PREFACE • xiii“You’ve got this.” In this way, we can all learn to be starfish throwers for whom problems,
and moments, seldom feel too big.
Schools are adopting mindfulness and yogic techniques at increasing rates. In 2002,
my research team began the first ever yoga-based eating disorder prevention program in
schools. For over 14 years, we have studied the outcomes among hundreds of students.
When I first began this work, the field of yoga in schools did not really exist. Mindfulness
programs were making their way to schools. Still, the initiatives were small and happening
in large cities next to the few universities looking at mindfulness. Now, a simple Google
News search of “mindfulness and yoga in the schools” yields tens of thousands of sto-
ries. The Kripalu Yoga in Schools Symposium is heading into its fourth year. The former
first lady, Michelle Obama, is known for her yoga practice and fitness. Under her tenure,
I was part of a team that taught yoga at the White House Easter Egg Roll as part of the
administration’s commitment to health and fitness for children and youth. For years, Ohio
Congressional Representative Tim Ryan passionately and consistently argued for mindful-
ness and yoga in the schools as a pathway to well-being (see http://www.mindful.org/
ohio-congressman-tim-ryan-talks-about-a-mindful-nation-video/).
Accordingly, there is a demand for teacher, school psychology, school counseling, school
social work, and school administration training programs to integrate mindfulness and
yoga content into their curricula. To support training and continuing education, this text
explicates mindfulness and yoga as tools for cultivating embodied self-regulation within
healthy, active, engaged learners. The learner is the student (primary object of focus), as
well as teachers, counselors, psychologists, and parents. Embracing the mindful and yogic
perspective, mindfulness and yoga are considered this way—we are all on the path and we
can instruct most effectively from our own experience in mindfulness and embodied prac-
tice. To help you get a sense of the bigger picture, this text offers a conceptual framework
within the first three chapters, which is then distilled into 12 embodied practices that are
woven through the more practical, application-based chapters that follow. The methodol-
ogy is presented in a clear, easy-to-follow format that integrates theory, empirical evidence,
and hands-on, school-based practices.
The only comprehensive text integrating the files of mindfulness, yoga, and schools,
Mindfulness and Yoga in Schools: A Guide for Teachers and Practitioners is structured in four
parts, each comprised of one to five chapters. Part I sets the stage for mindfulness and
yoga interventions in schools. First, a review of the conceptual model for embodied self-
regulation is presented (Chapter 1). Also, this section addresses the risks and outcomes asso-
ciated with a lack of self-regulation and engagement among students (Chapter 2). Chapter
also includes the three-tiered model of intervention used in education and a framework for
implementing mindfulness and yogic practices within the three-tier approach. Chapter 3
introduces 12 embodied practices that promote self-regulation and student engagement.
Parts II and III explicate the philosophical underpinnings of mindfulness and yoga, detail
the formal and informal practices in an on-the-cushion/mat and off-the cushion/mat for-
mat, and critically review the mindfulness and yoga protocols that have been implemented
and studied in schools. Specifically, Part II focuses on mindfulness interventions and Part
III focuses on yoga interventions. These sections interweave the mindful and yogic prin-
ciples presented in Chapter 3. They are presented in parallel formats for ease of reading and
accessibility. You will find tips for implementing a program in your classroom and school,
overviews of school-based programs, and reviews of the research. There are photographs,