Mindfulness and Yoga in Schools A Guide for Teachers and Practitioners

CHAPTER 13: SCHool-BASEd YogA PRogRAMS • 309

Program WebPage brief DescriPtion

Circus Yoga circusyoga.com Circus Yoga is designed to connect and empower

communities through creative expression, embodied

play, and what they call co-authored culture. Although

their training is broader, they offer a school residence

(i.e., Circus Yoga In-School Residency) for grades K–12,

for 2 weeks in which the teacher teaches 6 classes per

day and ends with a co-authored show that students

provide for their classmates and the community.

Circus Yoga also offers programs for therapeutic

environments.

Get Ready to

Learn

getreadytolearn

.net

The Get Ready to Learn program provides pre-K to

grade 12 classroom yoga curricula designed to prepare

students of all abilities for learning. Developed by

occupational therapist Anne Buckley-Reen, OTR-L,

RYT, the curriculum uses a series of traditional yoga

sequences that incorporate developmental and

sensory-motor features. The program is aligned with

Response to Intervention (RtI), Positive Behavioral

Interventions and Supports (PBIS), and therapeutic

classroom goals. Workshops, teacher trainings,

and staff trainings are offered. The program also

sells The Kid’s Yoga Deck: 50 Poses and Games

by Anne Buckley. Research on the program includes

Koenig, Buckley-Reen, and Garg (2012) and Garg et al.

(2013).

Go Grounded gogrounded.com Go Grounded kids yoga teaches students pre-K

to grade 12 grade how to manage their bodies

through the alignment of actions and observation

of reactions and tendencies without judgment. The

teacher-training program begins with coursework to

ground the instructor, and offers choices to focus on

preschool age children, children with social needs,

or yoga in schools. They also offer schools in-service

and training programs as well as consultation, online

mentoring, and yoga classes provided by Go Grounded’s

teachers.

Headstand heasdstand.org Headstand is a non-profit organization that works to

combat stress among disadvantaged K–12 students

through mindfulness, yoga, and character education. The

curriculum is an in-classroom program that runs for 40

weeks. It is standards-based and classes are integrated

into the school curriculum. The program was founded

by a public school teacher, Katherine Proire. School

programing, teacher training, and consultation are

offered.

TABlE 13.1 Additional Yoga Programs for Schools and Youth (continued )

(continued )