Instructor: Jennifer Johnson
Community: Elementary Ages, Day Treatment Setting, 30 minutes
Plan Creation Date: November 1, 2016
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Community
Lesson Plan:
Calm
- Have a bouquet of different beautiful flowers. Talk about how we each are unique and make up a beautiful community just like these flowers or in our garden.
- Belly Breathing – Hoberman Sphere Breath—I lead the group in practicing belly breathing in and out through the nose and counting the breath in sync and rhythm together with the Hoberman Sphere. One student comes up that has been intent and appears grounded in their body. The student chooses between 3-8 breaths tuning into what the group needs right now. A volunteer is asked to count and practice being in sync with the student leading with the sphere. After the breaths, the group is asked if they have any compliments for the student leaders.
- Volcano Breath—practice sending positive thoughts to ourselves and to someone in our community
Activate
- Roots—Students are asked to feel into the four corners of their feet. Circle.
Mountain—Students imagine being grounded like a mountain, what do they see? As a community, look around at all the beautiful and unique expressions of mountain in our group. - Tree—Students feel the four corners of their roots growing down, being held in the earth. Do our roots touch? See the community in this forest even as we are separate in our spaces. At the same time, they are reaching for the sun, reaching up from a place of roots and groundedness, they can feel flexible in the weather, the wind, as things change around them. Breathe, Activate, Expand.
- Community Tree—When we are all grounded and supporting one another, we can count on one another to help us as we grow—reaching down with our roots and up with our branches.
Calm
- Compliment Game—hearing what we do well helps us feel grounded in our own bodies, minds and hearts and as part of our community.
- Guided Relaxation—travel to a favorite place in your community, who greets you? What do you see there, smell, taste, touch, feel? Come back to the community of our group. Imagine one thing you do well and see yourself sharing that gift with the group. How do all our gifts create a beautiful bouquet of flowers? Have a flower each child can choose.