Fitness2Focus is an innovative, exciting school and preschool fitness program for children aged children 4-12 years old, specially designed to combine fitness with mindfulness and nutrition. Empowering, inspiring and creating lifelong learning strategies in health, fitness and mental agility. Leaving no child behind, embracing all social dimensions, cultures and individual needs.
Fitness2Focus will provide all children with the opportunity to develop their physical skills which will in turn enhance their overall educational opportunities. The program is designed incorporating known and proven functional training and mindfulness principles. Critical to this program is that it takes place in the morning to stimulate (functional training) and focus each child (mindfulness) for the day’s educational learning.
The program will take place at the school/preschool making it a convenient and safe environment for the children. The Fitness2Focus preschool physical education program is designed for children 4-12 years old in a fun, safe and creative environment. The program is inclusive to engage children from all walks of life and those with individual and special needs
Our goal through the Fitness2Focus program is to help develop fundamental and tactical movement skills, through a diverse and fun range of movement and mindfulness practises. Children will, over the 10-week course, learn both proper form and execution of fundamental movement exercises, stretch routines and mindfulness that will progressively become more challenging as their skills develop.
Through the Fitness2Focus program children will also learn the important health benefits of a mind body practise giving children the skills and dispositions to participate in a lifetime commitment to physical and mental health and encouraging a healthy balanced diet.
- Learn foundational fitness skills
- Encourage teamwork and connectedness through group work.
- Build motor skills
- Confidence and self-esteem building
- Encourage a healthy balanced attitude.
- Help release stress and anxiety
- Increase mental focus and mental agility
- Hand eye coordination
- Develop rhythm and music appreciation
- Develop skills to calm the mind and relax under pressure
- Anti-bullying principles encouraged
- Inspire children to want to incorporate fitness and mindfulness into a lifelong commitment.
set out as follows:
- Decreases anxiety
- Helps you to remain calm
- Strengthens sustained attention
- Sharpens the ability to focus and learn
- Slows the heart rate
- Lowers blood pressure.
- Helps control emotions
- Promotes appropriate social behaviours
- Encourages happiness.
- Connects the mind and body together.
- Prevents injuries
- Maintains flexibility into adulthood
- Agility
- Reduced muscle tension
- Increased blood flow to the muscles
- Improved joint health and range of motion
- Stretching feels good
- Increases the ease of everyday life due to boosting muscle strength and endurance
- Develops muscle and body stability for ease of everyday activities
- Greater muscle memory, repetition of an exercise helps the body and mind to respond faster.
- Building muscles and core strength actually helps exercise the brain too, Effectively boosting the brain’s memory
- Low impact exercises, is a great starting point for children of any Fitness level to try.
- Increases flexibility and coordination.
- Improves balance and posture.
A few examples of weight bearing functional training exercises. Squats, multi directional lunges, push ups, sit ups, planks, hip bridges, inchworms, crab walks side leg raises, superman’s, side leg raises, superman’s,
- Builds endurance which aides in other sporting activities
- Can lower glucose levels in children who suffer diabetes, (even in a single session)
- More time efficient, meaning you can get the same results in half the time of a low intensity training session. Perfect for children's attention spans. . 12 minutes of sprinting 3 times a week has been proven to burn more calories and build muscle and endurance better than 1 hour of cycling.hours after the training is over .
- Increases the flexibility and elasticity of arteries and veins in your heart. One study done by the Institute Epic of cardiologies suggests that High intensity training is not only safe but also easier to tolerate than a more moderate workout in people with coronary artery disease.
- Helps maintain a healthy weight by going into calorie deficit when doing high intensity moves i.e. burpees, sprints
- Reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression.
- Enhancing cognitive brain health, Increases the size and function of key brain regions, such as the hippocampus.
Super Brain Yoga is often termed as the new way of yoga that improves the brain but it is a modern name for an ancient Indian practice traditionally known as Thoppukaranam. Super Brain Yoga encourages a free flow of energy from the brain through the spine and entire peripheral nervous system. It allows a clear flow of energy through all the Chakras or energy centres.
In 2014 a complete study was done in India highlighting the effects of Super Brain Yoga. Researchers discovered a significant improvement in concentration performance and mindfulness after using the technique. They concluded the results of Super Brain Yoga done daily enhanced cognitive function and psychological states of wellbeing.
- Improved Focus
- Increased brain synchronization
- Helps grow your brain. By executing certain SBY moves daily our brains can actually rewire to help us learn quicker and smarter.
- Stand upright (no jewellery) shoulders back.
- Connect your tongue to the palate, this connects the electrical circuit of the body together.
- Using your thumb and forefinger of the left hand clasp your right earlobe.
- With the right thumb and forefinger clasp the left ear lobe. Now your arms are crossed against your chest.
- Stand feet apart, holding in your core and glutes and squat down. Do not squat lower than your knees.
- Inhale as you squat down and exhale as you stand up, Repeat 14-21 reps.
Super brain yoga energises the brain by synchronizing alpha brain waves promoting verall physiological balance and wellbeing. By synchronising and stimulating alpha brain waves, minds are sharper, memory is improved, critical thinking is enhanced.
