Instructor: Devin Malone
Community: Grades K-5, Classroom Setting?, 97% free and reduced lunch, 50 minutes
Plan Creation Date: January 19, 2014
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Stillness
Academic/Therapeutic/Other Goals: All scholars will keep their bodies still for at least 30 seconds
Props/Music Resources required: Music & ipod dock, Mat 20 poster, Classroom Set of Mats, Hoberman sphere
Lesson Plan:
Calm
- Intro – Guiding questions: What is stillness? (not moving your body. Taking your pulse, taking a vacation in your mind, breathing deeply) When have you felt it? Today we are going to focus on what stillness is and how to find it -Sitting in easy pose (crisscross hands at center) on mats
- Belly Breathing – with Hoberman Sphere (lead first by instructor then by a student, Breathing in as it goes out (don’t pull out all the way because it gets stuck) – Compliments for student leading with sphere – Stillness is when your body is not moving and you listen to your body and the world around you. It isn’t just stillness of the body but also your thoughts.
- Pulse Count – Let’s find stillness in our bodies. Lay down on your back and do a Pulse count for 30 seconds. Times by two to get bpm (facilitate conversation on when is your heart going fast? when is it going slowly? You can control with your brain and your breathing how fast your heart is going (how calm you are).
Activate
- Mat 20 sequence – omitting belly breathing and pulse count -see above (cue each movement with a zen chime) Try to find stillness in each position. I add bow pose after plank pose to add some more interest and have a 30 second count. Tree Pose challenge to keep still for 30 seconds. Find stillness in your thoughts and keep calm and it will be easier to balance in tree pose and in other poses.
- Discussion -After sequence- Which positions were easier to find stillness? (Relaxation, Mountian etc.) Why was it easier in those positions?
Calm
- Relaxation – from Mat 20 into Tiger Survival – Let’s practice stillness by playing tiger survival (From Boys Coyotes and Other wild things Workshop) – Sometimes things in the world make it hard to find stillness What sorts of things make it hard to find stillness? (stress, family problems, loud noises, TV, video games).