Beginning in October of this school year, Blossom Yoga owner and instructor Jill Lovato has been working with students in Scott Hume’s Advisement class at Triumph High School on meditation techniques. Jill is a certified yoga teacher with hundreds of hours of yoga training and thousands of hours teaching in addition to a Master of Science in Zoology & Physiology and a Master of Arts in Anthropology and Spanish. She shared that, “…my academic background absolutely led me to yoga 20+ years ago – first to the philosophy and culture around it and then to the physical practice and its effects on the human body, mind, and spirit.”
Jill has shared her time with the students at Triumph after English teacher Scott Hume reached out to see if anyone at Blossom Yoga would be willing to come in and do some 30-minute sessions with his Advisement class. Advisement is like a Homeroom class, but it is focused on working with students on their Discovery skills, reading instruction, initiatives that foster team-work and critical thinking, and a place for students to have their social and emotional needs more directly addressed. According to Scott, “The Advisement period always felt like a very holistic endeavor, and I believed the students would benefit in all facets of their lives from some meditation instruction. We are so appreciative that Jill has been willing to guide us and introduce the students to the benefits of mediation practices.”
Jill has worked with the students on body scanning, breathwork (known as pranayama in yoga), presence in body and mind, and orienting, which is practicing the skill for rebalancing the central nervous system through mind practices with the five senses and breath. She shared, “All of these practices are tools, and I hope the kids I’ve worked with begin to deepen their toolbox, to figure out the tools that work best for them, and to see how useful the tools are…I hope I’m encouraging them to cultivate a small, attainable daily practice.” The students have enjoyed the sessions and have expressed that the sessions help them feel more grounded and calm. Several students have mentioned that they would like to try to incorporate what they have been working on with Jill in their daily lives.
Students remarked that some of the techniques and ideas they worked with during the sessions were reminiscent of those they had experienced in therapy sessions. There are many correlations and crossovers between current Western wellness techniques and the world of yoga and meditation that focuses on conditioning the central nervous system to default to the parasympathetic system instead of the sympathetic system, which is the classic fight/flight/freeze system. In addition to helping regulate their response to emotion (and a host of other benefits), meditation is also a mindfulness activity which can improve both physical and mental well-being.
The partnership between Blossom Yoga and Triumph High School has been very beneficial for the students and Jill plans on returning on a regular basis to work with Scott’s students. It would be heartening to see the students use the meditation techniques alongside their academic skills and find success once they are done with school. 
