Classroom Yoga Breaks: Brief Exercises to Create Calm

Easy and brief ways to incorporate yoga techniques in the classroom.

Stress is everywhere in kids’ lives and impacts their well-being at home and school. Exercise is known to reduce stress, yet students have never been more sedentary. And teachers have little time to add yet something else into the school day.

Enter Louise Goldberg and Classroom Yoga Breaks. In this essential book, readers will find a comprehensive guide to incorporating short yoga breaks into their classrooms. Teachers will learn how to promote movement, learning readiness, attention skills, cooperative community, and self-regulation―all in just a few minutes a day. Goldberg’s evidence-based principles of “Creative Relaxation”―creating a peaceful environment where students feel safe, engaged, successful, and independent, promoting empathy and mutual respect―lead the way toward successful use of yoga in the classroom.

The book includes a step-by-step curriculum for integrating yoga breaks into the classroom and over 200 illustrated exercises―enough to incorporate one every day of the school year. Twelve units are arranged by theme, with lessons consisting of one- to five-minute exercises, that can be done from the seat or standing. Each unit includes topics for discussion or writing, movement, breathing exercises, focusing activities, relaxation techniques, mindful practices, and self-calming skills.

Yoga is a complement to social and emotional learning, mindfulness training, and physical education. It can help address bullying behaviors, students with autism and special needs, and promote overall resilience and executive function. With this book in hand, readers can integrate these fun, relaxing, and healthy breaks into the daily lives of their students and themselves.

60 illustrations

Louise Goldberg has been a yoga teacher and educator for over 35 years. She is the author of Yoga Therapy for Children with Autism and Special Needs (2013), Creative Relaxation® Yoga for Children DVD (2004), and co-author of S.T.O.P. and Relax, Your Special Needs Yoga Toolbox (2006). She is the director of the Yoga Center of Deerfield Beach, Florida, and is a licensed massage therapist. She leads trainings in Creative Relaxation yoga for children to educators, therapists, and parents nationally. Louise has been a reading specialist and has taught English at the middle school, high school, and college levels. She leads yoga and meditation retreats in Florida and Europe.