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It's Garudasana, Darn It

Alexandra Babiarz |
June 14, 2014 | 9:12 p.m. PDT

Contributor

Middle school students participate in a mindfulness class. (Headstand)
Middle school students participate in a mindfulness class. (Headstand)

Elizabeth Reese just wants yoga teachers in schools in the U.S. to call Eagle Pose by its Sanskrit name: Garudasana

A former art education professor, Reese is part of a movement to bring yoga and meditation to K-12 classrooms across the country. In 2008, she introduced her program, “Yogiños,” to the Corpus Christi Independent School District in Texas. Today, Reese works with several Montessori schools in Houston.

A growing body of scientific research suggests that yoga and meditation can alleviate depression, boost memory and the immune system and grow the areas of the brain responsible for emotional regulation. NFL championship teams, major corporations and even the army have all expanded their use of mindfulness training. 

Recent studies have shown that yoga and meditation can have even greater health benefits for children and adolescents. School-based mindfulness programs can help improve students’ attentiveness and develop their self-control while instilling respect for their classmates and teachers. 

But integrating yoga and mindfulness into curricula is a balancing act for school administrators. With roots in Eastern religious practices, these programs have caused controversy among parents for their religious undertones.  Last year, parents sued the Encinitas Union School District in California, arguing that the yoga program indoctrinated students with Hinduism. 

Katherine Priore Ghannam recognizes that the separation of church and state is an issue of concern for parents and school administrators. That’s why she decided not to use Sanskrit names for yoga and breathing exercises in her K-12 program Headstand, which has been implemented in three Bay Area public schools.

“Working in schools, I made that choice,” Ghannam said. “It’s not a fight I wanted to have.” 

A former teacher, Ghannam views school-based mindfulness programs as a tool for reducing toxic stress among young children. When it occurs in early childhood, toxic stress can disrupt the development of the brain and other organs and cause long-term physical and mental health problems, according to Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child.

“We can’t get into every community, every household, and identify all of the factors contributing to toxic stress, or change the everyday reality that our students face,” Ghannam said. “It would be a crime to not provide students with a simple tool that can reverse the effects of that stress.”

Reese agrees that mindfulness and yoga programs in schools are needed now more than ever among students as well as teachers, especially since more school districts around the country are cutting back on physical education and recess. 

“With increasing pressures on our kids to test well and be socially intelligent, and on teachers and families to prepare students, almost everyone is stressed, anxious and acting out,” she said.

A kindergartener in Padmasana (Lotus Pose). (Yogiños)
A kindergartener in Padmasana (Lotus Pose). (Yogiños)

But Reese’s approach is unique and controversial. Her program incorporates elements from Hinduism, including visual art, dance and music. With DVDs titled “The Story of Ganesha” and “Vishnu’s OHMazing Journeys,” Reese sees school-based mindfulness and yoga programs as a way to teach students about the stories and practices of a culture outside the Judeo-Christian tradition. 

“We teach Greek mythology [in schools] and refer to the gods and goddesses as such,” Reese said. “We aren’t asking students to worship Hindi gods and goddesses, but when we omit that information, we are stealing from our youth opportunities to learn about the stories and practices of another culture—a culture that might even be represented within that very classroom.”

Reese has sometimes gotten into hot water over her approach. 

She remembers teaching the story of Ganesh, Hindu god of wisdom and learning and remover of obstacles, in a Catholic school: “I decided to refer to Ganesh as a hero instead of a god, fully aware of where I was. But in this classroom, there was an Indian boy, and he was like, ‘A hero? That’s a god!’”

“I said to him, ‘You’re right, in some places, Ganesh is considered a god.’ Lo and behold, I got called into the principal’s office the following week,” Reese said. “A parent had written her a letter, saying that a previous pope had warned of the dangers of yoga. The yoga program was almost stopped that day.”

Most mindfulness programs in the U.S. are secular, and have been detached from their Eastern religious roots, said Philip Goldberg, an interfaith minister and author of “American Veda: How Indian Spirituality Changed the West.” 

“Swamis and Buddhist teachers have presented yoga and meditation as universal practices that anyone can do,” Goldberg said. Mindfulness practices have become “non-sectarian technologies” that can be taught to anyone, anywhere. A San Diego County judge agreed in the Encinitas yoga trial, ruling that yoga does not promote religion in July. 

But critics condemn what they view as the “McMindfulness” of the movement. 

“When secularizing these practices, we have to be vigilant about not diminishing their value,” Goldberg said. “It’s like fast food: It may imitate a home-cooked meal in convenient packaging and it might taste good, but you’re losing nutrition in the process.”

Reese puts it this way: “We call long, slender strings of pasta with a sauce ‘spaghetti’ because that’s what Italians call it.” 

“Why is Garudasana any different?”  

Reach contributor Alexandra Babiarz here.



 

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