CYTT Testimonial: Lauren Crowe, @classroomyogi
My name is Lauren Crowe and I am going into my senior year of college as an elementary education major at Loyola University Chicago in Rogers Park.
When I received my student teaching placement at Peirce International School I was thrilled to begin my student teaching career at such an amazing school. I was looking at their after school activities and read about Youth Alliance Yoga (then called Mission Propelle), a girls yoga program that is offered to students at Peirce and was thrilled. I began looking through the accessible and easy to navigate website YAY has to see if I could volunteer this upcoming year while student teaching and learned that YAY offered a 95 hour CYTT which would allow me to become a registered children's yoga teacher.
After talking with Julie Mackey, creator of Flex Yoga, about the YAY 95-hour CYTT program I decided that as a future elementary educator this program would be the best way to allow me to incorporate my love of yoga, social-emotional learning, and empowerment into my classroom. I signed up at the end of April and focused on my summer teaching fellowship in New York until July 13th came and the program began. I sadly had to miss the first day because of my teaching fellowship, and Jill worked with me so that I wasn't behind and that I could still complete my training.
My first day was amazing. We received these incredible binders that is an entire curriculum of children's yoga instruction created by Jill and Annie who run YAY, and before instruction even began I knew that this program would be worth every penny and would be life-changing. We started every day with a quick morning meditation and would be walked through an activity we could easily replicate with our own students. Each day was unique, but on the longer Friday and Saturday's we really came together as a community. On these days from 8am-5pm, we would work and learn together, each lunch and share our wide range of careers and experiences. The other trainees amazed me, even though I was the youngest and least experienced in yoga and teaching, I was always treated with respect and my opinions were always valued.
We continued focusing on the history of yoga and how to separate the religious aspects from the physical when in school settings. Right away, our first week we were teamed up to do a 60-minute yoga class for children. YAY made it easy for us to get in our hours of practicum with the different partnerships we had. These three partnerships allowed us to teach young children our own lessons while learning from our peers as they taught. The children were incredible and each of these camps truly was amazing in their support of our program.
When I was told I would teach a group of 20 or so 9-10 year old girls a 30-minute yoga practice I was so excited. The ability to put everything we learned into practice while really focusing on helping our students grow was amazing and the empowerment flow I taught was filled with so many different ideas I had learned from Jill from the lotus flower mudra activity, to a warrior flow, and even circling back with a guided meditation. I felt in my element and that came from all of the practicing and feedback we were constantly given throughout the program.
The meditation quest was something we did the last day and while I don't want to spoil it for people who will be completing the program, just know it is one of the most amazing experiences and seeing Chicago from a new point of view was so exciting. Our last day we also got to do a showcase, and what I loved about this is that each of us did something different and unique and we shared what we have learned but also passions unique to us. It was wonderful getting to spend time supporting one another and getting new ideas of how we can strengthen our own practice.
Overall, I couldn't be more thrilled with what I have learned about children's yoga and myself these past two weeks. This program pushed you to be focused and engaged every day, but even when I was sleepy or exhausted I always wanted to continue learning because each session sparked new ideas in my mind. Everyone in this program provided growth and support and I truly know I could lean on any of them for support. I believe that I will be an even better elementary teacher now and overall a better person. I realize how yoga can better not only myself but young people who need it the most. I recommend this program to anyone who is interested in yoga, children, learning about the world around them, and people who want to make an impact.