[currentuser role=”instructor_level”]
Instructor: Susan Dannen
Community: Older Elementary/Middle School Ages, School Setting, 45-60 minutes
Plan Creation Date: November 4, 2014
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Strength
Lesson Plan:
Calm
- Belly Breathing – with the Hoberman sphere. Class will decide on number of breathes for the exercise. Student leader will use Hoberman sphere for the selected number of breathes. Compliments to leader.
- Singing Bowl – student will lead, focus on student being still in their chair and listening to hear when the bowl stops “singing” – raise hands when no longer hear bowl. Compliments to the leader. Comment on the mental strength it takes to focus and concentrate on the sound.
- Slide of Yoga Calm Rules – ask for volunteers to read each of the rules
Activate
- Start soft music in the background with dimmed lights – 15 Minute Flow on mats – Emphasize Strength with poses
- Pulse Count – Relax into your chair and find your pulse. Be still and think of how strongly your heart beats – count the beats of your heart
- Yoga Flow – Student leader for flow in front of room, with music in background – comment, about how we will be adding a couple of poses to our flow to help us increase our strength – the poses are to help with our physical strength, but also our mental strength because we have focus to hold the poses strong in our bodies
- Volcano Breath – Standing by chair – feel breathe rising up and send a wish out to a friend with your strong breathe
- Roots – stand with feet hip-width and feet facing forward – as you rock back and forth feel the four corners of your feet, as your rocking getting smaller feel yourself becoming more still as you find your strong center
- Mountain Pose – feel your feet grounded strongly on the four corners as you hug your body in – Feel the strength in your body as you listen to the drumbeat
- Add Downward Dog – Talk about the grounding of the hands and feet to stay strong in the pose in our bodies and focusing our mental strength to keep our strength steady
- Warrior II – talk about being a “strong warrior” mentally and physically – remind students to stay strong and safe they need to bend front knee so that it is over their ankle, with the shin straight up and down
- Continue rest of Chair Flow – emphasize strength
- Compliments to leader/s
- Past, Present, Future – return to Warrior II pose – emphasize the piece about how difficulty in our past helps us become mentally strong – have the students think of someone who has helped them be strong in difficult times
- Forward Fold – to calm bodies after Warrior II
Calm
- Return to sitting on mats – students can choose to share something they have overcome in their past and something they are looking forward to in their futures
- Belly Breathing – with Hoberman sphere – will do 4 breaths
- 5 Minute Relaxation – on mats – lying on backs – comment on how this can feel vulnerable, reminding students that they are somewhere safe – let students know that they can raise their hand and a teacher will lay a blanket over them, remind them that asking for what they need is also a way to be mentally strong
- Read relaxation script that focuses on strength the first couple minutes and then encourage them to just listen to the music – bring them out of relaxation by wiggling fingers and toes and then slowly rolling to sides and sitting up – end with a couple of deep, slow breaths