Instructor: Josh Zeller
Community: After School Program, Grades 3-4
Plan Creation Date: February 22, 2009
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Community
Lesson Plan:
Calm
- Tree Study – Sitting next to tree or with picture. How does a tree stay so strong? Talk about roots and how they reach out to other trees with their roots and connect to other tree roots.
- Belly Breathing – with Hoberman sphere 10 breaths. Shut your eyes and feel your body slow down. Imagine that you are a tree and where ever your body is touching the ground, roots are growing deep down into the earth.
- Community Circle – Think of the people in your community, the people who help you in your daily lives every day. Fill out community circle worksheet, inner circles the ones who help the most every day and the outer circles who help occasionally. Decorate and share.
Activate
- Mountain – Be a strong tall mountain. See the many other mountains in your range. If you’re Mt. Hood look north to Mt. Adams, St. Helens and maybe Mt. Rainer. Look south and see Mt. Bachelor and Shasta. Look out to the west and see the coastal range, or way out to the east and see the Rocky Mountains. You are surrounded by others mountains, connected to the strong crust of the earth.
- Star/Circle – Strong, active and connected to all others.
- Sun Salutation (3X with different leaders) – have the students focus on being a team of warriors in warrior and plank. Also focus on calling on your community circle to give you strength and support.
- Tree Pose/Tree Circle – Feel the support of other trees.
- Eagle/Eagle Circle – Now you are an eagle flying through wind and settling on the tree. Alternate between community and self, feel difference.(3X each side)
- Waterfall – way and then the other
- Trust Walk/Sensory Adventure – Ask for volunteer, hold out index finger and hook with theirs, demonstrate leading student around. Explain role of trusted leader. Partner up students and students take turns with leading. Have students lead each other to touch safe and interesting objects. Come back to circle and share out.
Calm
- Lie back on in a giant forest look at the trees above, feel the roots connecting beneath, making a giant web of support around you. Realize that below the earth, trees connected to each other, holding each other up, like you and your community holding each other up.