Yoga Time: It's a Different Kind of Recess at P.S. 89

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Class begins with "heart-and-belly breathing," as instructor Hillary Lopes sounds the singing bowl and Madeline Kolodziej assumes her position. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

Hillary Lopes plays the singing bowl. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

Lopes is in "low lunge" position as Emily Lee makes her way there. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

These girls take Warrior II position. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

The class goes into a restful "Child Pose," taking a few breaths to quiet down and prepare for the end of class. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

During savasana, the students can request a temple or hand massage. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

The end of the session. Time to roll up the mats. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

They intone mantras like “I love my mom” and “I am so huggable.” And their “downward dog” can be punctuated by a giggle here and there. Still, these children, as young as five, are doing real yoga at P.S. 89.

Twice a week for three weeks, kids voluntarily trade their re­cess play for yoga poses on the school’s stage, led by their cheerful and ever-patient instructor, Hillary Lopes.

“It’s weaving in games and songs, but with taking the time to breathe, to be a little still,” said Lopes, 29, who works with Little Flower Yoga, an organization that brings the practice to schools.

Stillness, of course, does not come easily to fidgety children and Lopes said she has to readjust her expectations.

“Just me showing up and being as kind, calm, collected and focused as I can amidst child chaos and energy brings them eventually to a place where they are at least being introduced to it,” she said.

It may help that it’s mostly girls who choose to participate, though there are usually one or two boys in each class. One of them, 3rd grader Ace Kehoe, said his friends are missing out.

“Most of the boys just like to go outside and play and have fun,” Ace said. “But I think yoga’s a little bit better because you get to calm down if you’re having a rough day.”

Vice Principal Tao Vo, who organized the program five years ago, had long practiced yoga as a low-impact exercise. “I figured there might be kids who enjoy it as well,” she said. “It’s a nice combination of structured activity but there’s creativity involved, too.”

“Where do you feel the stretch?” Lopes asked one class as they pulled themselves into a “low lunge” pose.

“In my legs,” one child yelled.

“In my arms,” said another.

“I feel it in my heart,” came a sincere third reply.

Whatever the feelings during their short yoga recess, the benefits, some kids say, are long-lasting. For 3rd grader Zeyna Tai it means being “happy and relaxed” for the rest of the day. And best of all, she added, “If my brothers are being annoying, I’m not getting really, really mad at them.”