Instructor: Laura Buske
Community: Grade 2, School Setting, 30 minutes
Plan Creation Date: June 17, 2015
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Community
Lesson Plan:
Calm
- Belly Breathing – Start with the class in a circle for morning meeting. Have everyone face you. Explain that you will be starting the meeting with belly breathing. Take out the Hoberman Sphere. Explain that you will be opening and closing the sphere. When you open the sphere take a breath in through your nose. Pause when the sphere is completely open. Breath out through your nose when I close the sphere. We will repeat this 3 times. I need someone to count for me. Select a student to count out loud for you. Say the number when I close the sphere. Lets begin.
Breath for 3 times with the sphere. I need a student to lead us in breathing. Call on a student to come up and lead the class. Ask them how many breaths they feel the class needs. Between 5 and 10. Have them select a counter. Have the class breath in and out with the sphere as many times as the leader felt the class needed to breath together. Ask for 2 complements. Have the leader call on 2 students to give them a complement. Have the leader give a complement to the counter.
Activate
- Tree Pose – Stand with your legs and feet together. Shift your weight onto your left foot. Notice how your body feels. Ground your big toe on your left foot into the ground. Slowly bend your right knee and draw the right foot up, place your sole of your foot as high as you feel comfortable, on your inner leg. Activate your body and press your standing leg down. Rooting you like a tree to the earth. Press your palms together in front of your heart to help with balance. Then, stretch your arms and head up like branches to the sky, while rooting your standing leg. Repeat with your right leg as your rooting leg and your left leg bent. Notice how you balance. How does your body feel being on 1 foot?
- Tree Circle – Now you will be doing the tree pose, but we will be forming a circle. Have the class form a circle, close enough that they can touch the palms of the people on either side of them. Put your arms out and match hand squares with the students on both sides of you. Press against their hands. Root your left leg to the earth. Slightly bend your right knee and draw it up to your left leg. Place your foot on your rooted left leg. Use your neighbors to help with support. Notice how you feel with support in the tree pose. Do you feel stronger?
- Eagle – Stand up straight with your legs hip with apart. Swing your arms; hug your shoulders with the right arm under your left. You can stay here or go all the way up to crossing your hands. Put a slight bend in your knee and cross your right leg over your left. Kickstand your foot. Release and repeat on the other side.
Calm
- Have the class sit back down in a circle.
- Relaxation – Read a Mindful Moment Card: “Some people say that the plants, trees and animals are our brothers and sisters. Why do you think they say this?”
- Discussion – Have a class discussion about the Mindful Moment Card question. Ask about how did the Tree Circle support others in the classroom?