Press, Testimonials, and Participating Schools

Schools taking time out for yoga: Breaks designed to help meet exercise recommendations.

KUTV Family Matters

Letters of Support

From Principals

“During the school year, it was our privilege to work with Greentree Yoga who provided 5 minute - yoga instructional breaks on a weekly basis for a large number of classes in our school. Greentree Yoga also provided services for our AfterCare Program that were well received and appreciated. The teachers expressed great pleasure in the benefits they observed for our students.”

— Dr. Sue Heath, Principal, Escalante Elementary.

“The teachers found the yoga breaks were a great way to transition students between learning activities, refocus them when they needed redirection, and calm them before stressful moments like testing. The students enjoyed getting up and actively engaging in a unique way and also spoke to the ways in which yoga was calming for them.

There are several students in my school who have specific issues with anxiety or autism spectrum disorder and this type of classroom-wide break helps create an additional opportunity for them to benefit from a break and continue to participate socially with their entire class.”

— Joan Bramble, Principal, Morningside Elementary

From Teachers

“My fourth grade class enjoyed the yoga class right before math. My students were more focused and ready to learn. We did some simple yoga hand stretches during tests to keep us alert and at our best.”

— Connie Sturzenegger, 4th grade

“When I signed up last fall, I was a little skeptical how my 6th graders would respond to trying Yoga. My doubts were soon put to rest, as the students really enjoyed it! The instructor was amazingly good with the students, provided them some interesting history of yoga, and in each quick, five-minute session – taught them a different exercise to relax both their minds and bodies. I appreciated having a CD of the music used in each lesson enabling us to practice on our own from time to time. Using the relaxation methods before test taking was especially useful, as it seemed to put the students in a frame of mind to stay on task and apply themselves.”

— J. Scott Smith, Grade 6

“Ms. Angie brought our kindergarten class a worksheet of the pose we learned for that day. They loved coloring it and taking it home. Hopefully they will hang it up and practice the poses at home. She also gave us some really cool posters of poses. They love looking at them. Thanks so much!”

— Mrs. Berez, Kindergaten, Salt Lake City

From Volunteers

Trauma Kit: “The kids LOVE yoga and so many tell me how they have been doing them at home and before tests. Quite a few of my teachers use it in their classroom on a daily basis, to calm their kids down, to help when there's tears, to help them focus, it's awesome.”

— R. Ballard

Family Yoga: “Family Yoga was more fun that we even expected! My daughter and I had a blast! We giggled, made new friends and enjoyed learning more about the art of Yoga! We wish we could find a family yoga class that we could attend on a regular basis. Family exercise and family fun is just what the world and our family needs more of!! Thanks so much!”

— Tammie Ynda, SLC, Utah

YWCA: “Green Tree Yoga has been very influential to our group of kids. They love each session and are always anticipating towards the next. We've noticed many positive behavior changes in our kids throughout the course of our partnership with Yael. They've practiced the breathing techniques to become a calmer person and also to be more helpful to everyone else. Yoga teaches them to be patient and have a much better understanding of having a healthy mind, body and soul. By practicing yoga at such a young age, we feel that they can adapt to better lifestyle habits as they grow into their adulthood.”

— Jimmy Lee, YWCA Children's Activities Coordinator

“GreenTREE Yoga's program encourages the children to have fun and be silly, while reducing stress and building physical strength.”

— Bree Ann Murphy Therapeutic Activities Coordinator, YWCA, Salt Lake City, UT