“Where a child grows up may influence their mental makeup more than any test score in their backpack.”
I have been privileged to bring It’s Yoga Kids® enrichment programs to Head Start and First Five programs for years. I have watched three-year-olds learn to breathe through big feelings. I have seen children who arrived anxious and dysregulated leave class calm, strong, and smiling. I have witnessed, firsthand, what happens when young children from under-resourced families get access to the physical fitness and mental health tools that more privileged children receive as a matter of course.
And right now, that access is at serious risk.
What is happening to Head Start
Head Start has served low-income children since 1965 — providing not just early education but health screenings, dental care, nutrition support, and family services — and is now facing its most serious funding threats in decades. The Trump administration has proposed overhauling Head Start regulations, eliminating many existing federal standards and shifting control over student-teacher ratios, educator qualifications, and background checks from the federal government to the states.
The federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has posted a notice intending to significantly reduce regulatory requirements for Head Start, effectively stripping the program of the unique features that have defined it since its creation in the mid-1960s.
Advocates warn that states will not fill the gaps — and recent precedent with SNAP and Medicaid cuts suggests they are right to worry.
The proposed cuts would save $2.2 billion. That is almost exactly one day of military spending. And it would come directly out of the lives of more than 700,000 of America’s youngest and most vulnerable children.
Why early childhood is the highest-leverage window we have
Research on brain development is unambiguous: the earliest years of a child’s life are the most critical window for building the cognitive, emotional, and physical foundations that determine lifelong outcomes. By age five, 90% of a child’s brain architecture is already formed. What happens in those years — the quality of care, the richness of stimulation, the safety of the environment — shapes everything that follows.
Early childhood health outcomes are directly correlated with long-term academic success — and the research on socioeconomic factors in brain development shows clearly that children from lower-income environments are already navigating higher stress loads, less sleep, and fewer enrichment opportunities than their more affluent peers. These are not destiny. They are modifiable. But they require intentional, evidence-based intervention — exactly what Head Start and programs like IYK® provide.
What yoga does for young children in Head Start
Brain development and focus
Movement and mindfulness activate the prefrontal cortex — the brain’s center for attention, impulse control, and decision-making — building the neural pathways children need to learn, listen, and thrive in school.
Stress regulation
Children in under-resourced environments often carry higher cortisol loads. Breathwork and calming movement lower stress hormones and regulate the nervous system — giving young children tools to manage what their environment cannot always protect them from.
Physical strength and body confidence
For many Head Start children, yoga class is one of the only structured movement opportunities they receive. Strength, flexibility, coordination, and body awareness built early last a lifetime.
Belonging and joy
Every child who walks into an IYK® class is celebrated exactly as they are. The experience of feeling seen, included, and joyful, especially for children whose home environments are stressed, is not a luxury. It is a lifeline.
What you can do right now:
1. Contact your representatives — Head Start has historically had strong bipartisan support; let them know you want it protected
2. Support your local Head Start program — volunteer, donate, or simply amplify their voices
3. Share this story — 700,000 children cannot advocate for themselves; we can do it for them
4. Become an IYK® Certified Leader — the more trained leaders we have, the more children we can reach, in every setting, regardless of funding
Every child, regardless of their zip code, their family income, or their circumstances, deserves to feel strong, calm, and joyful. That is not a progressive value or a conservative value. It is a human one. And it is the mission that drives every single thing we do at It’s Yoga Kids®.
Stay Strong.
Be Calm.
Fight for every child.
