Today we’re thrilled to introduce you to another one of our lovely Kids Yoga Stories Ambassadors, Amy Ketner, who shares the amazing benefits of bringing mindfulness in schools!
Amy has spent the last 25 years in the counseling field and the last 16 years specifically as an elementary school counselor in Pennsylvania. She has seen first-hand the needs of her students increase over recent years, and she has been on the hunt for fresh strategies and tools to best help these children.
Giselle interviewed Amy to hear first-hand how she first discovered the benefits of mindfulness and then how she brought yoga and mindfulness to her entire school population, including the teachers!
In this interview, Amy shares:
- How her “aha moment” on how to help her students actually came from an experience at home with her own son.
- The exact steps she took to bring yoga and mindfulness to her entire school community at once.
- The plan she implemented to get buy-in from her administrators and other teachers.
- The resource she used that was the best decisions she’s made professionally and personally.
- How she structures her Mindful Monday Announcements.
- The results that she’s seen in her students and reactions from students, teachers, and parents.
- Other ways she has brought yoga and mindfulness to her school community via Yoga Recess Club.
- How she got teachers involved by creating a Breath of the Month Club for the teachers.
- How she has brought yoga and mindfulness to kids more widely in her community during the summertime.
One the most profound benefits that Amy shares is how the students have taken the mindfulness skills she has taught, in particular breathing exercises, and incorporated them into their own personal coping toolkit.
Students come up to her all the time, sharing how they’ve used one of the breathing techniques she’s shared with them in a variety of circumstances.
One of Many Success Stories
Amy shared this story with us a few months back:
“We had a pretty severe accident on our playground on Wednesday. It was traumatizing, and the student had to be rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.
“School administration asked me, as the school counselor, to go up to the classrooms, because a lot of the children had witnessed the accident, and a lot of the kids were crying. I had nearly fifty kids in one area, just trying to process the whole thing. I first talked about the accident for a little bit. One kid said his heart was beating really fast. And then I said, ‘You remember when we do our Mindful Monday. Let’s just do our Figure 8 Breathing.’
“Everybody put their finger up in the air at the exact same time, and we all started doing it together. In that moment, they got it! I could see and feel the release of tension and stress. Everybody took a deep breath.
“In that moment, I found a way to show my students, regardless of where we live, what they’ve gone through, or their family dynamics, they can start building and putting these tools in their toolbox. It was incredible! I now have a clear purpose and know that I’m doing the right work.”
The Resource That Got Her Started
One of the best decisions I’ve made professional and personally
– Amy
SCHOOL YOGA PROGRAM – (SELF-PACED PROGRAM)
This program guides you to create the perfect classroom/school yoga program that fits you, your students, and your school.
You will walk away from this program with a plan in hand and resources to get started right away! PLUS, you’ll have access to support, a community of other like-minded professionals (through our private Facebook group), and resources to give you the confidence to deliver a thoughtfully crafted program to your school community.
This program is based on a strong foundation, which starts with YOU, yet flexible enough to meet students where they’re at and change over time, if needed.
Find out more about our School Yoga Program here.
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