Yoga in Urban Schools

This is a cool study looking at the impact of yoga on elementary school students in urban public schools.  

Urban youth are at greater risk for exposure to all sorts of traumatic events, especially community violence, which consequently puts them at greater risk of mental health problems like anxiety, depression and PTSD.  So it makes sense to provide an intervention that aims to help students regulate their emotions and behavior.  

I love yoga, but I wonder how an ancient and culturally specific healing practice that reflects the cultural history of the students studied might fare instead?  

Yoga is mainstream now and some might say that yoga's effects are universal so it doesn't matter who uses yoga for benefit.  

But might it matter to black and brown students who have no idea that behind them is more than a millennia of ancient wisdom to draw from?  What would happen if the ancient healing practices of black and brown students - practices dying out and relegated to the shadows - were studied empirically?  

Abstract
Youth in underserved, urban communities are at risk for a range of negative outcomes related to stress, including social-emotional difficulties, behavior problems, and poor academic performance. Mindfulness-based approaches may improve adjustment among chronically stressed and disadvantaged youth by enhancing self-regulatory capacities. This paper reports findings from a pilot randomized controlled trial assessing the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of a school-based mindfulness and yoga intervention. Four urban public schools were randomized to an intervention or wait-list control condition (n=97 fourth and fifth graders, 60.8% female). It was hypothesized that the 12-week intervention would reduce involuntary stress responses and improve mental health outcomes and social adjustment. Stress responses, depressive symptoms, and peer relations were assessed at baseline and post-intervention. Findings suggest the intervention was attractive to students, teachers, and school administrators and that it had a positive impact on problematic responses to stress including rumination, intrusive thoughts, and emotional arousal.
Keywords
Mindfulness, Yoga, Prevention, School-based intervention, Chronic stress

Feasibility and Preliminary Outcomes of a School-Based Mindfulness Intervention for Urban Youth
Tamar Mendelson
Mark T. Greenberg
Jacinda K. Dariotis
Laura Feagans Gould
Brittany L. Rhoades
Philip J. Leaf
J Abnorm Child Psychol (2010) 38, 985–994.