Baltimore Yoga for Youth

Baltimore Yoga for Youth is a project of a non-profit organization, Fusion Partnerships. In 2006, Anjali Sunita, owner of Baltimore Yoga Village, began the Baltimore Yoga for Youth program, in order to introduce a series of Hatha yoga workshops for inner city school students and teachers as tools for developing inner calmness, mental clarity, and much needed stress relief.

Baltimore Yoga for Youth seeks to create a dynamic environment to address many of the social and behavioral problems confronting youth in our inner city. We can have a vital impact on the lives of young people by improving physical and mental health, providing a holistic approach to academic, artistic, and athletic success, and offering an effective and affordable alternative to detention and police-centered crime prevention.
The benefits of yoga are many. Yoga practice creates a healthy pattern of breathing deeply and remaining calm even when faced with uncertainty. For youth in particular, with increased confidence comes less fear of being attacked or bullied. Yogic posture builds a poise and inner strength that gives students useful tools for social confrontations, interviews, and performances. For older youth, the benefit can be as powerful as anger management, specifically learning to use the breath to control temper and volatile emotional responses. These benefits carry over into all aspects of life, including academia and family life.

We have held yoga workshops at Belmont Elementary, St.Paul’s School for Girls, Learning Inc., Wellwood International, Francis M. Wood High School, Dr. Bernard Harris Sr. Elementary, and Baltimore Freedom Academy. We participated in summer camps such as the CCBC summer camp on the Essex campus and have privately taught numerous children in their homes. We are currently organizing a summer camp to be held at Baltimore Yoga Village for elementary school children.
We train teachers through nationally recognized teacher trainings, workshops, and internships in yoga skills and curriculum. Whether you are a home room teacher looking for ways to calm the children or a dance/P.E. teacher who wants to integrate yoga into your curriculum, Baltimore Yoga for Youth provides opportunities for you to learn yogic-based exercises to suit your students’ needs.

Questions? Call 443-629-8077 to set up an appointment with Anjali or to hear more about how yoga could be integrated into your school.