Instructor: Chris Schirber
Plan Creation Date: 1/6/10
Community: 5th Grade Class
Principle 3: Grounding
Beginning Relaxation (2-5 mins): Back breathing. Feel the support of the ground underneath you. Let any unnecessary tension go. May I feel my connection to the earth today. May I be grateful for all it gives me. May I feel its support underneath me and may I offer support to others.
Postures (10-13 mins):
Mountain: A mountain is the ground rising up out of itself. It stands proud and strong. It is connected deeply to the earth, unmoving and stable.
Roots: Press into the earth with each swing. Feel how the floor is solid and stable and allow yourself to be like this.
Tree: Grow your roots down into the earth and extend your branches to the sky.
Arm Swings: Feel yourself firmly supported by the earth beneath you.
Standing Alternate Arm/Leg Kicks: Root down into the earth with your standing leg.
Standing Cat/Cow: Feel your spine as your “ground.” See how the rest of your body follows its movements.
Downward Dog: Feel energy coming up through your arms and legs from the ground to give you strength.
Forward bend: Let all the tension of your body pour out of the top of your head as though it were a pitcher of water saturating a parched earth.
Side Angle: Ground yourself into one foot and use this energy to extend through your body and out the fingertips of the opposite hand.
Chair Twist: Press down into the feet and the sit bones. Rise up through the spine.
Belly Breathing: Let the Belly Breathing draw you inside to your center of knowing for our next exercise.
Social Emotional Activity (10-13 mins): Harassment Prevention: Notice that if we ground ourselves by planting our feet we are more readily able to elicit our strong voice and be more effective in advocating for ourselves.
Closing Relaxation (2-3 mins): Seated Child. Rest your head on your desk as though you were lying on a small hill in the warm sun. You have completed good work and now it is time to simply rest. Call to mind all the things you are grateful for in nature. Resolve to help take care of our planet.