Stress Relief Through Tapping

AP, Tap, tap , these are the movements that Little Flower Yoga ’s yoga and mindfulness instructor, Argos Gonzalez , asks students to make around their eyes, face, arms, and upper body, as a means of relieving stress. Argos who was originally born in Venezuela, and immigrated to New York when he was very young, spent his entire life growing up in Queens. While teaching English in the Bronx for 14 years, Argos began to incorporate a variety of yoga and mindfulness techniques in his day-to- day work with students. “I started to see the benefits of students stretching, and getting in tune with their breath all while being seated” Argos says. After several years of utilizing the practices, he decided to move from teaching English to teaching yoga
and mindfulness full-time.

Most recently Argos has been sharing his practice with students at IS 126Q . “I teach all over the place the Bronx, Westchester, New Jersey, and even internationally, but there is just nothing like coming home to Queens, and giving back to my community. I even lived in Astoria for a long-time, so to see the neighborhood changing, but to see that generations of families are still residing here is awesome,” says Argos. Starting a new program through the generous support of the Phyllis Backer Foundation has been one about providing students in low-income neighborhoods with the natural resources to tune into their mind, bodies, and souls. The stressors of poverty, along with the lack of access to what middle and upper income student have, is what makes establishing a culture around using what we already have critical to helping students decrease their stress level. Tapping into this is an important step for students to establish a self-care routine, that allows them to feel more healthy, and connected to themselves.