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Namaste, Country School Students

Country School PreSchool through Middle School teachers Heather Butler, Karen Chiaia, Alyson Cipollone, Nancy Hard, and Vicki Wepler attended a full-day Yoga 4 Classrooms workshop that focused on quick 2-minute strategies to use in their classrooms. These researched-based, simple, effective and sustainable tools facilitate students' physical, mental, emotional, and social personal growth. Y4C includes a mix of yoga postures, brain-boosting movements, breath exercises, visualizations, mindfulness activities, creative movement, and community-building games that promote a lifetime of health and wellness. Y4C strategies help support social and emotional learning at Country School and directly connect to Choose Love and Responsive Classroom, strategies we already incorporate into our days.

From Yoga 4 Classrooms, "Consider this. One good breath will allow a child to relax mentally and physically. One good breath will teach a child to pause before committing to her words and actions. One good breath will help a child release his anger and approach difficult situations with a clear mind. One good breath will help a child gather the courage to take a calculated risk, whether it’s trying something different or making a new friend. One good breath will improve a child’s focus, so she can perform better at school, on the ball field, at home. One good breath will remind a child to smile, to forgive, to play, to love, to live. If one good breath will help a child to achieve all of this, imagine what a lifetime of good breaths will do."