Resources for working with children in schools as well as adult references for mindfulness and yoga practices
1). Mindful Games Activity Cards– Susan Kaiser Greenlad with Annaka Harris (this is for all ages)
2). A Pebble for Your Pocket/Mindful Stories for Children and Grown-ups– Thich Nhat Hanh
3). Zen Pig– Mark Brown (early childhood, kindergarten)
4). Yoga Pretzels Deck– Tara Guber, Leah Kalish and Sophie Fatus (illustrator)
5). My Mind is My Best Friend– Karina Skye
6). Starbright (meditations for children)– Maureen Garth (early childhood and elementary)
7). Making a Difference – Cheri J. Meiners (early childhood and early elementary)
8). Yoga Friends– Mariam Gates and Rolf Gates (early childhood and early elementary)
9). Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods that Make My Day– Jamie Lee Curtis (early childhood and elementary)
10). The Rainforest Grew All Around – Susan Mitchell (early childhood and early elementary)
11). Zoo Zen (a yoga story for kids) – Kristen Fischer and Susi Schaefer (early childhood and early elementary)
12). Enlightening Tales– Sri Swami Satchidananda (all ages)
13). A Boy and a Bear– Lori Lite (early childhood and early elementary)
14). Just Sit (A meditation guidebook) – Sukey and Elizabeth Novogratz (adult reference)
15). Bear Awareness – Ajahn Brahm (adult reference)
16). Myths of the Asanas (the stories at the heart of the yoga tradition) – Alanna Kaivalya and Arjuna van der Kooij (reference for adults with some great stories for school age children)
17). The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali – Translation and commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda (reference for adults)
18). Vital Yoga (a sourcebook for students and teachers) – Meta Chaya Hirschl
19). Empowering Your Life with Yoga – Bliss Wood (adult reference)
20). True Love (a practice for awakening the heart) – Thich Nhat Hanh (adult reference)
21). The Heart of Meditation – The Dalai Lama (discovering innermost awareness) – Translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins from oral teachings (adult reference)
22). Yoga for Kids and Their Grown-ups – Katherine Ghannam
23). Loving-Kindness (The revolutionary art of happiness) – Sharon Salzberg (adult reference source for loving-kindness meditations)
24). Yoga for Stress Relief and Forgiveness – Lisa Shea (adult reference)
25). Helping Children Success (what works and why) – Paul Touch (adult reference)
26). Planting Seeds; Practicing Mindfulness With Children– Thich Nhat Hanh (adult reference with great activities and ideas for teachers and students)
27). Light on Yoga; The Bible of Modern Yoga - B.K.S Iyengar and Yehudi Menuhin (adult reference and great introduction to the philosophy and practice of yoga; known as a staple to all teacher training classes)
28). Happy Teachers Change the World; a guide for cultivating mindfulness in education - Thich Naht Hanh and Katherine Weare and foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
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Recent articles exploring benefits of mindfulness and yoga interventions with children (click the pdf file):
1). Bellhouse, Brenna. (2010). Yoga for mind, body, soul, and school. Physical & Health Education Journal 76 (2), 41-42. Retrieved from ProQuest document link.
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2). Diamond, Adele & Lee, Kathleen. (2011). Interventions shown to aid executive function development in children 4-12 years old. Science, 333 (6045), 959-964. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27978478.
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3). Hyde, Andrea. (2012). The yoga in schools movement: Using standards for educating the whole child and making space for teacher self-care. Counterpoints, 425, 109-126. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/42981793.
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4). Rasmussen, Martin & Laumann, Karin. (2013). The academic and psychological benefits of exercise in healthy children and adolescents. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 28(3), 945-962. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23581530.
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5). Ferreira-Vorkapic, C., Feitoza, J.M, Marchioro, M., Simoes, J., Kozasa, E., & Telles, S. (2015). Are there benefits from teaching yoga at schools? A systematic review of randomized control trials of yoga-based interventions. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Retrieved from ProQuest document link.
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6). Butzer, Bethany; Bury, Denise; Telles, Shirley; Khalsa, Sat Bir S. (2016). Implementing yoga within the school curriculum: a scientific rationale for improving social emotional learning and positive student outcomes. Journal of Children's Services 11(1), 3-24. Retrieved from ProQuest document link.
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7). Simple, Randye J.; Droutman, Vita & Brittany, Ann Reid. (2017). Mindfulness Goes to School: Things Learned (So Far) From Research and Real-World Experiences. Psychology Sch. 54(1), 29-52.
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8). Chou; Chien-Chih; Chung-Ju & Huang. (2017). Effects of an 8-week yoga program on sustained attention and discrimination function in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Peer Journal. Retrieved from Proquest document link.
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9). Libbert, Lauren. (2018). And breath…why schools are stretching to yoga lessons. The Daily Telegraph; London (UK), 25. Retrieved from ProQuest document link.
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