BE WELL - Yoga & Wellness School Program
The BE WELL program evolved when thinking about my dance students. I have always integrated yoga asana (poses) and mindfulness practice into their dance technique classes. However, when our classes were virtual during Covid, I found that talking with them and prioritizing their mental and emotional health was essential. I found ways to weave in journal writing, guided meditations, breath-work and conversations as a way to promote self-esteem and positivity as well as encourage frequent “check-in” sessions. I also gave them creative ways to use movement to express how they were feeling during this unprecedented time.
Upon further reflection, it became clear that this was a great and necessary opportunity to develop a yoga initiative to all students in all settings. With my background in yoga and dance, curriculum building and holding a PK-12 Dance Education Masters, I feel inspired to promote physical activity and nurture all aspects of one’s well-being. This passionate objective is about offering students a holistic insight. It’s about offering tools to spark an awareness of how to manage their own mental and emotional health.
BE WELL is tailor made to meet student needs with the hope to create an individualized experience for all. Curriculum is broken down into grade and/or age level, background and physical setting (dance studio, public school, pre-school, etc.) Providing ideas (physical, mental, spiritual and emotional) that are obtainable and approachable, BE WELL offers classes that are age appropriate, relevant, tangible and relatable.
This program provides yoga and wellness foundations students can practice on their own or with peers and encourages them to remain vocal about their head and heart space. My goal is to provide them with a safe, laid back environment to try new things, energetically focus inwardly and outwardly, be introspective, reflect, ask questions, be candid, laugh and also take some “quiet time” for themselves. Team building exercises and peer work are also woven through class themes to promote a loving, kind, inclusive and supportive camaraderie.
BE WELL gets students moving, yes. But, this workshop is less about asana and more about tapping into who they are as human beings. It’s about reminding them their mental and emotional well-being are paramount. It’s about discovering how much fun we can have moving, taking a breath, trusting ourselves and others and learning new things. Also – and most importantly, reinforcing the notion that it’s OK to feel what you feel and it’s cool to be exactly who you are in the space you are in at any given moment in time.
Please contact me for detailed program and curriculum information as well as scheduling classes/workshops for your students. Classes can be conducted via ZOOM or in socially distant settings. Would love to share this journey and it is my honor to guide them through it.
Be well.
XO, jess
“This is our school’s second year offering the Be Well program to our preschoolers. Jessica has an innate ability to meet each age level where they are at. Her program is interactive and approachable. She encourages the children to talk about feelings, breathe, and move in ways that help them build a foundation for emotional awareness and growth, a skill that is so essential for children . The children LOVE ‘Miss Jess’ and feel deeply seen by her. Their self-esteem and positivity is enhanced through this excellent program.“
-Jeannine DiBart and Gail Porter
Directors, Katonah Playcare Early Learning Center
“In our plugged in world, full of comparison, it was such a joy to watch our students engage in mindfulness with focus on themselves and one another during the BE WELL yoga workshop. Jess led a wonderful meditation and prompted such thoughtfulness and reflection for our teens. The younger students learned some new ways of moving as well as thinking, with mantras. We thought the time was well spent and the investment well worth it.”
-Mary Ingersoll
Director, Inspirations Dance Center