Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Our spring member drive has ended, but it's not too late to give. You have the power to help fund the essential journalism that keeps us all informed. Help us close the gap on our spring fundraising goal! GIVE NOW

Students In Salt Lake City School District Are Seeing Benefits Of Yoga In The Classroom

Alisan Mills

 

 

The president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, Rajan Zed, commended the Salt Lake City School District for offering yoga in some of its schools, as he says is s a step in a positive direction.

The yoga instructor at East and West High Schools, Alisan Mills, says she, too, believes yoga will be highly beneficial in the students’ lives.

“A lot of my students will talk to me about how they’re more mindful of how they treat others because they are more mindful of how they are treating themselves," Mills said. "They’ll tell me they think more now, sometimes, before they respond in situations.”

Mills said she teaches her students meditation practices to help them understand why they react differently in certain situations and how they can better control their thoughts and feelings.

According to the US National Institutes of Health, yoga is strongly correlated with having a positive self-image.

“I have one little gal that came and talked to me about some personal situations that were going on at home," Mills said, "where she felt a lot of self-hatred and she felt a lot of self-doubt, and through her yoga practice, it gave her this sense of, ‘maybe I am worth being loved’ and ‘maybe I am worth loving myself.’”

Mills said she feels she has done her job well when students and parents say they have noticed a positive change in the way the students react to everyday occurrences.