Our Emergency Children’s Shelter is more than a safe place to sleep. Kids in our care participate in activities like art, music, dancing, swim lessons, and visits from therapy dogs. One of our therapists suggested we introduce yoga to the kids’ schedules to enhance their well-being. After some research, Child Crisis Arizona connected with a mobile yoga studio, Yoga’s Arc, where instructors come directly to the children’s shelter, a place where the children feel safe.
Child Crisis Arizona and Yoga’s Arc staff worked together to create classes to help the children cope with the vulnerable and traumatic situations they have experienced. One of the main takeaways we want the kids to learn is how to regulate their emotions by using different breathing techniques to help calm them when they are feeling overwhelmed, or what we call, BIG EMOTIONS. Learning this will help the children to self-regulate if they find themselves in an uncomfortable situation when they leave our care.
The kids’ response to yoga has been great and they really enjoy themselves. They learn new poses, how to take deep breaths, and work on their balance. They even helped the instructors clean up the mats.
“We liked the lights off because it made us relaxed,” said one shelter child. “I liked when we were the pencil and the star,” said another.
We are very grateful for the partnership we were able to create with Yoga’s Arc and look forward to future classes as the kids have already asked for the instructors to come back!
