CHAPTER 13: SCHool-BASEd YogA PRogRAMS • 307the-school-yoga-project). According to program information, the School Yoga Project
curriculum incorporates learning goals throughout each yoga class as well as teaches
instructors how to capitalize on the teachable moments that occur during yoga sessions.
The School Yoga Project integrates five elements: connect (i.e., to self, the world around you,
and the community), breathe, move, focus, and relax. Yoga classes are 45 minutes in length
with 30- to 60-minute options for mat-based classes and a 15-minute option for desk-based
classes. The program offers a full 30-week program or a shorter modified curriculum to
adapt to school needs and schedules. They also report the ability to modify the curriculum
for students with special needs. For more information see their extensive web page for both
LFY and the School Yoga Project.
Schools in the New York City area can contract with the School Yoga Project as they are an
approved NYC Department of Education vendor. According to program reports, the School
Yoga Project currently serves over 3,500 children per week with in-school and after-school
yoga classes (see http://www.littlefloweryoga.com)..) Additionally, LFY offers a comprehensive,
yoga-alliance accredited teacher-training program. The program is a three-level program
with each level of training taught as a 2-day intensive or as a 7-day intensive in the summer.
Harper also authored a yoga card deck, Yoga and Mindfulness for Children Card Deck (www
.littlefloweryoga.com/books/yoga-and-mindfulness-for-children-card-deck). The deck cor-
responds to the five elements of the School Yoga Project (i.e., connect, breathe, move, focus,
relax). Although Harper (2013) has cited research to support the use of yoga in schools, there
is no published research evaluating her program specifically. In May of 2009, LFY became
a founding member of the Yoga Service Council, a nonprofit organization whose mission
is to develop a community of professional support in the field of yoga service (see www
.littleflower.com).
girls growing in Wellness and Balance: Yoga and life Skills to Empower
The Girls Growing in Wellness and Balance: Yoga and Life Skills to Empower (Cook-Cottone,
Kane, Keddie, & Haugli, 2013) program is the first eating disorder prevention program to
use yoga as the central feature of the intervention (Cook-Cottone, 2015). It is a good example
of a disorder-specific, yoga-based prevention program for schools. The protocol is experien-
tial and didactic in nature and includes constructivistic activities in which the participants
create their own understanding of concepts such as assertiveness, cultural and media pres-
sures to be thin, and intrapersonal self-regulation. Based on the Attuned Representational
Model of Self (ARMS; Cook-Cottone, 2006), the program teaches self-regulations skills such
as breath work and yoga asana, integration of thoughts and feelings to make choices, and
self-care. Each session begins with an asana practice, includes journaling, and transitions
into group sessions that explore key conceptual issues. The 14-session program concludes
with the participants creating their own magazine that reflects their personal values of
self-development. Each session runs 90 to 120 minutes and ends with guided relaxation or
meditation (Cook-Cottone et al., 2013). The program follows body positive guidelines (see
Childress & Harper, 2015, pp. 26–27).
Studies of this program show reduction in eating disorder risk and eating disorder symp-
toms (Scime & Cook-Cottone, 2008; Scime, Cook-Cottone, Kane, & Watson, 2006). Matched
controlled analysis shows that the program was equally effective for girls identified as
minorities and those who were not (Cook-Cottone, Jones, & Haugli, 2010). Further, a recent