Maura Hubbard received a Dana Brown Teacher Mini-grant for her program, Trauma-Informed Yoga. Her students participated in 10 weekly trauma-sensitive yoga classes that incorporated art, music, games and other activities. It focused on mindfulness, which encouraged the students to develop new ways to self-regulate, solve problems, be confident and work as a team. The sessions began at a 10-minute duration and gradually increased to 30 minutes. Students engaged in a variety of calming yoga games, activities and poses.
Maura reports that the instructor was calm and flexible, while aware of the accommodations needed for the students. Maura says, “We had two students who were hesitant to engage in the sessions at first. They would simply sit and watch. Weeks later, these students were engaging and requesting specific activities or poses. It was wonderful to see!” Several students were interested in continuing yoga practice after the formal sessions as a strategy to regulate their bodies and emotions.
Maura Hubbard is an SSD teacher at Parkway’s Wren Hollow Elementary School. The yoga classes were held in fall 2019 through January 2020.