It is my desire to introduce new ways for children, parents and caregivers to deepen their connection, while spending time to learn and share the practice of yoga. Whether you are an accomplished yogi or a newbie to this practice, yoga can be used to promote a healthy and playful bonding experience for everyone.
Children have inquisitive minds, as they can be guided, influenced, and molded to sharpen their skills during their formative years. Introducing yoga to children would help to establish healthy habits at an early age, as this mindful-based practice can groom the child’s character and personality.
The Yoga in Amazon program is built around the five key Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, social awareness, and relationship skills. This program offers benefits derived from quiet relaxation through basic yoga poses that are designed for kids to learn mindful based movements and controlled breathing exercises.
This book illustrates a journey deep into the Amazon rainforest to introduce coping strategies and personal change, via the traditional healing arts of storytelling, and drama therapy. In the story, the characters have contradictions as they try and fail, have fun, and develop their own sense of identification and self-worth. Thus, children also relate to characters with which they can relate to and empathize with emotions.
We live in times of angst for climate, an uncertain future, and the possibility of war. We want to instill certainties, safe havens, and bring confidence into the ever-growing capabilities of children. Come join us on this journey and act out various animals poses – become a butterfly, or a lion, and practice breathwork as a bee.
This book provides an innate opportunity to engage the curiosity and senses of young children, by providing an experience of extraordinary realms within literature and fiction. So, lets explore the Amazon using this kids’ yoga guide to have fun, as we support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for Quality Education, Climate Action, Good Health and Well-being. Namaste!
GoInwards is a 501(c)(3) non-governmental organization (NGO) that aims to provide tangible improvements in integrative health via innovative educational learning and research-based programs. The organization was formed based on the belief that all people must have access to the tools necessary to manage the physical, emotional, and mental aspects of their well-being. Headquartered in Northern Virginia, our organization has been chartered to address the cognitive conundrums faced by children, youth, and adults, who are attempting to navigate their daily lives while in midst of adversity across the globe.
Our mission is to advance wellness and resiliency through integrative health related awareness, prevention, intervention, and resilience-based educational programs, to ensure that individuals are connected to appropriate wellness resources. The goal is to provide the highest quality of learning and development opportunities for the practitioner to self-regulate physical, emotional, mental state, and social dynamics of their domain. As such, our mindful-based programs have been designed for the practitioner to sustain optimal health, maintain equanimity, reset spiritual balance, and unleash the true potential of the human spirit.
Figure 1: Sustainability Model
GoInwards has created alliances with academia, research institutes, and several public-private sector entities, which has enabled us to capitalize on partnership opportunities for market research, program, and policy development. By leveraging this eco-system of multidisciplinary allies, we have formed valuable synergies to address several imperative issues. Our distinguished team of educators, industry professionals, researchers and thought leaders collaborate on designing strategic policies and programs.
As an advocate for educational change, our team promotes the use of mindfulness-based programs in the education curriculum, to enhance Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) for school children. The proposed strategy is to create customized programs that are designed to enhance SEL and mindful decision-making competencies. This program would provide children with the essential tools to develop cognitive growth, and the executive functioning skills necessary to become resilient, and thrive as life-long learners.
This is achieved through the introduction of complementary educational courses to students as part of their structured learning curriculum. Ultimately, by integrating such programs in the SEL curricula, it would impart awareness about the appropriate intervention option, that could serve to enhance social and emotional growth. These skills are learned through mindful-based practices that supports the development of self-regulation skills.
For optimal execution, we have developed a robust framework and roadmap for use in conducting a needs assessment exercise, and to document measurable outcomes, by determining the best mindful-based learning programs that would be suitable per case.
GoInwards has the agility to advance diversity by consolidating a plethora of ideas from a broad range of stakeholders, namely the academic institutions, research foundations, public agencies, private entities, and fellow nonprofit organizations. This mosaic represents a diverse group of professionals who provide global perspectives, actionable insights, and innovative programs, to create and capitalize on partnership opportunities for program development and research.
Our organization has prolific and notable board members, consultants, educators, industry professionals, researchers, subject matter experts, and thought leaders, who act as stewards to help accelerate our mission. Our faculty has been instrumental in designing a range of iconic programs, built around a shared vision of wellness, as we strive to bring access to innovative tools, and diverse human development experiences, to the communities across the globe.
*Future growth potential, play and video series
Figure 3: GoInwards Program-Based Model
Evolution of the education system to enhance children’s social emotional learning.
Our schools should be safe havens for teaching and learning, free of crime and violence. The National Center for Education Statistics ‘School Crime and Safety Report’[1] identifies the presence of disruptive elements, that leads to victimization such as bullying, fights, and student use of drugs and alcohol. No country can achieve inclusive and equitable quality education, if learners experience a host of turmoil that infringes the fundamental right to education.
Many teachers are faced with the challenge of managing a classroom full of high-needs students in communities where there is a high frequency of crime. These children often come from very different backgrounds, and face various adversities such as family, social or economic problems that detracts from their focus on education. Many of these students face a myriad of difficulties such as drug and/or alcohol use, academic (low reading and math) performance, learning disabilities, disciplinary problems, behavioral/personality maladjustments, and a general lack of social skills.
