Yoga-Mindfulness in the Classroom for Student Success

Dori DiPietro LCSW, CEAP, E-RYT500Mesa Community College

Director, Social Work Program

My Epiphany…

My Own Research with SWU171

#1-Full YM class+ 10 min = 78 average score

#2-10 min YM Class = 77 average score

#3-Baseline Class = 75 average score

SWU250 -Mindfulness for Stress Management (hybrid/3 credits SB tag)

• Stress reduction• Immune power personality• Nutrition• Balanced living• Food as medicine• Neurotransmitters• Brain waves• Body scan• Spirituality• Rest and relaxation• Experiential learning• Guided imagery• Cell development• Lifestyle alternatives• Preventative and Integrative medicine

• Goal setting• Time-management• Effective communication• Self-actualization• Humor• Emotional Intelligence• Living in the “zone • Multi-tasking• Wellness• Mindfulness • Power of the breath • Environment• Autonomic nervous system• Meditation• Relaxation

Why Yoga-Mindfulness in the Classroom?• Reduces stress• Increases overall feelings of well-being &

self-worth• Improves the ability to learn!!• Optimizes productivity• Enhances mind body awareness and

health• YM is low cost, preventative medicine

What are the Benefits of Mindfulness?

Since the early 1970’s more than 1,000 lab studies ofmeditation have been

reported.

International Journal of Yoga Therapy

iRest Yoga-Nidra on the College Campus: Changes in Stress, Depression, Worry, and Mindfulness

Mueller, H., Wilson, T., Ae-Kyung, J., Kimura, A., Tarrant, J., (2013)

Journal of American College Health

Developing mindfulness in college students through movement-based courses: Effects on regulatory self-efficacy, mood, stress, and sleep quality.

Caldwell, K., Harrison, M., Adams, M., Quin, R.H., & Greeson, J. (2010)

Journal of Management, Educational Development

Gura ST. Yoga for stress reduction and injury prevention at work. Work. 2002;19(1):3–7.

Heilbronn F. The use of hatha yoga as a strategy for coping with stress in management development. Manag Educ Dev. 1992;23(2):131–9.

Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits: A meta-analysis Paul Grossman, Ludger Niemann, Stefan Schmidt, Harald Walach , Journal of Psychosomatic Research - July 2004 (Vol. 57, Issue 1, Pages 35-43, DOI: 10.1016/S0022-3999(03)00573-7)

Journal of Health Education and Behavior

Effects of Low-Dose Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR-ld) on Working AdultsMaryanna D. Klatt, PhD

College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, klatt.8@osu.edu

Janet Buckworth, PhDCollege of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, Columbus

William B. Malarkey, MDCollege of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus

Scandinavian Journal of Work and Environmental Health

The effectiveness of yoga for the improvement of well-being and resilience to stress in the workplace, by Hartfiel N, Havenhand J, Khalsa SB, Clarke G, Krayer A, Scand J Work Environ Health 2011;37(1):70-76, doi:10.5271/sjweh.2916

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

Effective and viable mind-body stress reduction in the workplace: A randomized controlled trial. Wolever, Ruth Q.; Bobinet, Kyra J.; McCabe, Kelley; Mackenzie, Elizabeth R.; Fekete, Erin; Kusnick, Catherine A.; Baime, Michael , Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol 17(2), Apr 2012, 246-258. doi: 10.1037/a0027278

Military expanding use of mindfulness training…

• Examining the protective effects of mindfulness training on working memory capacity and affective experience. Jha, Amishi P.; Stanley, Elizabeth A.; Kiyonaga, Anastasia; Wong, Ling; Gelfand, Lois Emotion, Vol 10(1), Feb 2010, 54-64. doi: 10.1037/a0018438 Special Section: Mindfulness Training and Emotion Regulation: Clinical and Neuroscience Perspectives.

What is Mindfulness?

“Presence of the Heart”

Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, to the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.

