% between 2003 and 2004, which is the largest year-to-year change in suicide rates in this population since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began systematically collecting suicide data in 1979.
September 2007 American Journal of Psychiatry 1356 Volume 164; Issue 9

     Social Fitness

• Compassionate living by sharing the universal values of Giving, Patience, and Focus
• Harmony to counteract the increasing violence levels in our world today
• Reduces student negative behaviour and school bullying
• Increase in student responsibility levels

A study of Toronto schools found that a bullying act occurred every seven seconds but teachers were aware of only four per cent of the incidents. Seven out of 10 teachers but only one in four students say that teachers almost always intervene.

Close to 40 per cent of victims say they have not talked to their parents about the problem.
Ninety per cent of children say they find it unpleasant to watch bullying.

Peers are present in 85 per cent of bullying episodes on the playground and in the classroom. Safety Canada, January 2002 www.safetycouncil.org/info/child/bullies.html

Healthy schools also foster a caring, nurturing, respectful environment that gives students a feeling of connection to their school and school community. For example, they may engage students in discussing topics such as responsible decision-making, leadership and caring for others, and developing responsive skills to issues such as bullying, intimidation, and harassment. www.bced.gov.bc.ca/health/hsnetwork/assess_tool_sec3_2.htm