Instructor: Anne Buchwald
Community: Grade 2, classroom, 30-40 minutes
Plan Creation Date: February 28, 2013
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Stillness
Lesson Plan:
Props: breathing ball, music, watch with second hand
Calm
- Today we are going to learn what it is like to be still
- Breathing ball – with student volunteer (8 times)
- Challenge the children to be still for 30 seconds. Get feedback as to what that was like.
Activate
- Measure resting heart rate – (kids are about 90 pulses per minute). Have kids run (in place) after the ice cream truck and measure again.
- Use breathing ball – (10 times) to slow heart rate and measure again. Discuss with the children what they thought about the activity—what does it mean: They can be in control of their bodies, they can become still.
- Play game of “musical yoga poses” – Play music and when the music is stopped, instructor calls out and models a pose. The children have to get into the pose and be still and quiet until the music starts again.
- Do chair pose flow – This will model for the teachers how they can use yoga in the classroom throughout the day.
Calm
- Dim lights. Play soft music.
- Have children sit at their tables and rest their heads on their fists (one potato, two potato). Explain to the children that this is a good way to take a rest at their tables when they need to, and it can help if they have a headache. This is also a good tool for teachers to use.
- Progressive muscle relaxation — having children tense then relax each muscle. After done with the whole body, have them take note of how their body feels. Is it still? If so, remember how this feel—you can be still, you can be calm, you can be relaxed.