Since working in an Italian middle school here in Italy, I have been noticing tons of differences when comparing them to the American schools I am used to back at home.

In the public schools here, Italian students stay in the same classroom all day and the teachers come to the rooms of the students, instead of the students switching from class to class.  For this reason, the students tend to feel like the ones in control, since the visiting teacher is in their space, and not vice versa.  This tends be a catalyst for a lot more problems with discipline than what we might be used to in America; understandably a peculiar concept to Americans.  

When I come into school in the morning (for my internship as a teacher), it is impossible not to notice the pent-up energy in these students, but also the lack of focus within the actual classes.  This can sometimes make a difficult atmosphere in which to conduct lessons.  In addition to being a teacher, I need to be a police officer, a disciplinarian, an entertainer, a cheerleader, and a diplomat.  As the students get more comfortable with me week after week, their excitement makes them louder, more rambunctious, and much harder to re-center towards the days planned lessons.

High energy students at any school can certainly benefit from yoga or some physical activity in their school.  It could serve as an outlet for this excitement, which is simply a natural outcome of their school environment.  

There is a great place for yoga in schools, because it requires an exercise of both the mind and the body.  Yoga commands the attention of those in the class, so it could provide students with a focus, in addition to being a practical way to release energy (instead of counter-productive behaviors, which I have observed quite a bit…). 

Students at this age really benefit from learning how to practice self-control, which I have certainly learned in the yoga and Pilates classes I have taken.  Also, practicing yoga teaches a person how to properly stretch, which ties in well if the students are doing other sports.  

When children learn something new, information tends to really stick and resonate.  I myself would have loved to be taught yoga at a young age. The introduction of yoga in schools seems like a natural fit!

My name is Roxy Szal; I am a 20-year-old college student at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL, but I am lucky enough to be currently spending the best semester of my life studying abroad in Rome, Italy and being the blog writer for World Y.O.G.A. Project!

Here's some backgrond info about me:  Since being in Rome, I am making every possible attempt to ‘do as the Romans do.’  One of these ways is taking in the culinary culture of this beautiful place.  However, my body is not used to this massive influx of carbs, so to keep up I do a lot of physical activity, like running, Pilates, and yoga. I have undergone a significant mood and energy change since working out more in Italy.  I feel more energized, cheerful, and, most importantly, focused.  I’m really excited to be working with this awesome company and to be writing for it, blogging about yoga, nonprofits, and being abroad, from the perspective of a nonprofit-obsessed college student halfway across the world!

I have an internship over here teaching English to middle school students. Since working in an ‘experimental’ scuola media (middle school) in Italy, I have had a lot of exposure to students with different types of learning and social disabilities.  The mission of this school is to put all different types of learners in the same classroom in order to assimilate and socialize everyone, regardless of abilities or varying backgrounds.

Seeing that April is Autism Awareness Month, I am interested in exploring the place of yoga in employing aid to people, specifically students, with various disabilities.

All children have different skill sets: some flourish in the classroom, some on the sports field, some with friends or in social situations, some simply in using common sense in their day-to-day lives.  For autistic students, however, many of these areas are more difficult for them to master than the average student.  For this reason, students with autism or other social challenges may struggle or feel out-of-place in schools.  A school should be able provide its students with several areas in which they could practice and eventually excel, like the opportunity to do yoga classes. Yoga requires a lot of attention, which provides a focus and helps autistic students practice physical discipline and mental stamina.  The introduction of yoga lessons could also give these students something concrete to look forward to.  Repetition of certain moves could also potentially be good for helping with balance and dexterity, and in turn make struggling students more confident in social situations.  Being an adolescent and a preteen navigating the way through school can be difficult enough without any social or physical roadblocks in the way, like those that are associated with autism.  Perhaps doing yoga could help treat the symptoms of autism.

As the famous Roman, Juvenal, wrote in the first century AD, rather than for wealth, power, or children, human beings should pray for mens sana in corpore sano or a “sound mind in a sound body.”  Using yoga as a vehicle for this concept, autistic students would be able to practice physical discipline and mental stamina, giving them goals, a solid routine social structure, and, ultimately, a calm, quiet focus point to work towards.

It only takes one open-minded, brave individual to introduce yoga into unfamiliar territories!  World Y.O.G.A. Project has taken a collective step as a team, to bridge the gap between youth and Y.O.G.A., bringing this worldly, eccentric practice into an academic prospective.  With WYP providing a healthy, engaging, positive, physical outlet for children in schools, where they spend the majority of their time, we might just be on to something great! 

Yoga is distinct in its ability to create change and inner-awareness, which ultimately leads to greatness.  We want all children to be empowered in this way that is not only seen, but unseen.

Creating a sense of calm in an atmosphere that can sometimes be chaotic is not our doing.  It's the yoga!  WYP just gives it shape and the schools give it a place to be... giving youth the opportunity to obtain great achievements!

Peace, Love, & Y.O.G.A.!