Instructor: Katie Thune
Community: Ages 6-9
Plan Creation Date: July 13, 2011
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Stillness (Attention)
Lesson Plan:
Setting the tone/creating a therapeutic environment:
- Turn down lights
- Have soft music playing
- Ring bell three times and have students raise their thumb when they can’t hear the sound anymore.
Breath work:
Twelve breaths with the Hoberman sphere. Teacher-led so the students can all work on focusing their attention on the ball and trying to keep their bodies still.
Opening remarks:
Explain that we will be working on stillness and attention. Ask them about the word “attention”. What does it mean? When a teacher says to you, “pay attention”, what does that mean? Why is it so difficult to pay attention at times? What are we distracted by around us?
Yoga-Based Activities:
– Changing channels activity – Have students lie on their backs and close their eyes. Ask them to notice what they begin to think about – what is on their minds. Explain that they are going to practice changing the channel in their minds. Have them change the channel and imagine something (choose something from the list on p. 108 in Yoga Calm book) for about 30 seconds. Then have them change the channel to something totally different for about 30 seconds. Do this five or six times. After the activity, have students sit up and ask them why they think this activity might be useful.
– Roots – Working on finding the center of their foot
– Crescent Moon – Standing in mountain. Bring hands above head, palms face each other and fingers extend up. Feet press into the ground, lift belly, head and heart. Deep breath in, breath out and stretch to the right – curving into the shape of a crescent moon. Come back to center and stretch into Crescent Moon to the left.
– Dancer – Feet hip-width apart. Shift weight to the right foot. Lift left foot behind and grab hold of it with the left hand. When feeling balanced, raise the right arm. Find something to focus on (could have a small candle at each mat for students to focus on) to help with balance. Repeat on the other side.
– Tree alone and circle tree.
Relaxation:
During relaxation, ask them to think about a time that they did something well. Tell them to think about how it made them feel. Talk through this for a couple of minutes.
Social Emotional Guidance:
Changing Channels – Really have the discussion about how this is helpful when we are worried or have nightmares, etc. Explain that this could also be helpful when they are about to take a test.