Instructor: Kim Davies
Community: Grades 3 – 5, After School Group
Plan Creation Date: October 10, 2013
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Grounding
Lesson Plan:
Goals: To demonstrate ways we can ground our voice and our body to stand in our inner strength.
Props/Music Resources required: Yoga mats, Hoberman sphere, drum, pad of paper for brainstorming, music, MP3 player, Ready…. Set… R.E.L.A.X book
Calm
- Belly Breathing – One student chooses between 5 and 10 breaths and leads the class using the Hoberman Sphere. The leading student chooses another student to be the counter. Two compliments are given to the leader. The leader gives a compliment to the counter. Discuss how taking slow deep breaths can help you feel grounded.
- Pulse Count – Children are challenged to sit still and focus on quietly counting their pulse for 30 seconds. Ask children what their count was. Ask the children to take their pulse while playing a video game and see how it compares to their pulse count in class. Discuss how we might view video games as relaxing but they really are not if you listen to our body.
Activate
- Woodchopper – Ground feet and ground your voice in your belly. People will take you more seriously when you speak from a grounded place.
- Plank – Start on all fours, Lift legs, hips, belly and head so that you are stiff like a board. Puff up your back. Look at hands and imagine them getting their strength form the earth. Keep breathing. Say positive statements inside like “I am strong.” Challenge them to hold plank for 20 seconds.
- Sun Salutation – during certain poses like mountain and chair, imagine someone is pulling your legs in to the earth to help you stay grounded; perhaps someone you can stay strong for. Two kids take turns leading the Sun Salutation with compliments given to the leaders and the drummer.
Social Emotional Activity
- Harassment Prevention – Choose a child to chase after me as I model laughing and saying stop in a playful way and the student chasing me doesn’t stop. Ask the students why this didn’t work very well. What is my body communicating? What is my voice communicating? Then I model with my voice grounded, coming from deep in my belly like in Woodchopper. Ask kids which example do they believe? Brainstorm different ways we communicate and how we can change it (Ex. Proximity, tone, eye contact, etc.) Talk about double messages. Model the example of “Nice haircut” with different tones and other variables. Then 2 kids chase after each other and show the process of sticking up for oneself using a strong voice and staying grounded.
Calm
- Relaxation story – Bicycle Trip pg. 98
- Discussion – Talk about confidence and how making sure you are grounded can increase your confidence, and thus produce even more confident feelings!