A program in Wayne County is helping students find some inner peace, both in class and in everyday life.
BrightKids Yoga, a program started by The Cooperage Project in Honesdale, is a non-religious yoga and meditation class currently offered during the school year in both the
Wayne Highlands and Wallenpaupack Area school districts. But experts behind the program are offering families a way to check it out for themselves this weekend.
During in-class sessions, students practice breathing methods, postures, mindfulness exercises, and focus on what Program Coordinator Amanda Masters calls “social emotional skills,” helping students in the often chaotic and emotionally stressful world beyond the walls of their school.
“It’s really based around the idea that kids are whole people,” Masters says. She’s also one of the program’s instructors. “A lot of kids come to school tired or anxious, and they can use the inner resources the program helps them find to achieve both academically and socially. Find balance.”
Mental health experts agree.
Emy Monday, Psy.D. thinks programs such as BrightKids are immensely beneficial to student development.
“Nervous system regulation is extremely important for the neurobiological development of kids and teens,” Dr. Monday says.
“Research has shown that yoga, meditation, breathing techniques, and mindfulness exercises all contribute to emotional wellbeing and ability to focus, not to mention the physical benefits such as increasing balance, strength, and flexibility.”
BrightKids began in 2017, born out of a different program at The Cooperage called “Romping Raddishes,” a healthy living class for kids during the non-profit’s farmer’s market events.
Since then, BrightKids has gone on to partner with the two school districts they currently serve.
The program, whose main focus is during the school year, has been well received in those districts according to Masters, who notes that one district even awarded BrightKids a grant for its work with students.
But this summer, BrightKids is collaborating with the Pennsylvania branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to offer a workshop for educators, staff, and parents.
The program will also be featured in the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s virtual summer camp for youth effected by homelessness, something very near and dear to the core tenets and purpose Masters’ set out to achieve with the program in general.
“Even before the pandemic, school staff and community organizations like ours could see the rising stress, anxiety, and mental health concerns amongst school students,” Masters says.
“Families in our community face stressors like those in many rural areas, including the opioid epidemic, financial strain in families, and perhaps the feeling of not having as many options or choices for healthy living as could be found in more urban areas. By working with public schools we are able to share these life-long skills with all students.”
A spin-off of BrightKids, BrightCommunities, is now in the works for adults.
“We want to create a local ecosystem of wellness,” she says of all the Cooperage’s programs as a whole. “Bring people together through shared experience.”
BrightKids Yoga plans to continue their partnerships with local school districts into the 2022/2023 school year.
If you’re interested in learning more, BrightKids is hosting a Mindful Family Yoga Morning at the Van Scott Nature Reserve, 571 Perkins Pond Rd, Beach Lake, on Saturday, July 23rd from 10am to noon.
More information on BrightKids Yoga can be found by visiting their website, brightkidsyoga.org.