The Boulder alliance is currently inactive. Please contact 
Judy Ladd 303-527-3215
at the Boulder County Medical Society
if you are interested in 
reviving this worthy cause.

Program founder,Dee Marie (center, holding award)with Boulder Alliance officers; Jeanette Bowles (left)and Jenny Burton, Renee Nichols (right)

Boulder's"Calming Kids" formerly known as "Yoga Keeps Me Calm, Fit, & Focused" community health program which teaches nonviolence with Yoga to 5-7th graders
 wins state Esther B. Long Award for best county health program!

Dee Marie with the presedent of the AMA and AMAA

...and then it won a 
National Alliance Health
Awareness/Promotion Award!

If you are interested in 
bringing this 
great program to your county, please contact Dee at 303- 530-3860 or energysourceinc@yahoo.com

Calming Kids (CK) – Creating a Non-Violent World

Program Highlights

 

It has been reported by the American Medical Association (AMA) that bullying and aggressive behavior, although not a new problem, continues to be on the rise.  It has extended onto the computer for what is now known as cyber bullying.  Yet, aggressive behavior still continues within the school environment as well.  As a result, the AMA has declared the second Wednesday in October, this year October 10^th, to be national SAVE (Stop America’s Violence Everywhere) Day.

 

CALMING KIDS (CK) – Creating a Non-Violent World came about after Dee Marie, the Boulder County Medical Society SAVE (Stop America’s Violence Everywhere) representative attended a Colorado State Medical Alliance meeting in 2004.  After hearing the AMA concern regarding aggressive behavior and bullying in the school systems, Dee and the Boulder County Society (BCMS) decided it was time to address this issue.   Dee Marie, M.A., CYT,  in collaboration with the BCMS Alliance and with the help of her own company Energy Source Incorporated, developed the CK yoga curriculum.  Dee has been a yoga therapist for 20 years and is a certified Structural Yoga Therapist.  She has a Masters Degree in Exercise Therapy and Child Development from NYU.  She is a certified adult, children’s and pre-natal yoga teacher.  In 2007, Dee Marie became the SAVE representative for Colorado.  She has been a BCMSA member for 15 years.

 

Dee Marie has created a classical yoga program and booklet which specifically targets the issues of violence and bullying in schools. The concepts presented are yoga philosophy: kindness, compassion, and communication; combined with yoga science: moving energy with a high level of body and breath awareness. 

 

A pilot project conducted in 2004 and 2005 with 4^th and 5^th grade children in Colorado proves its positive efficacy on decreasing aggression and increasing concentration ability in elementary-level students.  This study now proves the positive influence it has on children.  The results of the pilot study were extraordinary.  In 2005 students self-reported 93% less hitting, 56% less anger, and a 50% increase in their ability to control their anger, in addition to less headaches and better sleep at night.  (See results listed below). One teacher reported, “The atmosphere in the room after yoga is more peaceful.”  Another teacher commented, “I have personally benefited from the six sessions of yoga and so have my students.  Their focus is so much better and I really think they are kinder and more patient with each other.”  The principal stated, “I feel that it has made a difference in our school community and climate with our 4^th and 5^th graders.  In the fact that there have been less incidences of behavior (problems) outside at recess…”.

 

In 2005 Dee Marie received the Esther Long Award from the Colorado Medical Society Alliance for innovative community heath programs in the state of Colorado.  In 2006 the program received the Health Awareness Promotion (HAP) Award from the national division of the American Medical Association Alliance.

 

CALMING KIDS has now been incorporated into the academic curriculum of a Boulder school, Heatherwood Elementary, every October since 2004 and will continue in 2007 and into the future.  In order to expand the program, Dee Marie will collaborate with local yoga teachers, school teachers and school counselors in September and October 2007.  The current CK project plan of teacher training workshops will provide teachers who are currently working within the school system, with a lesson plan of how to use yoga combined with conflict resolution strategies as an intervention method for reducing bullying and aggressive behavior in the elementary and middle school systems.

 

The CK mission is to manage violence in the schools with a comprehensive program of classical yoga techniques. The methods include yoga psychology, breathing practices, concentration techniques, exercise postures, and conflict-resolution skits to control violence and aggression. The targeted age group (8-14 years) is more receptive to guidance, has less peer pressure, has a higher percentage of bullying than older teens, and is on the verge of developing high risk behaviors. The program’s emphasis is non-harming to oneself and toward others, learning to respect personal space, and high-level concentration practices to enhance academics and encourage nonviolent behavior.

 

The next CK teacher training workshop will be held October 13, 2007, 9am-5pm in Northeast Boulder.  Please call for information and registration: 303-530-3860.

 

Students reported the following:

 

Fall of 2006                          Fall of 2007

 

75% decrease  hitting at school  93% decrease

 

76% decrease  hitting after school  68% decrease

55% decrease         being hit          54% decrease

56% decrease  friends hitting them  56% decrease

41% decrease     feeling bullied       41% decrease

68% decrease       feeling angry       56% decrease

81% decrease      friend's anger       59% decrease

 

57% increase       anger control       50% increase