The National Kids Yoga Conference: From Fragmentation to Collaboration

20015 National Kid’s Yoga Conference:

From Fragmentation to Collaboration

By Lara Hocheiser

Last month I had the great fortune of attending the second National Kids Yoga Conference, held in our nation’s capital.  It was an inspiring coming together of industry leaders, teachers, and newcomers, seeking collaboration on what has too often felt like a fragmented industry.

The event kicked off on a Friday night with a mix of excitement and exhaustion.  Anyone who knows a kids yoga teacher knows how hard he or she works. But even the ambitious Friday night start time could not contain the group’s enthusiasm.  By its conclusion Sunday afternoon, it’s fair to say that all in attendance left the conference with a wealth of new knowledge and inspiration. About twenty keynote speakers shared their experiences and expertise on yoga business, research, school yoga, and innovative implementable tools. Breakout sessions gave teachers a chance to bridge the divides that have often left them feeling like isolated islands. Above all what was most striking weren’t necessarily the formally orchestrated events, but the much-needed feeling of ‘togetherness’ that emerged from personal connections made, and experiences shared.

Three Takeaways from NKYC:

A Need to Collaborate

Until recently, the grass roots kid’s yoga movement has been largely fragmented. Individual organizations and teachers have made incredible progress, but a lack of a kid’s yoga regulatory organization, and opportunities to learn from each other has challenged our mission. Among other reasons, that’s why this conference was so important and successful.

At a business centered discussion group, people had the opportunity to ask for advice and support. Women asked for help, unsure how to proceed with their businesses. Others who have been there were able to step forward and offer support and love.  The sense of camaraderie was palpable and the need for more opportunities to get together in this way became increasingly apparent.

The Ethical and Inclusive Yoga Path

Both on stage, and in between sessions, one of the most noteworthy issues I heard discussed was on ethics and integrity in kids yoga. These subjects are under-addressed and can be scary, which is why they are often not included in kid’s yoga teacher trainings.  A recent court case in California highlighted the complicated feelings people have regarding yoga in schools. Keynotes presenters Jennifer Cohen Harper, Adi Flesher, Joanne Spence, and Leslie Booker together addressed the great need for yoga and mindfulness practices to be offered in an inclusive, adaptive, and secular manner. They warned that our work may be exclusionary if it is not done with extreme care. This means creating a safe space and relevant content for students of all religions, genders, ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and abilities.

To aid teachers and school administrators to better understand, The Yoga Service Council recently published The Best Practices for Yoga in Schools book. It has pointers for communicating, creating appropriate programming, and for staff training.

Also highlighted was the need for kid’s yoga to be secular. This can often be a challenge for yoga teachers who have come to this field on their own spiritual journeys. By leaving out religious mythology and the use of Sanskrit language, for example, these problems can be avoided. Much of the existing children’s yoga music, books, and props may have non secular content built in. This highlights the needs for teachers to be aware of their use of language, music and other tools and a need to separate personal practice from teachings.

We need more data

Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, a Harvard and Kripalu affiliated researcher in the field of mind body medicine, reported that there have been approximately 50 peer-reviewed studies on yoga in schools. His edifying presentation recommended that yoga educators become familiar with the work and have it ready to share with schools. Although great research has been done, he insisted that thousands more studies are needed to substantiate the movement.

Presenters recommended that all yoga programs create a pre and post assessment of that is given to the children, parents and or staff, and school administration where applicable. Childlight Yoga founder and author Lisa Flynn recounted how she went about this process. It was challenging, required help from multiple people, and took years. Despite the difficulty, collecting this information is important. She recommended inputting the data into Survey Monkey or a similar free or inexpensive app to help calculate data.

Sat Bir implored that both qualitative and quantitative studies need be done. When it comes to schools willingness to invest in programming, data and research are pivotal. Without the research, schools cannot be sure their children are getting appropriate and effective programming to justify spending money on kids yoga.

Looking ahead, with the warm and fuzzies of this conference still with us, we must plan to continue the path of collaboration. Area kid’s yoga people can organize continuing ed. gatherings, similar to Boston’s Christyn Schroeder of Kidpowerment Yoga. Teachers can hold meetings online and in person, facilitate and participate in regular professional development, continue to take relevant trainings, and hold discussions about what is happening in the field.

If kids yoga is going to be a legitimate instrument of of social change, we have to be teammates, friends and colleagues.  That means making sure the conference was not the end of a conversation, but the beginning.