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Olivia Bertoi,
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Mindful Learning
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Yoga instructor takes kindergarten
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Allie Jacobs
Special to the Jewish News
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12 June 25 • 2015
n Laura Rosin's pre-kindergarten and
kindergarten classroom at Franklin
Academy in Southfield, her students
know the rules: "Kind thoughts, kind
words, kind heart, and a kind touch to
myself and others:'
In addition to practicing their ABC's
and numbers, Rosin teaches her students
yoga and mindfulness techniques each
day to help them through the challenges
they face in the classroom, on the play-
ground and in life.
Growing up, Rosin lived in both West
Bloomfield and Southfield, and now
resides in Birmingham. After becoming a
certified yoga instructor and practicing for
nearly a decade, she finds that yoga helps
her to live in the moment and remain
calm during challenging situations.
To determine if her students might
experience the same benefits, she started
experimenting with teaching basic yoga
and mindfulness techniques in the class-
room. As she started integrating yoga,
she began observing some positive side
effects.
"I especially noticed that for the chil-
dren who are getting bullied and are full of
anxiety and fear, yoga helps center them','
Rosin says.
Rosin finds that teaching the "tree pose"
is especially helpful for children who are
being bullied.
"I teach them how to hold that pose,
and that's where they really learn how to
be strong and work through something
that's hard:' Rosin says.
She emphasizes that yoga can be used
on and off of the mat, and encourages stu-
dents to share with her how they use yoga
in everyday situations.
Rosin is even able to weave in yoga
techniques with academics. She developed
a yoga pose for every letter of the alphabet
and emphasizes breathing techniques such
as "bluebird breath" while learning about
science and nature.
When Rosin notices that her students
are becoming distracted, she will engage
her class in "river meditation:' During
this practice, Rosin instructs the children
to stay calm like a river while distracting
paper fish, such as the "bully fish' and "the
come-play-with-me-while-I'm-working
fish:' swim by them.
"The kids really like the river medita-
tion:' Rosin says. "It gets them to really
know how to focus and helps them feel
confident:'
For the upcoming academic year, Rosin
plans to create a "mindful moments cen-
ter',' where students are instructed to use
their five senses to observe animals, sea-
shells and other objects in nature.
Rosin fmds that yoga principles reso-
nate with her children on a spiritual level.
Throughout her own life, she has been
a member of Temple Israel, Shir Shalom
and Temple Beth El. She has also spent
time volunteering at Yad Ezra with her
two daughters, Brooke and Stephanie.
In the classroom, she teaches her chil-
dren kindness and compassion, and feels
that these values coincide with many reli-
gious belief systems.
Outside of the classroom, Rosin dedi-
cates herself to offering free yoga to any
child who has been bullied or who is ter-
minally ill. "Ifs my own personal mitzvah
project," she says. "I hope to stop bullies
and empower victims to believe in them-
selves:'
Based on the positive feedback she has
received from students, parents and her
fellow teachers, Rosin plans on growing
her yoga program even further at Franklin
Academy by continuing to share her skills
with students and educators.
As Rosin points out, her true aim is to
touch one child at a time. If she is success-
ful in that, she feels she is making a
difference.
❑