Breath awareness leads to relaxation and lowers feelings of stress

I will incorporate breath awareness into regular yoga class at the detention center. I will observe and ask for feedback on how participants are feeling at the beginning of class and at the end. The goal is for them to experience the feeling of their breath in their bodies and to feel less stress, calmer, and/or more relaxed at the end of class.

All characteristics vary. Participants are incarcerated in the county detention center. Most have little or no Yoga experience. All report high levels of stress.

I envisioned them attempting the practices during class. I hoped the practices would work as described in this article. By becoming aware of their breathing and thoughts, they would be able to obviously relax and possibly report feeling less stress in a very stressful environment.
Research shows that even short-term mindful breath awareness improves impulse control and metacognition. Here’s an example of such research:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0079612318301584

I used hatha yoga, the breathing practices - specifically breath awareness as learning in SMTT and body scan as in the usual IY hatha class.
In a translation of sutra 2.49 it states, "In pranayama we deal with the vital energy, using breath as the vehicle of prana. By controlling the movements of inhalation and exhalation, we can become aware of and then control the movement of prana in our own body."

Participants were observed at the beginning of the class appearing restless and tense. By the end of class they appeared calm and relaxed. Over the course of the class, their movements became more in tune with mine, and by the end of class all participants were lying still on the mats.

Clients are given the recommendation to spend some time outside of class simply observing their breath. They are encouraged to add some stretching as well.

I did apply the plan. I believe the goal of producing the relaxation response and reducing their stress was met.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, in Full Catastrophe Living extols the benefits of diaphragmatic breathing. In relation to this TCA he states that by "becoming more aware of your breathing pattern...you may find yourself breathing more this way."
In the seated portion of the practice, I guide the participants to feel what it feels like when they are breathing - in their belly, diaphragm, ribs, collarbones, and at the tip of the nose. Then we repeat the same lying down after a brief, general body scan from head to feet.
Clients report feeling "better than they have in a long time"; or "relaxed"; "calm"; "able to stop the stressful thoughts", and the most recent "I feel AMAZING!"

What I had to work out was how to assess whether this was working. I could see that it was. So the answer was to observe the participants.

I would do it this way again, with the seated breath awareness in the middle of class, and followed by the body scan and repeating the breath awareness at the end of the class while the participants are lying down. I would love to have the opportunity to hear the participants reflect more, but there is not an opportunity to talk to them one on one.
It's remarkable to me to see the difference in these participants from the beginning of class until the end. Yoga works.