The teacher who started yoga for her health and found a solution to bullying in schools

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This is the story of a woman who generated a change in her life.

Since she thought that this transformation could be useful to others, she proposed it in the classroom where she taught, to her colleagues, then at school and, finally, in her city.

The teacher's name is María Celeste Rodríguez and she teaches at the Carlos Pellegrini de Federación public school, a city of 16,000 inhabitants in the northeast of the province of Entre Ríos, on the Argentine coast.

After suffering a deep vein thrombosis in one of his legs, Rodríguez began practicing yoga to improve blood circulation.

What started as a medical recommendation ended up being the first step on a path of self-knowledge.

“I began to look inside myself at what I used to look outside.

When I began to feel all that awakening in me, I wanted to take it to my students," said the teacher.

Rodríguez presented a project at his workplace to incorporate some yoga techniques in the first grade.

This is how El Rincón de la Paz was born.

The boys were providing some blankets to lie on, pillows and other objects that linked with a sense of serenity.

Children practicing one of the yoga classes. Lucrecia Gutiérrez

“I started working with my students at that time, who were six years old.

In the face of a situation of conflict in the classroom or in the face of an emotion that we could not control, we had the Peace Corner available.

Nobody sent them.

They had that option when they needed a moment of quiet or reflection, ”he explains.

Before reaching that small space, the boys learned to sit in a circle on the floor or at the table, something challenging for a certain rigid gaze of education.

They began to identify emotions, validate them and be able to count them.

One day, even, the boys themselves sent their "teacher" to the corner.

“The day after my grandfather died, I went to work as usual and told the boys that I was sad about it.

They all stopped without saying anything to me and took me to our place.

It was a beautiful thing because it resonated with them that I needed it,” he recalls.

The boys' parents and their fellow teachers began to appreciate Celeste's work.

Her idea was expanding: she jumped from the small space of the classroom to the recess of a school with almost 700 students.

“Then she was born

, with a small instance of meditation and

(yoga postures).

The boys, even the older ones, responded fantastically to the tools”, says the teacher.

They also did a job "of love," according to Rodríguez.

The youngest boys distributed some pieces of paper with their older classmates, with messages that said: "You are cute."

"I love you".

"I like your smile".

“We try to give children the space to resolve conflicts without the ever-present intervention of the teacher, who can condition them.

One as an educator has to dare to generate projects that transcend the limits imposed by school disciplines.

If the child lives, feels and thinks, we must aim for a teaching centered on dialogue.

On this path I had more 'no' than 'yes'.

However, I decided to continue."

From a classroom to a whole city

In 2018, Rodríguez was elected "Illustrious Teacher" of the Federation, as a result of the initiative;

It is an award that is given to only one teacher from each of the 17 departments in the province.

"Yoga improves the child's school performance, helps control nervousness, reduces aggression, develops attention span and concentration, and increases memory capacity, in addition to strengthening self-esteem," said the document that his school sent to the Ministry of Education of the province to justify his candidacy.

“Yoga has a direct impact on the coexistence of the boys with their classmates, inside the classroom and during breaks.

The activity became institutionalized and was extended to other groups of students.

In addition to recess, Celeste began to go to other grades to implement yoga in special classes, such as physical education,” said Mariana Grigolatto, substitute director of the Carlos Pellegrini School.

Bullying "remarkably decreased," adds Grigolatto, after the implementation of yoga techniques at his school.

“There were episodes and some fights like in other schools.

Now, as a result of yoga and the work we do on peaceful coexistence, we have no problems with bullying or aggression among the boys.

In addition, performance improved, mainly in reading and concentration”.

María Celeste assists a child during class. Lucrecia Gutiérrez

Gisela Stivanello, mother of a 12-year-old girl who goes to the Pellegrini School, told how they resolved a conflict in the classroom.

“She is as smart as she is shy;

she has a hard time connecting, relating and sharing with others.

At school, she suffered a conflict with a particular classmate.

At first you think that they are things for girls, but they can end up in cases of

, ”she says.

The issue reached the teachers' room, which sought a solution.

“The subject was discussed in the classroom, without giving names.

My daughter had a yoga activity with the girl in the conflict.

The job consisted of blindfolding herself, touching her partner's face and, based on that, guessing who she was.

From that and other tasks, there was a change in attitude.

And that girl started talking to my daughter and exchanging some activity with her”.

Celeste Rodríguez today is a yoga teacher, as well as an elementary school teacher.

She gives training workshops to colleagues who want to implement the techniques in her classroom.

"Something that is not easy because teachers must, first of all, encourage themselves to do a job with themselves."

Recently, she was summoned from a secondary school, which has a particularly problematic course.

Intervention in adolescents is not an easy task.

“Social conditioning, anger, pride, jealousy, envy are stronger… It costs more to ask for forgiveness.

It does not happen right away as in children.

We talked about the problem of reaction and how to avoid conflicts”.

Celeste's work makes sense when listening to a mother who appreciates her intervention.

Or the director to be proud of the prize she won and the "beneficial contribution of yoga" for children.

She calmly talks about issues like mutual love and recognition of one another.

“Bullying can be avoided if we understand that we are all important.

And that no one can survive without being taken care of.

We need, more and more, a healthy coexistence.

You know why?

Because I live with you and you live with me.

I try to carry that message not only in words but in actions."