Instructor: Faith Schulze

Community: Grades 2-3, School Setting, Family Changes/Divorce Group, 30 minutes

Plan Creation Date: January 4, 2016

Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Stillness

Lesson Plan:

Calm

  • Belly Breathing – Seated in chairs, feet flat on the ground, sitting up nice and tall like a king or queen, keeping your body very still and not moving. Place one hand on your belly and one hand on your heart. With each breath feel your breath moving down your chest all the way to your belly. Feel your air and energy moving up to your heart. Keeping your body still, focusing only on your breath. Thinking about how your breath is traveling through your body to bring fresh oxygen and energy to all of your muscles.
  • Mindful Listening Chime – With students sitting still in their chairs ask for one student to volunteer to lead the mindful listening. (Students are familiar with task so they know expectations). Encourage kids to close eyes and focus on keeping body still and listening to just the chime. Have kids give a thumbs up when they can no longer hear the chime. Afterwards lead discussion of what they needed to do so they could focus on the sound (keep body still so it was quiet, etc.)
  • Pulse Count – While standing still have kids take pulse and share pulse count. Have kids share what they notice about their count and why it may be faster or slower today.

Activate

  • Activate/Relax Walk – Have students get into mountain pose. Remind them to activate muscles and expand the spine and focusing attention on keeping still. Then explain to kids how they can relax and walk around, dance, jump but when they hear the chime they need to “activate” and hold still until they can no longer hear the chime.
  • Yoga Movement – Mountain pose, Upward mountain, forward fold, Chair Pose (repeat three times, holding each pose for 3 breaths), Tree Pose, Eagle, Mountain Pose, Upward Mountain, Forward Fold, Down Dog, Child Pose. During movement reminding kids to engage their muscles, pick an object to focus on during tree and eagle to help with balance and keeping body still.

Calm

  • Pinwheel Breath – While students are holding body still, give each student a pinwheel. Have one student volunteer to model how to purse lips as if whistling and blow out to spin the pinwheel. Paying attention to your breath and thinking about how your body is holding still, but your breath is making your chest and belly expand.
  • Relaxation Story – Dim the lights, have kids lay down on mat. Read Relaxation Story: Be Still, Be Still Relaxation Story from Stress Relief for Kids book, page 35.

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