Every Tuesday afternoon after lunch this term, the Year 8s go to the P.A.C. (Performing Arts Center) to do yoga, while the Year 7s stay back in the Tall Poppies classroom to learn mindfulness with John from Breathworks.

The Year 8s practice mindful breathing and then do yoga, watching a 14 year old girl on YouTube named Jaysea Devoe. These exercises push us to engage our core and leg muscles. This is a great way to stretch our muscles and relax our minds. It also helps us become more flexible.

We have interviewed a few students about their opinions on yoga:

“I find it really good because it relaxes my muscles and brain” - Lacey Graham
“It stretches our limbs” - Max Gorman
“I find yoga calming, and it helps settle you into the moment. You know what you’re doing and when I focus I find it comfortable” - Jade Honore

During the Year 7s Mindfulness, we have been working on keeping ourselves calm and having our mind focused for longer periods of time during class. We have been doing a bunch of mindfulness activities like the first aid mindfulness kit; keeping yourself grounded, smiling, and inhaling deeply. We are also working on remembering to have a straight back and a soft belly. We have been practising with short audio clips posted in our Google Classroom after morning break each day to help us as well.

Here is some student voice on mindfulness;

“I like mindfulness because it calms me down and relaxes my body” - Isabelle Hurley
“Afterwards it makes me feel less irritated” - Laura Wood
“When you're stressed you can use mindfulness to calm you down” - Lincoln Cooper
“It helps you get out of the red zone to the green zone” - Micah Verstappen

We do these activities to train ourselves to keep in focus with our minds and have peaceful bodies.