One with everything: Janette Scott takes students through some basic poses to improve their health. Picture: Ted Kloszynski
A GLEN Waverley school has made a leap of faith and organised meditation and yoga classes to improve the health of its students.
Camelot Rise Primary School in Galahad Crescent has had every one of its pupils attend the classes run by Art of Living, a not-for-profit stress management organisation.
During the three-week course, which ended recently, about 400 students attended a one-hour session every week, learning yoga, breathing and relaxation techniques.
Camelot Rise assistant principal Kerry Elliot said the school introduced the program
in an effort to complement its own wellbeing program.
"We had some great reports from students and teachers alike," she said.
"I don't think anything like that will make a massive impact straightaway but instilling in children different strategies to help them with relaxation and breathing would be great."
Janette Scott, of the Art of Living, said students were learning valuable skills.
"It's all about how to get along with other people and how to feel good about yourself," she said.
"The kids are learning leadership, they're learning about health and they do some yoga as well as meditation.
"I think it's like planting a seed. You don't always see the fruits immediately. For some kids it is. For others it's just planting the idea that you can eat healthily, be happy and that there are different ways to behave."
Ms Scott said with the advent of technology, students were forgetting to look after themselves.
"There's so many extra stresses on kids.
"If kids are happy, if they're centred, if they feel they belong somewhere and they know how to get rid of stress, then they're going to learn so much better."