[currentuser role=”instructor_level”]
Instructor: Cynthia Endicott
Community: Grades 1-5, Boys and Girls Club, 60 minutes
Plan Creation Date: May 17, 2015
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Stillness
Lesson Plan:
Calm
- Ground Rules – Review rules with poster.
- Name Toss – Have children come into a circle and play name toss with one ball, then with two. After they get the pattern down, have them play the game silently so they rely on eye contact and other non-verbal cues.
- Belly Breathing – Using the Hoberman sphere ask the children to focus on the still point at the end and the beginning of each breath. Sit in stillness for one minute after the practice. Select a leader from volunteers. Have the Leader select a counter. The children can choose the number of breaths the group needs.
Activate
- Star Pose – Have all the children spread out around the room and be shining stars. Have them spread their arms out to each other and look around to see how many stars they create as a class.
- Star Circle – Come into a circle with our star tips touching to create a beautiful galaxy of stars. It is a beautiful starry night and we watch the stars shining in silence.
- Tree – Are we out in a beautiful forest at night? Let’s create our own trees. Let the wind blow through your branches, then return to stillness, feeling the contrast between windy and still.
- Tree Circle – Now let’s join together. Can we balance better when we work together? Can we work together very, very quietly? Let’s see how still we can be in our forest of trees.
- Crescent Moon – Now bring your arms overhead and side bend to one side to be a sky full of moons, then to the other side.
- Mountain – A powerful mountain looks down over the forest. Can you stand as still and quiet as a mountain?
- Forward Fold
- Child’s Pose – It’s time to rest quietly. Breathe easily and enjoy the evening’s stillness.
- Rock and Roll to Boat – Be a very still boat on a lake waiting for the fish. Roll up to standing.
- Individual Leader with Drum – Ask a student leader to choose a pose that will help the class develop stillness. Have the student decide how many beats of the drum they would like to hold this pose. Give compliments at the end.
Calm
- Final Relaxation – Read a poem about a starry night.