There is now growing evidence that both academic and cognitive achievements are affected by and dependent on student health. However, the education system is under continuous pressure to focus on student academic performance, with limited resources devoted to instruction in physical, emotional, mental, and social wellness. Modest yet profound questions regarding feelings of anger, ability to control anger, ability to handle stress, and strategies the children should use to handle bombardment from external stimuli remain unaddressed.
High prevalence of psychiatric and behavioral disturbances in children and adolescents, coupled with the reality that most schools do not prioritize social emotional learning, suggests that the implementation of mindful-based programs would be of significant value.
[1] https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/report-indicators-school-crime-and-safety-2020
Develop inner resilience to navigate stress and overcome barriers to learning.
Evidence suggests a strong theoretical rationale for combining contemplative practices, such as yoga and meditation, with SEL programs to improve student achievement and attainment.[2] School-based yoga programs are viable for children to help manage physical, emotional, and mental stress, recognize emotions, appreciate perspective of others, establish, and maintain functional relationships, make positive choices, and enjoy social interactions.
Social-Emotional Learning is the process of developing the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success. People with strong social-emotional skills are better able to cope with everyday challenges and benefit academically, professionally, and socially. From effective problem-solving to self-discipline, from impulse control to emotion management and more, SEL provides a foundation for positive, long-term effects on kids, adults, and communities[3].
A key component to SEL not only involves an emphasis on children and youth’s social-emotional skills, it also emphasizes the importance of school-wide practices, as well as community involvement and connection. Not only do children and youth benefit from the practice of yoga and mindfulness in the school setting, but also if offered as a “systematic approach” to learning, and seen as a crucial and integral component to children’s social-emotional well-being, learning and success, the students, teachers, school, and community benefit as a whole.
Extensive research shows a correlation between the skills taught in SEL programs and academic achievement, positive behavior, and healthier life choices. The hypothesis indicates health behavior changes after yoga practice, as participants begin to develop mind-body awareness, thereby becoming more aware of endogenous cues[4].
[2] DOI 10.1108/JCS-10-2014-0044, Implementing yoga within the school curriculum: a scientific rationale for improving social-emotional learning and positive student outcomes, Bethany Butzer, Denise Bury, Shirley Telles and Sat Bir S. Khalsa
[3] DOI 10.1108/JCS-10-2014-0044, Implementing yoga within the school curriculum: a scientific rationale for improving social-emotional learning and positive student outcomes, Bethany Butzer, Denise Bury, Shirley Telles and Sat Bir S. Khalsa
[4] https://www.cfchildren.org/what-is-social-emotional-learning/
Research shows that yoga interventions exert positive effects on several factors, including emotional balance, attentional control, cognitive efficiency, anxiety, negative thought patterns, emotional and physical arousal, reactivity, and negative behavior. Additional research has also revealed positive effects for school-based yoga on such factors as concentration, attention, anxiety, stress, mood, resilience, emotional arousal, self-esteem, and coping frequency[5].
Contemplative practices have the potential to play a crucial role in enhancing the quality of public education, as yoga may be an innovative approach to prevent early risk factors for psychological problems in childhood[6]. When mindfulness and yoga are taught together, each become more powerful teaching tools to cultivate inner resources that maximize resilience, and support healthy navigation of challenges internally and externally:
Figure 7: Holistic Approach to Wellness
Application of mindful-based yoga practice has been shown to be viable for children to improve physical and mental health, manage stress, recognize emotions, appreciate perspective of others, establish and maintain functional relationships, make positive choices, and enhance social interactions. This inclusive way of thinking is necessary to engage the child’s inner world, and instill essential virtues to help them cope effectively with the outer world.
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4831047/
[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3980104/
A detailed project implementation plan and communications plan will be developed to assign tasks, manage workflow activities, and track the various components, milestone deadlines; to include processes and approaches for planning, monitoring, reporting, and controlling the project. Throughout the program, a risk profile will be used to identify, document, and manage risks based on the Governance, Risk, and Compliance Framework (GRC).
The Project Management Plan (PMP) will be an evolving document, reflective of episodic and abrupt changes, and will be revised during scheduled status meetings. The formalized management structure built around the Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed (RACI) framework, will enable the team to ensure collaboration amongst the identified stakeholders, to accomplish the goals and objectives defined for this program.
Figure 8: Notional Project Plan
The project workplan table provides key activities for managing and controlling the Prepare, Plan, Design, Integrate, Operate and Optimize (PPDIOO) life-cycle phases of this program.
GoInwards is formed on the belief that we all must have the tools necessary to manage the physical, emotional, and mental aspects of our well-being. Our brand was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to help people find a way to ‘level-up ’by going inwards. To advance this mission, we have formed partnerships with notable entities from academia, research institutes, public, and private sector entities. This eco-system of like-minded practitioners subject matter experts, thought-leaders, consultants, educators, industry professionals and researchers, enable us to gain global perspectives, and capitalize on partnerships for research and program development.
GoInwards, a 501(c)(3) non-governmental organization, is chartered to advance wellness through integrative health related awareness, prevention, intervention, and resilience-based educational programs.
