"Your Healthy Heart" always includes
our exercise specialist visiting several classes
at a local elementary school. She talks with the kids about stress
and how you can use
exercise to help you relax when you're having a bad day. As you
can see from the
smiles in the pictures, the kids always have a great time!!!
Our exercise specialist is a Tai-Kwon-Do instructor.
She begins by talking to the kids
and asking them about what kind of stress they have in their lives.
They are good listeners...
They are quite eager to share their fears and
stresses.
Not surprisingly, many of them are concerned about their grades!
The stress relief exercisesession begins with
warming up and stretching. Lots of stretching going on here...
Even our Study Coordinator gets into the act!
Then comes jumping jacks and running in place...
Don't forget those abs!
Then she shows them how
to punch, shouting a loud "Kia!" (that's a karate yell)
It doesn't take long for the kids to figure this out!
And soon everyone gets into the act!
From punching, they move on to kicking. It can
be a little cramped in the classroom, but the kids are great!
First there's the windup......and
then the kick!
We hold up old x-rays
for them to kick. Luckily, their aim is pretty good!
We finish up with some
deep breathing exercises.In...and out...
Some even add a little
yoga! Our study coordinator sometimes feels a bit stressed,
so she joins in the deep breathing!
