Breathe in, breathe out.
These four words are changing how students, teachers and staff at Central Crossing High School think.
In summer 2018, CCHS counselors Christa Russell and Rachel Rendle attended a Youth Yoga Project training seminar, a local organization integrating mindfulness and yoga into schools. The duo, who had no previous experience with yoga, was instantly inspired, and by the beginning of the school year, Morning Mindfulness was in full swing.
“Kids today are just overwhelmed with everything in their lives: activities, social media, friendships,” Rendle says. “I grew up in a world where I could disconnect whenever I wanted and our kids can’t do that. (Morning Mindfulness) is a chance to just focus on themselves.”
“Teachers need it just as much as students,” Russell says, laughing, “and it helps if the teachers do come because then the kids see other people doing it, not just the four school counselors.”
Morning Mindfulness welcomes all students and meets twice a week in the library before school. The room is dimly lit with soothing music playing in the background to create a calm atmosphere. Students grab a yoga mat, a foam brick and, if not already claimed, an expandable Hoberman sphere, gathering in a circle to start the routine. The best part? Yoga pants are not required.
From deep breathing and tall stretches to yoga poses and a relaxation period, the 20-minute sessions host more than 400 students throughout the school year.
“To me, the biggest satisfaction is that they keep coming back because then you know it’s working,” Russell says.
It’s not just student satisfaction that proves it’s working; the data backs it up, too. At the beginning of each session, students fill out a form describing their current stress levels, then report how they feel after each class. On a scale of one to five, five being the most stressed, Russell and Rendle report a two-level drop on average per class.
This isn’t just a short-term solution for stress management. Jennifer Zamora, a senior at CCHS, notes how the teachings of Morning Mindfulness go beyond the class and will stay with her forever.
“I’ve encouraged my family (to do yoga and stretches), especially my mom because she works long hours and is always on her feet. She told me that it has helped relieve tension,” Zamora says. “And I know with college and working, it’s going to be hectic, but I definitely want to put the mindfulness practices into my schedule.”
Morning Mindfulness is just the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to the program’s success, Russell and Rendle have implemented a Lunch Yoga. This allows students who can’t arrive to school early an opportunity to participate during their lunch on certain days of the week.
The duo has also implemented yoga sessions during CCHS’s ACT bootcamp, designed a quiet space that features mindfulness tools like fidget toys and stress balls, and mindful breathing is now available in the classroom. Russell and Rendle are currently working with the video broadcast school announcements to create videos for teachers who aren’t comfortable leading the mindfulness exercises in class.
The counselors want everyone to understand that mindfulness isn’t an unusual or alien concept.
“Mindfulness is not this weird practice – it isn’t outside of the norm,” Rendle says. “It’s just teaching you ways you can live your life each day where you make choices on how you positively respond to things instead of how you immediately react. And I think so many kids live on reaction now.”
CCHS students say the mindfulness practices changed their lives, and once rowdy students now enjoy quiet, relaxing sessions. For Alyssa Bishop, a junior at CCHS, her conceptions of Morning Mindfulness changed after one session.
“I kind of bashed yoga, but then I tried it and loved it,” Bishop says. “I went to private schools before, so this was a huge switch. I had really bad anxiety coming here but I’ve been able to work through it, and (Morning Mindfulness) has helped.”
Morning Mindfulness is also changing how CCHS administration handles punishment. There is some debate surrounding whether traditional disciplinary methods, like detention, actually work. Some argue that using one disciplinary measure for every issue is like using one medicine to treat every illness.
Russell and Rendle are switching things up; students can attend two Morning Mindfulness session in lieu of detention.
“It warms us as educators and professionals to see kids getting something from this,” Rendle says. “When you’re approaching a group of teenagers, what you see as impactful can always be different.”
CCHS isn’t the only local school implementing mindfulness practices. In 2018, Dr. Katy Zeanah, psychologist at Grove City High School, learned about the Youth Yoga training seminar through Rendle. After participating, Zeanah was also inspired and began providing mindfulness resources for GCHS students.
“We’ve been really pleased with the ease of mindfulness strategies and how kids can use them and take them anywhere,” says Zeanah. “We have students in advanced classes to kids with disabilities participating in the mindfulness programs, and being able to meet all those needs with one program is really encouraging and empowering.”
Zeanah says one student credited his success on a test to an in-class mindfulness lesson.
“Students are saying, ‘I’m more able to focus when I use this,’ or ‘I think more clearly,’” Zeanah says. “(Mindfulness) is an uninterrupted way to help them at school and in their personal lives.”
As for the mindfulness journey at CCHS, it isn’t slowing down. Russell and Rendle are currently working on another grant to purchase additional Hoberman spheres and carts for equipment.
When asked to describe how it feels to see students benefit from the lessons in and beyond the classroom, the duo responds quickly and decisively.
“Awesome,” Russell and Rendle say with a laugh.
Lydia Freudenberg is an editor. Feedback welcome at lfreudenberg@cityscenemediagroup.com.
