TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo Public Schools students are learning the meaning of namaste in a new yoga class.
The principal at Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy for Boys said the TPS multi-tiered systems of support initiative became particularly important with the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The students have to have an outlet of learning to regulate and understand when their emotions are getting away from them and having the self-awareness to regulate themselves as they learn and grow," said Principal Willie Ward.
After the pandemic forced students into quarantined isolation, they were told they had fallen behind socially and emotionally.
But Feama Williams, an intervention specialist at Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy for Boys, said she's working to bring her students back up to speed.
"Being that we live in a chaotic world right now, there's a lot going on and I'm noticing that a lot of kids are angry and they don't know how to express themselves and their emotions," said Williams.
Williams partnered with Karen Hover, a breath work coach and yoga instructor for Butterfly Studios, and now yoga is part of the class curriculum.
"I came here today to work with the students at MLK Academy to teach them how to self-soothe and to find their center to get away from anger, whatever down emotions they are experiencing so they can learn how to be happy," said Hover.
The students said they plan to use the skills to combat fear, stress and overstimulation.
"My favorite thing about yoga is being calm, cool and collected," said Alex Jones, a sixth-grade MLK student.
"It makes me feel brave," added sixth-grader Shawn Townsend.
"Yoga makes me feel like I am strong," said J'marion Lefton, a student at MLK. "I know how to feel better and I know how to be calm."
Williams said it's a practice of slowing down and she hopes it helps these young men get to where they want to be in life.
"I think that if they use these tools, it will save them in the long run from a lot of troubles that they may experience if they don't have it," said Williams.
The academy's principal said the class started as a pilot program with about a dozen students.
The plan is to add it as a full class for the whole school next school year.
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