Instructor: Megan Knutson
Community: Adult group, Hospital employees with health risk factors, Hospital setting
Plan Creation Date: June 1, 2013
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Strength
Lesson Plan:
Calm
- Pulse count – Find your pulse on your wrist, 15 second count (x4), if your heart rate and thoughts are racing from the busy work day, invite your breath to slow down, allow your mind to release its thoughts about the day, allow your breath to slow down and move with ease with our movements. How are you doing? What does your body, mind, and spirit need today?
- Volcano breath – Allow the breath to slow and pair your movement with your breath. Move at your own pace. Inhale, reach the sky, exhale stretch the arms out to either side.
- Arm swings – Inhale as we reach toward the sky, exhale releasing arms down to your sides
- Cat/Cow – Align your hands underneath your shoulders, knees underneath hips. Breathe out as we round the back for car, breathe in as we lift the head and drop the belly for cow. Spread your fingers and press down into the mat through the four corners of your palms.
- Alternate Arm/Leg kicks – From hands and knees, extend opposite arm and leg. This can be substituted with superman if knee pain occurs.
Activate
- Downdog – Press your thighs strongly toward the back wall to stretch the backside of your body. Press firmly through both hands into the ground, press through each finger and four corners of your hands. Feel the strength of your arms supporting you.
- Plank – Bring your shoulders over your wrists, keep the hips lifted, let your breathe continue to flow as your body is challenged in this pose
- Cobra – From your belly draw your hands to either side of your chest. Pressing into your palms rise up through the crown of your head, keep shoulder down away from your ears as you press the tops of your feet into the floor
- Star – Activate, expand, energize
- Side Angle – Step forward with the right foot, bring the knee directly over the ankle, rest your right forearm on your right thigh, reach up over your head with your left arm. Feel the left side of your body stretch. (Repeat other side, coming back to star)
- Triangle – Activate your arms and legs. Turn the right foot forward, left foot turns parallel with the back edge of your mat. Take your arms from parallel with the ground to the right hand to right shin (or block), stretch your arms away from one another. ( step both feet forward to chair, slowly bring your sit bones to the floor for rock and roll)
- Rock and Roll – Slowly rock forward and back on your spine, maintain control over the momentum of your movement so you can feel each vertebrae of your spine on the floor as roll
- Boat – Use the strength of your core (back, hips, abdominals) to pull yourself up and balance on your sit bones
- Table top – Lift the hips as you stretch your chest and shoulders, press evenly through both feet and both hands to rise up
Calm
- Lying twist – knees come higher if you experience any pain in the low back
- Read strength mindful card – Remember a time when you wanted to learn something. It was hard to learn and perhaps you got frustrated and upset. Think about how you got better at this activity the more you practiced. What helped you have the strength to keep trying.
- Final relaxation – Read quote
- Hoberman’s Sphere breathing
- Pulse count – Can compare where it was when we began to now after class when we are relaxed