How many of you remember going to school and disliking every minute of it? Many of us still do have those fearful memories of strict teachers, class tests, projects, standing up and lol and standing out of the class!
And if you were a backbencher by any chance, then no words- it must have a fun filled combo of studies, mischief and punishments. Well, those days have flown by and now – if you are a parent wondering how to deal with your child who is extra anxious to go to school- I have a solution for you.
But now, you may think and laugh over the silly stuff that you did or maybe your siblings did over the years. Again, when history repeats – I know that feel. You must be thinking – How do I deal with this kiddo? It’s difficult and sensitive! So, this method is one novel technique whereby the child will get relieved of their fears and gradually overtime- the anxiety horror will be replaced with confidence.
Oh, by the way- this is no magical recipe that I cooked up all by myself. A great research that I found during my reading expeditions, and so thought- this would be helpful to so many young parents out there!
School Based Yoga Can Be a Phenomenal Cure To Anxiety: Research Finds Out!
At the Tulane University , the research team went forward with a study to understand how to relieve the stress and anxiety that moves along with children who have just entered school and also up to third grade classes.
According to them, when children do yoga in school, they tend to exhibit an improvement in their well being and also their emotional health improves.
- In the experiment, students who were diagnosed with anxiety issues, were enrolled into empathy based programs.
- Along with this, the researchers included yoga and classes of mindfulness to see how children would react to the treatments.
- This experiment was conduced over a time period of 8 weeks and it followed a Yoga based curriculum.
- What did they do?
- Yoga is very diverse, and this experiment did not focus on teaching them all the asanas. Rather, they wanted to see how mentally relaxed these children could get after doing yoga.
- For this, the small children were made to a couple of breathing exercises, relaxation exercises, concentration exercises and also few movements that could be done by children between the of 5-9 years of age.
- Apart from this, the children were asked to meditate for short period of time.
- In specific- the third grade students were given most attention, because it was this grade that children moved from the play mode to some serious study mode.
- So, they noticed it was in this class that they experienced most stress and tension during the class hours. This was because a lot of academic expectations increased during this time period.
But the experiment showed that:
- With these series of tests, children could manage stress better.
- They were much calm and could stop the usual array of moodiness and tension before going to school.
- The method does not banish stress away, but helps children cope with anxiety and stress.
- It was seen to show improvements in the behaviour of children and that reflected in their grades (the marks increased) and even in the participation in the school community activities.
- Their thinking patterns were calmer and they learned not to get over- excited over different situations in school.
- They could focus more easily on the day to day functions of everyday normal school life. This was made possible through the short meditation classes.
- Due to this, their positive energy got boosted and that helped them tackle school pressures, and team activities in a much more organized manner.
Read More: How to get your daily dose Yoga Magic?
The Long Term Anxiety Reliever
This is no one- day magic, but one that needs to be done on a daily basis. In schools, if this is made a part of the curriculum, children could get a grip to their unruly characters.
Children becomes boisterous, rude, and cunning in an unknowing attempt to vent their pressures and anxiety issues in school.
If such methods are practised carefully, it will surely bring a lot of peace and stability in the minds of young children.
If you are the parent of the third- grader or less, then this is one research that will prove to be useful for you. Or else, if you do know someone, feel free to share and give them a solution to the school going traumas of small children.