Storm Lake educator brings mindfulness program to northwest Iowa classrooms

Kayla Christ led North Union Elementary students through breathing exercises, hand positions and a steady chant of “I can do hard things” as her mindfulness program expanded into northwest Iowa classrooms. The Storm Lake educator is bringing Mindful Education in Schools to Pre-K through fifth grade students once a month for eight months during the school year, with North Union Elementary in Fenton and Laurens-Marathon Elementary signed on for 2025-26.

Christ’s sessions were built to feel simple and repeatable. Students began with breathing and mudras, then moved into music, yoga-style poses and phrases meant to strengthen calm and confidence. Christ told students they have about 100,000 thoughts a day and that many are negative or neutral, so part of the lesson is learning to notice those thoughts without treating them as facts. The routine ended with children opening and closing their fingers in rhythm with their breathing, a tactile exercise meant to help them turn frustration into gratitude when they need it most.

Christ has built the work through Safe Harbor Yoga, her Storm Lake business and an affiliate of Challenge to Change. Challenge to Change says Mindful Education in Schools is its signature evidence-based yoga and mindfulness program, customized for preschool through high school and available in live, licensing or digital formats. The organization says its curriculum is trauma-informed and designed to support preventive mental health and emotional intelligence in schools and communities.

Her path into the classroom started after she attended Yoga for Teachers in 2017, an experience she has said changed her life. Christ previously worked as a music teacher and later became a yoga instructor. Through Safe Harbor Yoga, she has offered private children’s sessions, private adult sessions, themed birthday parties and small group classes, giving her a local base as she moves the school program deeper into rural northwest Iowa.

North Union Community School District serves about 700 students in grades PK-12, which makes a low-cost, repeatable wellness intervention easier to fit into a small system. The district’s North Union Elementary building in rural Fenton serves PreK-5 students, and Laurens-Marathon Elementary joined the program as another local adopter. School mental health has become a more visible priority statewide and nationally, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says schools that promote student mental health and well-being can improve classroom behavior, school engagement and peer relationships. Its school action guide specifically includes classroom-based mindfulness education and independent mindfulness practice.

Research has also kept pace with that interest. A 2022 systematic review examined 77 mindfulness-based school studies involving 12,358 students, showing the field is broad even as researchers continue to refine which outcomes are strongest. North Union Elementary was also featured by School Administrators of Iowa in 2026 for a broader culture-of-care effort focused on social-emotional learning and trauma-informed care, placing Christ’s lessons inside a larger schoolwide push.