Mission Moment: “Namaste” from Lutherville Lab’s Open Door Care Program
After school hours are filled with joy when you enter the gymnasium on Fridays at Lutherville Lab. Our friends from Open Door Before and After School Care partnered with Holistic Life Foundation to bring yoga practice to the students who are enrolled in their program. Back in January, The Education Foundation of Baltimore County Public Schools was invited to join in on the fun. We met instructors Jeremy Brown and Jamar Peete from the Holistic Life Foundation, who led a room filled with students in yoga practice. They not only taught basic yoga poses but also emphasized breathing techniques to instill mindfulness and self-care practices.
When we entered the gymnasium after school on that cold Friday afternoon, the air was filled with excitement. Students were eager to get started and could hardly sit still. The energy was high. By the end of the session, the students were calm, composed and fulfilled. A measured difference.
As an added bonus, staff members from Open Door Care and teachers from Lutherville Lab were invited to practice with the students during the session. This was so they could learn the techniques of the practice and have the ability to instruct students in the future, continuing the benefits experienced through yoga for days to come.
Our thanks go out to Richard Corner, Principal at Lutherville Lab and Karen Grannas, a current Education Foundation of BCPS board member and COO of Open Door Care, for inviting us. As stated by two of the staff members from Lutherville Lab, Denise Stamp and Stephanie Miller, “We see the value in yoga. There are big benefits gained to help with thought control and following instructions. Our students can benefit from bringing yoga practice into the classroom.”
In the future we hope to see more yoga in the school house! Namaste.
Schools can consider an experience such as this as a future 21st Century grant opportunity for the upcoming school year.