Instructor: Holly Hansen
Community: Grades 1-2, classroom, 20 minutes sitting at tables
Plan Creation Date: August 28, 2012
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Stillness
Lesson Plan:
Calm (sitting in chairs)
- Belly breathing with myself leading and standing with the Hoberman sphere and having student counting off number of breaths to a count of 10 while the children are sitting.
- Seated Pulse Count for 30 seconds. Take 2 fingers to the side of your mouth. Tip your head slightly back and draw a line down with your fingers into the groove along the neck. Press gently to find your pulse. Raise your other hand once you have found it. Count pulse beats silently to your self. Now, I’m going to time all of you for 30 seconds. Remember your pulse count because we are going to do this again towards the end of our yoga practice.
Activate (now standing)
- Roots – Stand with your feet hip-width apart and make sure both feet are facing straight ahead. Rock forward and back with your body firm and straight. Feel your weight shift from your toes to your heels. Make the movement smaller until you are balanced at the center. Now rock side to side and slowly return to center. Begin making circles to your right and notice how your weight shifts to the 4 edges as you circle. Make your circles smaller until you come back to center. Now make big circles to your left and then smaller until back at the center.
- Volcano Breath – Stand with feet hip-width apart and place palms at center of heart together. Take a slow, deep breath through the nose and pause when the lungs are full while bringing your arms to the top of your volcano. Exhale and slowly “explode” your volcano with the lava spilling out of it as your arms move out to the side and back together at your heart.
- Dancer – Once again, stand with your feet hip-width apart. Shift your weight to the right foot. Lift the left foot behind and hold it with your left hand. Try to place your knees next to each other. When in balance, raise the right arm. Look straight ahead and focus on a spot on the wall to help find your balance. Now, let’s repeat on the other side.
- Tree Pose – Stand with legs and feet together, shift your weight to your left foot and bend your right knee, placing it as high up as you can on your inner leg. Feel strong like a tree to the earth. Press palms together in front of your heart to help balance. Then, stretch arms and head up like branches on a tree to the sky, while your leg feels strong and rooted to the earth. Now let’s repeat on the other leg.
- Eagle Pose – Take your right leg and cross it over your left and wrap your right arm under your left. Lift your elbows up and squeeze and spread your arms out wide like the wings of an eagle. If you are feeling balanced, go ahead and extend your leg back. Look down and notice the trees, water and animals. Feel what it feels like to fly! Now let’s do the other side.
- Star Pose – Step out with your right foot and take your arms out to your sides. Firm your muscles and spread your fingers wide like the rays of the sun.
- Triangle Pose – We are going to take this one step further, so turn your right foot to the right and turn your left foot slightly to the right. Now, shift upper body to the right and “windmill” your arms over, taking the right hand to your shin or ankle. Stretch your left arm toward the ceiling. Press out through your legs, arms and top of head (like you do in Star Pose). Feel as though your body is between to panes of glass or flat against a wall. Let’s go back to center using your arm in the air leading you and do the same thing on the other side.
- Standing Pulse Count – Once again, take 2 fingers to the side of your mouth. Tip your head slightly back and draw a line down with fingers into groove along neck. Press gently to find your pulse. Raise your other hand once pulse is found. I’m going to time us for 30 seconds and I want you all to count to your self. Notice the difference from earlier in our practice. Was there a difference?
- Forward Bend – Let’s place feet hip-width apart and point them straight ahead and put your hands on the back of your chair. Bend at the hips and hang arms, head and spine toward the floor (like a rag doll). Touch the floor with your fingers. If they don’t reach, bend your knees. Imagine your back, head, and arms flowing down like a waterfall. Breathe into your back. To come out of the pose, bend knees, place hands on hips, look up and stand as in Chair.
Calm (sitting in chairs)
- Twist – While sitting in your chair, press down through your feet and sitting bones and stretch up through your head. Put your left hand across the right knee and right hand on back of the chair. Inhale and lengthen; exhale and twist. Let’s repeat on the other side.
- Changing Channels – All of you close your eyes and rest your heads on your arms. Notice what you are thinking about, what is on your mind. We are going to practice changing the channel in your mind. Let’s change the channel and “Imagine you are all bundled up in a coat, hat, and gloves and you are having a snowball fight with your friend” (15 seconds). Now, let’s change the channel to a sunny beach, “Imagine you are lying on a towel with the sun shining on your face” (15 seconds). And finally to your last channel, you are in your most favorite place. What does that look like? Are there any sounds, any smells and how does that make you feel?