Happy father’s day!
Here’s a shot taken of me by James in Lionshead!
This post is dedicated to the New Leaf Yoga Foundation, a charitable Canadian organization that makes yoga and mindfulness practices accessible to “at risk” youth who have experienced trauma, marginalization and even incarceration. I’m a strong believer that yoga can make serious improvements in not only the wellbeing of individuals, but on whole population. By starting with one person at a time, especially with our youth, yoga can be a powerful contributor to social change. Since young adults are responsible for close to one in five (18 percent) of all violent crimes in the United States and one in three (33 percent) of all serious property crimes, they are an excellent place to start when making community improvements. The basic idea is to provide young people – especially at-risk and incarcerated kids – the tools they need to develop viable options that can change their lives. By teaching the ancient wisdom of yoga to the young people of today, Yoga for Youth helps them leave their troubled past behind and follow the path toward personal and professional success. Please join me in supporting New Leaf Yoga and other foundations like them by donating, volunteering or simply getting the word out about them!
Yoga, derived from the Sanskrit term yuj “to join together”, is one of the most popular mind-body practices around the world, with about 15 million Americans practicing it in 2008. Since the 1970s, over 50 studies world-wide have been published investigating the influence of yoga on heart health, blood sugar, body composition and blood pressure. The invigorating breath and meditation practices of yoga are great ways to calm your mind, improve your mood and enhance your overall awareness. Studies have demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing migraines, stress, anxiety and depression. Yoga is also a useful tool against a wide array of mental health related disorders including eating disorders, insomnia, cancer related fatigue, dementia, schizophrenia and even autism. With about 20% of children experiencing mental health problems and recent high school drop-out rates close to 30%, alongside our serious obesity pandemic in western cultures, children of today can seriously benefit from some regular yoga practice. Unfortunately, yoga studios are too expensive for many of us, let alone children, especially when so many of us are living well below the poverty line. As a result, foundations such as New Leaf are an excellent way to get today’s kids involved with yoga. Here are 2 reasons why yoga is a great way to support our youth!
1) Yoga helps enhance the health of our youth!
In 2012, 14% of American children were diagnosed with asthma, 20% were reported obese and 22% were diagnosed with type two diabetes. Furthermore, 70% of obese children have at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease, such as higher cholesterol or blood pressure. Aside from diabetes, children who are obese are also at a higher risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea and social and psychological problems. Yoga is an excellent preventative tool for our youth with some pretty astonishing evidence to support its use to promote health. For example, yoga interventions have been demonstrated to lower fasting blood sugar by 30%, total cholesterol by 25%, LDL cholesterol by 26% and blood pressure by 20%. Moreover, yoga promotes deeper breathing, higher oxygen consumption and improved blood flow. Growing evidence is also suggesting that yoga may lower oxidative stress, improve insulin sensitivity, increase antioxidants and antioxidant enzymes, and reduce free radicals, which may help explain why yoga is such a heart healthy addition to your day-to-day routine. During a 12 week yoga program with kids, there were significant improvements in their body composition, fitness, nutrition knowledge, dietary habits and blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Another study on children with asthma showed improvements in not only asthma symptoms, but also muscular strength and BMI. Yoga interventions for our youth are an excellent way to promote their better health through to adulthood.
2) Yoga improves mental health!
Today’s young adults are the most stressed out generation by a long shot, and even more-so when living below the poverty line. As a result, mental health problems are all too common among children and young adults, with about 20% of children around the world experiencing them. Moreover, they can have serious health implications on our youth including increased obesity, computer dependency, drug abuse, low self-esteem, lack of school motivation and dropouts. With the mixture of all the hormone changes throughout puberty as well as the increased pressure on kids these days from their family, bullies, media, friends and education system, they can really benefit from interventions to improve their mental health. Yoga has been shown to lower the activation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis and sympathetic nervous system, resulting in feelings of well-being and helping to alleviate the effects of stress. It has also been demonstrated to reduce the release of GABA, a hormone linked with depression and anxiety. In fact, just 20 minutes of yoga has been shown to significantly lower anxiety levels. It promotes mental clarity, emotional balance, improved focus and enhanced mindfulness, all components of a healthier and happier lifestyle. Moreover, yoga is associated with enhanced peer and teacher relationships, weight management, resilience, self-awareness, confidence, strategic planning, spatial memory scores, motivation, sleep, coordination and academic performance in children interventions. Yoga can help improve children’s ability to meet day to day challenges, giving them a powerful skill to cope with stress throughout their whole life. Since the keys to success seem to be creativity, flexibility, self-control, and discipline, yoga is a great tool to give kids a better shot to a brighter future.
In the Toronto area this June? Join New Leaf Yoga for their 7th anniversary party which will feature local food, a raffle, a cash bar and a funk and soul DJ! This 19+ event will be held Saturday, June 21st, 2014, from 9pm-12am at the IndustREALarts room (688 Richmond st W., Toronto) and is 15$ in advance and $20 at the door. Can’t attend? Visit their website for more opportunities to help out, newleafyoga.org.
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