Instructor: Alyson Johnson
Community: Ages/Grades?, Sanctuary Setting, 1 hour
Plan Creation Date: January 10, 2014
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Grounding
Academic Goal: Add in anatomical names of muscles. Emphasize gravity for astronomy.
Props: 3 fake tea lights surrounding a vase of agates in water.
Music: Drumming CD (Steve Gordon), play out of laptop with speakers.
Lesson Plan:
Calm
- Belly Breathing – Meet on the mat. Sit in cobbler’s pose. Find your sits bones. Root into the floor. Extend your spine up as your tailbone extends down towards the earth. Anchor yourself for one minute of belly breathing
- Volcano Breaths – 3 volcano breathes to send out your intentions for the day.
Activate
- Table – Bring body to table
- Cat Cow
- Down Dog – Ground your hands, firmly planted hands, using all four corners of each hand to root down. Steady feet and legs. Walk the dog.
- Plank – Slow plank to the floor. Feel the steady position of the earth under your body. Up-dog. Childs pose.
- Lunge – >forward fold (focus on drawing attention inward)- > Stand in mountain.
- Roots – Stand as strongly rooted as you can in mountain. Now rock side to side. Come back to a steady, grounded position. Steady your body as you expand and extend upward and down through your feet.
- Arm Swings – Now begin by swinging your arms. Bring it to 5 breathes of joy. Feel free to jump as you swing upward, then ground down as you land, bending you knees. End by coming to a strongly rooted mountain.
- Tree – Root down your right leg, lift left off of the floor, plant into tree. Arms at heart center, then extending up to the sky as branches. Find a focus point. Expand your pose as you feel your roots grow into the ground. Hold. Stretch out into a controlled into star, then center, both feet planted. Opposite side.
- Partner tree – trying to distract with palm-to-palm movement. Remind student to remain rooted emotionally and mentally and physically. Think of someone who supports you and believes in you, holding your foot to the ground, strong and steady.
- Forward fold – > Lunge -> Down Dog – > Plank – > Up-dog – > Child’s pose.
- Rock and roll – Boat pose -> Flip over to up dog to stretch belly.
- Leg extensions
- Bridge – supported bridge – Lift the bridge, remove the block.
Calm
- Belly Breathing – Place one hand on belly, the other on the chest. Take 5 deep breathes, focusing on the belly and the support of the Earth.
- Come to relaxation pose, arms at sides.
- Belly Breathing – Take 3 more belly breaths together.
- Relaxation – Feel supported by the Earth. Body scan (attention to toes, ankles, up to top of head). Now think of someone in your life who supports you and who believes in you. How do you feel when you can slow down and be with just this person? How do they remind you of who you want to be, and who you are? When life gets busy, remember the person or people you thought of today. Remember how amazing you are, the importance of connecting with the ground underneath you, and with the people who care about you. Continue to visualize your supportive person as you breathe in and out.
- Chime – Listen for the bell. Slowly roll to the right. Come to seated. Peace in our thoughts, peace in our words, and peace in our actions.
- Debrief – Does anyone want to share who supported them, or believed in them? Leave time to put tables back.