Done regularly and consistently it has been suggested by Dr Jore of the University of California that practised for 3 months there will be significant changes to a child’s focus and memory. After 7 months a child’s cognitive abilities have improved 20-30%.
A fun easy exercise that will round off the class before yoga, stretching and meditation.
Yoga is becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to highly competitive sports for children. It teaches selfacceptance, calmness and mindfulness which has a profound physical and mental effect on children of all ages when practised regularly. Yoga improves balance, strength, endurance and aerobic capacity. There is a growing body of research that has already shown that yoga done on a regular basis can improve focus, memory, self-esteem, academic performance and classroom behaviour. It also has great benefits in lowering stress and anxiety. Emerging research also suggests that yoga can help children with ADHD by improving core symptoms of ADHD, including inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Yoga increases flexibility in the body and develops new neurological connections in the brain, resulting in better overall focus. It also increases blood flow which oxygenates the whole-body increasing awareness, memory and a positive healthy attitude. A fundamental introduction to yoga will be included into the program as a 10-minute workout after the High Intensity work has concluded. This keeps the energy levels high as the children stretch into fun yoga poses deeply inhaling and releasing stress and muscle tension. A full Yoga session will be included into the weekly curriculum, (See weekly curriculum at the end of summary)
Within a generation the children of today are less able to focus on one task at a time. Social media, surfing the net and other interactive gadgets have made children more restless, less able to focus and distracted. Meditation and mindfulness help children develop a sense of higher self-awareness and enhances confidence. Research has shown meditation helps to boost brain function resulting in children performing better in the classroom and raising IQ which is most beneficial for those children who will be attending school. It reduces stress and calms the mind. In turn children become more able to problem solve and have a deeper appreciation of everyday life around them. Meditation also encourages to give and share love with other children, which can help resolve bullying issues and boost confidence in those children with low self esteem. Practising meditation teaches children to be more understanding, patient and to empathise with others.
A short 5-minute meditation will be included at the end of the workout. This will be done sitting cross legs on the floor in a calm and relaxed position. The meditation will be
guided by our instructor to focus on the breath and then as the children begin to calm their minds will be taken into a short mindful meditation focusing on gratefulness, love
and joy. A perfect way to set a student’s attitude up for the whole day.
- Improved memory and concentration
- Increased confidence and self esteem
- Improved sense of self worth
- A more positive body image
- Greater creativity
- Feeling of calmness and inner peace
- Higher grades and test scores
- Improved behavioural profile
Talks on healthy food and living a healthy balanced life will be discussed at the end of meditation. Many children and families today have busy schedules and rely on convenience foods, packed with preservatives, sugar and fat as part of their staple diet.
By teaching children and having open discussions about the benefits of eating healthy whole foods and exercising regularly children will take onboard new habits that will potentially carry them through into their adult lives.
- Stabilizes their energy
- Improves children's minds
- Evens out moods and temperament
- Helps maintain a healthy weight
- Helps prevent mental health conditions. These include depression, anxiety and ADHD
Plus, teaching children, the importance of a healthy diet and focusing on nutrition are some of the simplest and most important ways to prevent the onset of disease, including heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.
Each week different aspects of diet will be discussed, i.e., the importance of a healthy breakfast, the types of foods that are good and bad, skipping meals and why that is bad, what whole foods do for our bodies. These discussions will be fun and interactive not dictating to the children but rather encouraging them to think before they choose certain foods.
Music is the creative link that underpins this 40-45-minute routine. The importance of music in a child’s development can’t be stressed enough. Music enhances nearly every area of development including brain development, language skills, memory and oncentration skills and increased coordination. Listening to music while we work out connects the mind and body together and is far more enjoyable.
Music can give children a way to express themselves and unleash their creativity, to be inspired and uplifted, to relax and to relieve stress and tension. The selection of music chosen for each segment of the work out aims to take children on a journey . Waking the children up with slow light ethereal music as they breath and begin their workout, heading into fast paced familiar songs the children will know and love to move to and slowly winding down again into softer easier paced music for the yoga and meditation.
Music is also an ancient form of healing, rejuvenating both the mind and body. The choice of music will reflect this as we use different forms of music to stimulate alpha waves in the brain, helping to boost focus, concentration and overall wellbeing.
Sound, music and frequencies within can produce positive feelings of joy and love and the music chosen has been specially chosen for the frequency it possess and the overall positive effect it has over the whole body while listening and working out.
Reduce stress and anxiety
Build confidence and self esteem
Self-mastery
Mental and physical strength and agility
Increase fitness and overall flexibility
Develop a healthy mind set
Even out mood and emotions
Increase memory and concentration
Have fun while exercising
Improve body image
Higher grades and test scores
Feeling calmness and inner peace
- Reduce stress and anxiety
- Build confidence and self esteem
- Self-mastery
- Mental and physical strength and agility
- Increase fitness and overall flexibility
- Develop a healthy mind set
- Even out mood and emotions
- Increase memory and concentration
- Have fun while exercising
- Improve body image
- Higher grades and test scores
- Feeling calmness and inner peace
Large Group Program
The Program
The program is 40-minute 2-3 days a week morning program. Broken down as follows:
- Breath Work
- Dynamic Stretching
- High Intensity Training
- Super Brain Yoga
- Stretch
- Meditation
- Nutrition education