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This uncontrolled pilot study examined the effects of a classroom-based yoga intervention on cortisol concentrations and perceived behavior in children. A 10-week Yoga 4 Classrooms intervention was implemented in one second-grade and one third-grade classroom. Students' salivary cortisol responses were assessed at 3 time points. Classroom teachers also documented their perceptions of the effects of the intervention on students' cognitive, social, and emotional skills. Second, but not third, graders showed a significant decrease in baseline cortisol from before to after the intervention. Second and third graders both showed significant decreases in cortisol from before to after a cognitive task, but neither grade showed additional decreases from before to after a single yoga class. The second-grade teacher perceived significant improvements in several aspects his/her students' behavior. The third-grade teacher perceived some, but fewer, improvements in his/her students' behavior. Results suggest that school-based yoga may be advantageous for stress management and behavior.

This uncontrolled pilot study examined the effects of a classroom-based yoga intervention on cortisol concentrations and perceived behavior in children. A 10-week Yoga 4 Classrooms intervention was implemented in one second-grade and one third-grade classroom. Students' salivary cortisol responses were assessed at 3 time points. Classroom teachers also documented their perceptions of the effects of the intervention on students' cognitive, social, and emotional skills. Second, but not third, graders showed a significant decrease in baseline cortisol from before to after the intervention. Second and third graders both showed significant decreases in cortisol from before to after a cognitive task, but neither grade showed additional decreases from before to after a single yoga class. The second-grade teacher perceived significant improvements in several aspects his/her students' behavior. The third-grade teacher perceived some, but fewer, improvements in his/her students' behavior. Results suggest that school-based yoga may be advantageous for stress management and behavior.

CONTEXT: Substantial interest has begun to emerge around the implementation of yoga interventions in schools. Researchers have found that yoga practices may enhance skills such as self-regulation and prosocial behavior, and lead to improvements in students' performance. These researchers, therefore, have proposed that contemplative practices have the potential to play a crucial role in enhancing the quality of US public education. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to provide a summary and comparison of school-based yoga programs in the United States. DESIGN: Online, listserv, and database searches were conducted to identify programs, and information was collected regarding each program's scope of work, curriculum characteristics, teacher-certification and training requirements, implementation models, modes of operation, and geographical regions. SETTING: The online, listserv, and database searches took place in Boston, MA, USA, and New Haven, CT, USA. RESULTS: Thirty-six programs were identified that offer yoga in more than 940 schools across the United States, and more than 5400 instructors have been trained by these programs to offer yoga in educational settings. Despite some variability in the exact mode of implementation, training requirements, locations served, and grades covered, the majority of the programs share a common goal of teaching 4 basic elements of yoga: (1) physical postures, (2) breathing exercises, (3) relaxation techniques, and (4) mindfulness and meditation practices. The programs also teach a variety of additional educational, social-emotional, and didactic techniques to enhance students' mental and physical health and behavior. CONCLUSIONS: The fact that the present study was able to find a relatively large number of formal, school-based yoga programs currently being implemented in the United States suggests that the programs may be acceptable and feasible to implement. The results also suggest that the popularity of school-based yoga programs may continue to grow.

Although yoga has been shown to be a viable technique for improving the performance of the mind and body, little attention has been directed to studying the relationship between yoga and the psychological states of flow and mindfulness. Musicians enrolled in a 2-month fellowship program in 2005, 2006 and 2007 were invited to participate in a yoga and meditation program. Fellows not participating in the yoga program were recruited separately as controls. All participants completed baseline and end-program questionnaires evaluating dispositional flow, mindfulness, confusion, and music performance anxiety. Compared to controls, yoga participants reported significant decreases in confusion and increases in dispositional flow. Yoga participants in the 2006 sample also reported significant increases in the mindfulness subscale of awareness. Correlational analyses revealed that increases in participants' dispositional flow and mindfulness were associated with decreases in confusion and music performance anxiety. This study demonstrates the commonalities between positive psychology and yoga, both of which are focused on enhancing human performance and promoting beneficial psychological states. The results suggest that yoga and meditation may enhance the states of flow and mindful awareness, and reduce confusion.

This study involves an exploratory examination of the effects of a 12-week school-based yoga intervention on changes in grade point average (GPA) in 9th and 10th grade students. Participants included 95 high school students who had registered for physical education (PE) in spring 2010. PE class sections were group randomized to receive either a yoga intervention or a PE-as-usual control condition. The yoga intervention took place during the entire third quarter and half of the fourth quarter of the school year, and quarterly GPA was collected via school records at the end of the school year. Results revealed a significant interaction between group and quarter suggesting that GPA differed between the yoga and control groups over time. Post hoc tests revealed that while both groups exhibited a general decline in GPA over the school year, the control group exhibited a significantly greater decline in GPA from quarter 1 to quarter 3 than the yoga group. Both groups showed equivalent declines in GPA in quarter 4 after the yoga intervention had ended. The results suggest that yoga may have a protective effect on academic performance by preventing declines in GPA; however these preventive effects may not persist once yoga practice is discontinued.