Elementary Ages, School Setting, Grounding Lesson Plan (Thompson)

Instructor: Samantha Thompson

Community: Elementary Ages, School Setting, 30 minutes

Plan Creation Date: November 1, 2016

Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Grounding

Lesson Plan:

Calm

• Belly Breathing – Lay on your mat and feel the weight of your body pushing into the ground. Let your body sink into the mat, feel it getting heavier and heavier.  Place your hand on your belly and feel the deep rise and fall.  Picture a tree rooting in to the ground, imagine your body rooting to the ground as you breathe in and out.
• Pulse Count – Put two fingers next to your ear and slide them down your neck to find your pulse breathing.  Each time you feel your heart beat, imagine your roots growing stronger and deeper.
• Leg Lift – Press your body in to the ground as you lift one leg.  Hug your leg with your hands.  Pull it toward your body to give yourself a little stretch. Remember to keep breathing deeply, in and out.  Sometimes as we stretch, we start to hold our breath.  Keep breathing and feel the deep stretch as you are rooted to the ground.  Now switch legs and feel the stretch with your other leg.  Keep breathing in and out.

Activate

• Rock and Roll – Feel your spine press in to the mat, giving you a massage, rolling five or six times and then return to sit pose.
• Boat – Lift your legs and hold your arms out- feel your core squeeze and hug in, really grounding yourself in to the mat.  Again, make sure you keep breathing.  Slowly lower your hands and feet the mat.
• Cat/Cow – Roll over and press your hands to the ground, feeling all four corners of your hands pushing in to the mat.  Feel the tops of your feet pressed in to the mat as you lengthen your spine up for cat breathing in with your chin toward your chest and then as you breathe out lower your belly to the ground as you look to the sky.
• Forward Bend – Walk your feet forward into a forward bend.  Let your body feel heavy letting it sway as your feet are rooted and strong into the ground.  Slowly, rise up into a strong mountain pose.
• Mountain – Find your strong mountain (forward bend, upward mountain repeat)

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• Roots – Feel your feet rooted to the ground, heavy and deeply grounded.
• Tree – As you stretch up, feel the roots of your foot grounding you, and holding you steady.
• Mountain – Notice how solid and strong you are to the ground.