Implementing mindfulness and yoga in urban schools: a community-academic partnership

Abstract

Purpose – Mindfulness-based interventions – which train capacities for attention, awareness, compassion, and self-regulation of thoughts and emotions – may offer unique benefits for urban youth exposed to chronic stress and adversity. Urban schools are promising settings in which to integrate mindfulness-based interventions; however, they pose complex challenges for intervention implementation and evaluation. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reflects on the experiences of our community-academic partnership conducting two school-based randomised trials on a mindfulness and yoga programme. The programme was developed by the Holistic Life Foundation and was delivered to middle school students in public schools serving disadvantaged urban communities. Findings – This paper discusses barriers and facilitating factors related to effective intervention delivery and evaluation, presents recommendations for future work and reflects on the potential benefits of mindfulness-based practices for students, teachers and schools. Originality/value – The paper offers a detailed account of challenges and opportunities associated with implementing mindfulness-based practices in urban school settings.

Evaluation of Yoga for Preventing Adolescent Substance Use Risk Factors in a Middle School Setting: A Preliminary Group-Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Indeed, anecdotal reports from study staff and the yoga instructors suggested that some of the physical education teachers were expressing concerns to students such as yoga not providing enough of a workout for students to succeed on state-mandated fitness testing. Previous research suggests that support from teachers and administrative staff is essential to the success of school-based yoga (Mendelson et al 2013; Miller et al 2014), thus the relatively low levels of physical education teacher buy-in may have influenced the present results.…”

A qualitative examination of yoga for middle school adolescents

“…While a small number of studies have discussed the feasibility, acceptability, and sustainability of school-based yoga and mindfulness programming (Dariotis et al, 2017; Feagans Gould, Dariotis, Greenberg, & Mendelson, 2016; Mendelson et al, 2013; Zenner et al., 2014), these topics are largely absent from the literature. The current study addresses this limitation by examining students’ personal perceptions of a school-based yoga program.…”

Effect of Mind/ Body Interventions on Levels of Anxiety, Stress and Depression Among Future Primary School Teacher: A Controlled Study // Efecto de intervenciones mente/cuerpo sobre los niveles de ansiedad, estrés y depresión en futuros docentes de educación primaria: un estudio controlado

“…In this sense, these interventions can be seen as a strategy to enhance self-care resources for staff and promote mental health among professionals (Christopher, Christopher, Dunnagan, & Schure, 2006;Franco et al, 2010) and students, in the case of teachers, when faced with, for example, high levels of stress during exam periods (Álvarez et al, 2012;Langer et al, 2015;Mendelson et al, 2013;Zenner, Herrnleben-Kurz, & Walach, 2014).…”