Instructor: Anne Buchwald
Community: Grade 2, classroom, 30-40 minutes
Plan Creation Date: February 28, 2013
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Listening
Lesson Plan:
Props: Tea lights, breathing ball, sea shell, music
Calm
- Prepare room with soft lights and have a (battery operated) tea light in front of each child as they sit. Today we are going to listen to ourselves and see if we can hear the light we have inside of us.
- Breathing ball – Choose volunteer to do breathing ball at front of class. “Listen to your breath as you breath in and breath out through your nose.” Instruct them to listen to their body to see what it is telling them (wiggly, calm, hot, cold…). Emphasize the importance of listening not just to teachers and parents, but to themselves.
- Pass around a big sea shell and have them listen—Did you listen closely? How is the sea like your breath? Sometimes the sea can be loud and rough, other times calm and quiet.
Activate
- Balancing poses such as tree, eagle, dancer – Teach various modifications on poses and encourage them to listen to what their body is capable of at the moment. How does your body feel when it’s balanced? How do you feel when you start to tip? What can you do to feel more supported?
- Do variation on Yes/No activity – to show the difference between listening to negative thoughts differ from listening to positive thoughts. Engage children in discussion of feelings. How can we change the way we talk to ourselves and others?
Calm
- Dim lights and play ocean sounds music
- Breath in and out and listen to your breath as it swirls down into your belly and back out again.
- Guided relaxation – using images of going to the ocean with all the people you love around you. Imagine breathing in and out with the waves…