[currentuser role=”instructor_level”]
Instructor: Joyce Marienfeld
Community: 4th Grade, School Setting, 30 minutes
Plan Creation Date: April 1, 2015
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Stillness
Lesson Plan:
Calm
- Chime – holding still and quiet, listen to the chime and give a thumbs up when you no longer hear it.
- Belly Breathing – in chair – feet on the floor, spine tall, with shoulders down and relaxed; relax your belly and gently place your hands on it; close your eyes or look downward; being very still begin to notice your slow, deep breaths, in and out your nose, feel the rise and fall of your belly; 5 breaths – “ breathe in…breathe out…breathe in…pause…breathe out…pause” … “during each pause between breaths, focus and see if you can be totally still and feel the pause”.
- 30 Seconds of Stillness – “ continue your nice , slow breathing …and let’s see if we can sit and feel the stillness for 30 seconds”; sharing– i.e. what/how did your body feel being that still? can you think of other times you have been this still? when would it be helpful to be very still? i.e. watching wildlife; listening to directions; waiting for a dance cue…
Activate
- Yoga Calm Chair 15 – student leads – begin with Volcano Breath – move through Mountain to Mountain, two times; ‘let’s see how quiet and still we can move through the poses together today’; holding in Mountain each time , taking 2 slow, deep breaths, feeling the calm and stillness of the body; “strong, silent ….still mountain”, compliments for the student leader.
- Modified Dancer – different student leader; hold 10-15 count each side; “lifting up proud..strong … still” ; let’s keep this stillness and sit down quietly; compliments
Calm
- Complete Chair 15 with Seated Twist , teacher – 2 breaths each side
- One – Minute Exploration – Heads on desk, “ travel in your mind to a still, windless morning, sitting on the bank of a lake … the lake looks like glass, reflecting the trees that surround it… you smile at how good it feels to sit in the stillness, with the warm sun on your face… you are deciding if you want to keep sitting quietly, looking at the lake or open the book you have with you or pick up your fishing pole and toss in the line …..see yourself doing what you would like to do…….”
- Students share their experience – how it felt to be that still, calm and happy; what they chose to do at the lake ; etc. “do you have a favorite happy, still place? do you think you could imagine a happy, still place, like the lake, or go to your favorite place, in your mind , when you are feeling anxious or upset?”