75% of children drop out of organized sports before they are 12 years old.
Among the top reasons for dropping out are: they aren't good enough to compete at that level, there is too much pressure or worry, they don't like the coach, and they don't like their teammates.
 – National Institute for Child Health

Hatha or athletic yoga is one of the oldest and most beneficial forms of exercise in the world. According to the Yoga Research & Education Center, 85% of children who practice yoga regularly, will still be regular practitioners of yoga at age thirty, and 95% of thirty-year-olds practicing yoga will be practicing yoga at fifty. Yoga truly is a physical pursuit for every one of every age.

"There's been a major paradigm shift in the teaching of P.E.," says Lawler, whose program has been highlighted in the state and national media and has been identified by the Centers for Disease Control as a national model. "The old-style P.E. met the needs of just 30 percent of our students." Everyone else, he adds with regret in his voice, was often left with a "lifetime of bad memories and demeaning experiences," like being picked last for basketball scrimmage or being ridiculed by teachers and fellow students for being too weak or too slow.

"There's so much emphasis on academics ... but where is the brain located? It's housed in the body," Lawler says. "All things being equal, a fit child is going to learn better. We need to educate the total child."

A regular yoga practice can result in tremendous personal benefits. Poses strengthen, align, and insure flexibility, while breathing exercises quiet the mind, promoting focus and balance. Yoga students learn about their body-mind relationship, and gain power over their personal wellbeing. Confidence and self-esteem are enhanced, nourishing emotional health and opening the door for social interaction that reflects respect for oneself, and others.

A recent statement from the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, recommends promoting health education through a life sciences curriculum. “… emphasizing a distinctively human biology, can tap into the natural curiosity of young adolescents, who are already intensely interested in the nature of life by virtue of the changes taking place in their own bodies.”

Asthma is the most common chronic disorder in children under 18, affecting more than 5 million nationally (about 1 in 12 American children). It is estimated that asthma causes more than 10 million missed school days every year in the U.S. The asthma epidemic is even greater in Chicago, with 1 in 6 children diagnosed with asthma.

Mindful breathing is at the heart of a yoga practice, and teaches children how to improve their breathing and strengthen their lungs. Yoga empowers them to participate in managing their asthma, and can decrease frequency of asthma attacks.