New York City public schools will be required to administer two to five minutes of "mindful breathing" exercises to all students every day, New York City mayor Eric Adams (D.) announced Monday.
"We think that it’s just, air goes through your nostrils and you move," Adams said Monday. "No, there’s a science to breathing,"
From pre-kindergartners to high school seniors, students across the five boroughs will begin these daily exercises in the fall aimed at improving physical and mental health. The city is already training teachers and staff how to administer the breathing exercises, according to Adams.
The announcement is the latest health initiative from the New York City mayor. In addition to a "yoga and mindfulness" program for teachers announced earlier this year, Adams created "Vegan Fridays"—on each final weekday, schools now only serve vegan meals.
"Two to five minutes. Think about that. We're not talking about hours. Two to five minutes is a game changer," Adams said at a press conference Tuesday.
New York City students' test scores still lag behind what they were before the pandemic. While students maintained reading proficiency, "less than 38 percent of third through eighth graders demonstrated proficiency in math, compared with about 46 percent of students before the pandemic," according to a New York Times report in September.