Yoga helps students and staff

Feeling stressed? Try yoga.

“Yoga has been the best thing that I have done for my body and mind,” sixth-grade science teacher Liz McClafferty said.  ‘‘After every class, I feel calmer and more centered than I did before I practiced.”

McClafferty has been a certified yoga instructor for the past seven years.

“When I practice regularly, four or five times a week, I feel that I am generally less anxious and happier. I also have noticed that I sleep better,” McClafferty explained.

Yoga is a popular activity among students. It is an annual after-school club, and many teachers incorporate yoga into daily mindful exercises during school hours. With distance learning due to the pandemic, students are finding ways to incorporate yoga into their daily routines at home. Third-grader, Sady Borenius, participates in the art of yoga. 

“It is a very calming activity. It gets rid of all the unwanted stress in your body,” Borenius said. “I usually do yoga when I am feeling anxious about an upcoming event. My mother usually does it every day. That is why I have begun to do it.”

McClafferty explained the many benefits of yoga. She said along with promoting sound sleep, yoga also creates a calming essence throughout your brain causing the rest of the body to follow in harmony. Yoga increases endorphins within the body helping to make people generally calmer and happier. It gives a sense of ease and a well-being state of the mind. It can relieve stress and anxiousness, said McClafferty.

“I don’t do yoga, but if I were to, I would be more energized to do my school work, and I would have a better night’s sleep,” said sixth-grader, Michael DeOrio.

DeOrio is one of several students who admit they have been going to bed later than usual and sleeping later than normal. Many students claim that because they can do their schoolwork any time from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., they don’t need to go to sleep early, nor do they need to get up early to go to school. 

“I usually sleep late, and now that I think about, yoga would be a great strategy for me to use,” DeOrio said.

Doing yoga before activities like sports matches, competitions, and quizzes can help calm anxious nerves in your body, according to McClafferty.