Parkland

More than 1,400 students, dressed for the cold in their sweatshirts and jackets, created a yoga wave on their school's football field on Thursday, flowing through a series of poses before resting on their backs on the chilly grass.

Some, unfamiliar with yoga but excited to get out of class, were unsure what to expect and deserted the flow in frustration. But most proceeded through the wave of up, down and resting postures, which started at the 50-yard line and spread to the end zones.

"This is letting me relax before my math test," said student Dakota Damiani, 16, of Coral Springs.

A corps of volunteers, mostly yoga instructors from South Florida's burgeoning yoga community, were scattered throughout the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High field and often struggled to keep the students' attention. Students had been given handouts that demonstrated the poses, including reaching for the sky, touching their toes, pushups and backbends.

Teacher Stefanie Gross, of Boca Raton High School, walked the field with a portable microphone and threw out words that were strange to some, such as "child's pose," a resting position with knees bent and head on the ground, and "chaturanga," a plank position with arms bent.

"You can take your selfies later," joked Gross, who also led a wave for 2,075 Boca High students on Friday. "Do this for yourselves and your school.You can find your friends later."

Gross started an annual Boca High yoga wave in 2011 and has been looking for teachers at other schools to spread the concept, designed to introduce students to the ancient practice, help them relax and foster school spirit.

Amy Kleinberg, mother of a Stoneman Douglas junior and a yoga teacher in Boca Raton and Coral Springs, offered to bring it to the Parkland school as a way to reduce teen anxiety.

"High school kids have huge challenges," Kleinberg said. "I watch my own kids and all the stuff they have to manage, and they don't have it easy."

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Students at two schools ride the yoga wave