Participating in yoga and mindfulness activities at school helps third-graders exhibiting anxiety improve their wellbeing and emotional health, says a new Tulane University study published in the journal ‘Psychology Research and Behavior Management’.
Researchers worked with a public school in New Orleans to add mindfulness and yoga to the school’s existing empathy-based programming for students needing supplementary support. They chose third grade because it is a crucial time of transition for elementary students, when academic expectations increase. “Our initial work found that many kids expressed anxious feelings in third grade as the classroom work becomes more developmentally complex,” says study author Alessandra Bazzano. “Even younger children are experiencing a lot of stress and anxiety, especially around test time.”
The children who were screened for symptoms of anxiety at the beginning of the school year were randomly assigned to two groups. A control group of 32 students received care as usual, which included counselling and other activities led by a school social worker. The intervention group of 20 students participated in small group yoga/mindfulness activities for eight weeks. Students attended the small group activities at the beginning of the school day. The sessions included breathing exercises, guided relaxation and several traditional yoga asanas appropriate for children. They were assessed for psychosocial conditions and emotional well-being at the beginning, middle and end of the study.
Researchers found that it improved their mental wellness. Says Bazzano, “The intervention improved psychosocial and emotional quality of life scores for students, as compared to their peers who received standard care.” She adds, “We also heard from teachers about the benefits of using yoga in the classroom, and they reported using yoga more often each week, and throughout each day in class, following the professional development component of intervention.”