Mindfulness is both:-a process-an outcome

Occupational Challenges

“We can no more be present with the suffering of others and not be affected by it, than walk through water and not get wet.”~ Rachel Naomi Remen

Compassion Fatigue

• “reduced capacity or interest in being empathic or bearing the suffering of clients”

(Adams, Boscarino, & Figley, 2006 p. 103)

Equanimity

“Yoga is a vehicle to put us in touch with the place in us that hasn't been touched by the circumstances of our lives." ~ Tim Miller

5 Categories of Brain Waves:Why Mindfulness Works

1. Gamma State: (30 — 100Hz) This is the state of hyperactivity and active learning. Gamma state is the most opportune time to retain information. This is why educators often have audiences jumping up and down or dancing around — to increase the likelihood of permanent assimilation of information. If over stimulated, it can lead to anxiety.

2. Beta State: (13 — 30Hz) Where we function for most of the day, Beta State is associated with the alert mind state of the prefrontal cortex. This is a state of the “working” or "thinking mind": analytical, planning, assessing and categorizing.

3. Alpha State: (9 — 13Hz) Brain waves start to slow down out of thinking mind. We feel more calm, peaceful and grounded. We often find ourselves in an “alpha state” after a yoga class, a walk in the woods, a pleasurable sexual encounter or during any activity that helps relax the body and mind. We are lucid, reflective, have a slightly diffused awareness. The hemispheres of the brain are more balanced (neural integration).

4. Theta State: (4 — 8Hz) We're able to begin meditation. This is the point where the verbal/thinking mind transitions to the meditative/visual mind. We begin to move from the planning mind to a deeper state of awareness (often felt as drowsy), with stronger intuition, more capacity for wholeness and complicated problem solving. The Theta state is associated with visualization.

5. Delta State: (1—3 Hz) Tibetan monks who have been meditating for decades can reach this in an alert, wakened phase, but most of us reach this final state during deep, dreamless sleep.

Stress!Stress helps account for two-thirds of family doctor visits and half the deaths to Americans under 65. It has been implicated in heart, stomach and mental disorders, along with the more ordinary headaches, backaches and high blood pressure and cholesterol. ~ U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

SAMHSA Study

My Kid

Stress Causes Increases in…

•Blood pressure•Heart rate•Respiration•Metabolism•Blood flow to your muscles

The Effects of Stress on our BodiesSkeletal Muscular System

(muscles, back, neck)

Digestive System(stomach, intestines)

Respiratory System(lungs, sinuses)

Cardiovascular System(heart, circulation)

Immune System(glands, white

blood cells)

What is Yoga?The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word "Yuj" meaning to yoke, join or unite. This implies joining or integrating all aspects of the individual - body with mind and mind with soul - to achieve a happy, balanced and useful life, and spiritually, uniting the individual with the supreme. ~ BKS Iyengar

About YOU!

Yoga is about self awareness and self mastery.

How do YOU know when you are stressed?

More About YOU, Your Stress…

• Where do you feel your stress in your BODY?

• How does your stress express itself in your

MIND/BEHAVIOR? (thoughts, feelings, behaviors, your relationships and your life.)

• SUD-How GOOD do you feel right now? On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the BEST and 1 being the worst.

Be the Change…

• “What gives light must endure burning.” ~Victor Frankl

• By becoming the change you want to see, you become a powerful and inspirational model for others.

• This “embodying the peace you wish to teach” is an essential prerequisite to transmit the teachings of yoga.

Restore Diaphragmatic Breathing

• Nice breath in

• Blow out like blowing out a candle ,pursed lips, long exhale.

• Breathe in through the nose

• Breathe out through the nose, 3x

• Repeat…….

Kum Nye Yoga

Tibetan self-massageWitness/observe

Shake it OUT!

The Rabbit story.

Let it go!

Open Your HeartIt is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“The only lasting beauty is the beauty of the heart“~ Rumi

Connect

Partner Pose

Chair Yoga• Twist

• Hip opener

• Forward fold

• Three part deep muscle relaxation

Inner Smile!

Thich Nhat Hanh said, “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”

Turn Within"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Muddy water…Let stand…Becomes clear.”- Buddha

“If you want to be happy, BE…”~Leo Tolstoy

Still and QuietJust BE

Share

• What do you notice?

• On a scale or 1-10, how good do you feel now?

Namaste

The Light in me, honors and recognizes the Light in you.

That place of Divinity, where we are all connected to Peace, Truth, Love, Joy, Goodness and Grace……. THAT PLACE.

May our practice be of benefit and service that all beings may know THAT PLACE within themselves.

What Yoga Mindfulness in the Classroom is NOT!!