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SALT LAKE CITY — You can always find a good yoga class at your nearest gym, but what about your nearest elementary school?
Lincoln Elementary School in Salt Lake City is bringing some "karma" into the classroom, and teachers say there are a lot of ways that yoga benefits kids.
Becky Page is a third-grade teacher at Lincoln and said she started doing yoga herself about 12 years ago.
"I noticed the mental and physical effects that it had for me and I wanted that for my students," said Page.
For the past two years, Page has found instructors like Angela Singh and Dana Baptiste who were willing to teach yoga to her third graders at no cost.
"It really is amazing that just since I've seen them, their increased ability to concentrate, pay attention, be in their bodies is pretty amazing," Baptiste said.
"They've told me it makes them feel better ... inside," Singh said. "I really believe it would help every child."
As for how much it has helped, just ask the kids.
"It calms us down when we're angry or mad," said Lahpo.
"I like it because it gets me to get my back straight, because usually I'd just be playing games all day and it would be slouched," said Lloyd.
"It takes away my stress," said Beyonce.
"It can clear your mind and helps you focus on just one thing that you're doing on a test," said Leila.
Page said she's seen a lot more focus and more confidence in her students since they started doing yoga together. She said before every test, they do a breathing exercise to clear their minds.
"Will they do better with their test scores? I don't know if you can measure that," Baptiste said. "But at least they're not going to be stressed out when they're taking that test."
Yoga doesn't just help kids with testing. Page said it also helps a lot of kids with confidence.
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Some students are finding balance with the demands of middle school by trying out yoga during the school's "pride time," which is like a study hall hour."The biggest benefits that I see is that they're more focused, they're calmer and they know that everything is going to be OK," she said.
"It makes me feel free to be who I am," said Beyonce. "In regular school, I get bullied. So when I do yoga, nobody makes fun of me because everybody else does the same thing."
