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You are here: Home / Archives for science

science

Character Development – Empathy

The Discovery of Mirror Neurons – A Scientific Understanding of Empathy

Jeremy Rifkin author of The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness In a World In Crisis

“All humans are soft wired with mirror neurons.  So that if I’m observing you, your anger, your frustration, your sense of rejection, your joy, whatever it is, and I can feel what you’re doing, the same neurons will light up in me as if I’m having the experience myself… we’re soft wired to experience another’s plight as if we’re experiencing it our self.”   – Jeremy Rifkin

In the video below, senior lecturer on trends in science and technology, Jeremy Rifkin suggests that science shows that we’re actually soft-wired to be empathic. Something the yogis taught when they said we are all One, we are all connected.  Were the yogis referring to mirror neurons?

Rifkin explains these stages of development in children to help us understand empathy:

  • Empathic distress: when a baby in a nursery cries, all the other babies in the nursery cry, we don’t know why but it’s called empathic distress.
  • Mature Empathy: at 2 1/2 years of age, once a toddler can identify them self (like in the mirror) then they know that if they are observing someone else have a feeling, they know if they feel something they know they are feeling it because someone else has it.  They are two separate beings.
  • Self-hood goes together with empathic development: Around 8 years of age a child learns about birth and death.  They learn where they came from and that they have only one life and that life is limited and fragile.  This allows the child to experience another’s plight in the same way they experience their own life challenges. When we understand that we are all struggling to live, then we develop more empathy for other human beings.

Increase Self-hood, Increase Empathic Development

The way I understand what Mirror Neurons show us, we are born ready to empathize with others.  Through our culture, education, and upbringing we are conditioned otherwise.  Through our frailty and imperfection we actually become closer to each other, more connected, because of our soft wiring for empathy.

How Mirror Neuron soft-wiring can be used for Empathy and Kids Yoga

  • Teachers/Parents actually help kids develop empathy by admitting to mistakes and struggles.  It’s helpful to express frustration when there are behavior problems.  Tools like the Yoga Man vs. The Stressor coloring pages relay the stress we face and challenges we must overcome and help us connect with kids because of our built in ability to empathize,
  • Yoga poses that are difficult provide a group experience that help children relate to each other – in yoga this means it will build your class rapport when you introduce new challenges to overcome together,
  • Self awareness developed through yoga and meditation may also increase empathetic development – in kids yoga this means time for discussion, breath awareness, and meditation can also help kids develop empathy.

Can Empathy Help the Environment Too?

I highly recommend watching the video above.  Not only does Jeremy Rifkin propose that empathy could lead to a global human consciousness, he also suggests that empathy towards other species (animals) and the planet will lead to the solutions to our environmental issues.

For more information on Empathy and the Yamas and Niyamas you can also check out this guest post by Donna Freeman of Yoga in my School.

November’s Character Education theme is Empathy.  Did you know about Mirror Neurons?  How will understanding the science of mirror neurons help you with character development and teaching kids about empathy?

Filed Under: Character Development, Kids Yoga Tagged With: character development, empathy, Jeremy Rifkin, science

Scientific Studies that Support Kids Yoga

Yoga poses like The Tree improve steadiness.

These 3 Studies Show how Yoga Improves Stress Management, Spatial Memory, and Body Control in Children

by Alex Bonari, guest blogger
www.collegescholarships.org

Yoga for children can seem unnecessary. After all, they’re young, so aren’t they already limber? They shouldn’t have any problems with stretching, their lives aren’t as stressful as those of adults, and it would probably be difficult to get children interested in a yoga routine.

As it turns out, scientific research has proven that logic wrong. No matter how healthy a child’s body may be, it can always benefit from yoga practice. Children’s lives are also becoming more stressful and they seem to welcome the novelty and relaxation that accompany yoga instruction. The following three articles discuss the results of scientific research that has documented the positive effects of yoga on children.

Enhances Stress Management and Relaxation (click here to link to study)

In this study, 48 fifth-graders who showed abnormal test anxiety were divided into a control group of 27 and an experimental group of 21. The experimental group received 60 minutes of yoga instruction on 15 different occasions, while the control group received none. The subjects were evaluated before the study, immediately after the yogic training, and 3 months after the conclusion of the study.

The students who received yoga instruction had an increased emotional balance in the long term and showed reductions in fear, feelings of helplessness, and aggression. This study also observed that students who received yoga instruction transferred what they had learned to situations outside of school to improve their well-being and to control negative feelings.

Improves Spatial Memory

This study compared before-and-after verbal and spatial test results for three groups of children: those attending a fine arts camp, those attending a yoga camp, and a control group.

The only group that showed any difference between its before-and-after test results was the yoga group, which demonstrated a 43% rate of improvement in the spatial category. This suggests that yoga practice, which included physical postures, yoga breathing, meditation, and guided relaxation in the study, improved the performance of children’s right-hemisphere brain activity.

Increases Static Motor Performance (click here to link to study)

In this study, children from ages 9 to 13 were divided into two groups. One group received yogic training (physical postures, voluntary regulation of breathing, maintenance of silence, visual focusing exercises, and games to improve the attention span and memory) while the other did not. Over a ten-day period, the children in each group were tested morning and night to observe their steadiness.

The yoga group showed a 17% increase in steadiness at the end of the period, while the control group showed no improvement. The study concludes that yogic instruction improves children’s ability to control their minds and bodies.

Guest Blogger Bio: Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She often can be found blogging about general education issues as well as information on college scholarships. In her spare time she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

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Spatial Memory

This study compared before-and-after verbal and spatial test results for three groups of children: those attending a fine arts camp, those attending a yoga camp, and a control group. The only group that showed any difference between its before-and-after test results was the yoga group, which demonstrated a 43% rate of improvement in the spatial category. This suggests that yoga practice, which included physical postures, yoga breathing, meditation, and guided relaxation in the study, improved the performance of children’s right-hemisphere brain activity.

Filed Under: Kids Yoga, Resources Tagged With: balance, benefits, focus, science, stress management

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