Instructor: Rachel Imholte
Community: High School Ages, Summer School Make-up Recovery, 30-40 minutes
Plan Creation Date: June 23, 2015
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Community
Lesson Plan:
Calm
- Belly Breathing – with hand on belly – Student will demonstrate for the class how to inhale and exhale with their hand on his/her belly feeling the breath enter and leave the body with the rise of the belly (inhale) and noticing the release of the bell (exhale).. The student leading the breathing activity will decide the number of breaths (roughly 5-7).
- Volcano Breaths – using the Community theme – students will bring their hands up over their heads thinking about a person in their lives who contributes to their well-being (teacher, parent, relative, coach, friend, etc.). Then with each exhale silently thank the person for being a part of their lives. Do this 3-5 times choosing a different person each time to thank.
Activate
Student-led
- Roots and Arm Swings – Students will stand next to their desks and root down to the floor-feeling the Earth beneath them. Once they feel grounded do 4-6 Arm Swings.
- Shoulder Clock – Students will choose a partner who has a similar height. Students will focus on the cooperation of both of them to make the movement flow smoothly. Think about the idea of needing other people in our lives to help us learn and grow. Emphasize the importance of working together and coordinating the activity so that they are not moving too slowly or too fast, but rather synchronizing their bodies together so the movement is comfortable and sensitive to the other person’s flexibility.
- Tree Challenge/Tree Circle – Students will begin with Tree Challenge choosing a different partner than they had with Shoulder Clock. Continue the discussion about Community and the need we all have to belong and be valued. Emphasize that giving and receiving support is a universal need-although sometimes we shift, fall, and realign ourselves to find the balance within ourselves, others, and the larger community. Once students have challenged each other in Tree Challenge, ask them to move to Tree Circle. Again, dialogue about the process it takes to coordinate our balance, our direction, and our motives in supporting ourselves and others. Have them drop hands a couple of different times to see how they “realign” with help from others in the circle, and then with no help. Do this 2-3 times. Remind them to keep their feet rooted to the Earth, to shine their hearts, and to breathe.
Calm
- Personalized Relaxation – Students will return to their desks. Lights will be shut off, curtains pulled shut, and soft music will be playing. Students may choose to close their eyes, look down at their desks or the floor, or put their heads on their fists on their desks. I will tell a story about a community of people that we have studied previously (communities from different books such as The Giver, The Outsiders, or The Hunger Games for example) and relate the importance of community and how without each other’s support and care the protagonist(s) would not have survived. Questions for students to think about would include: Why is community important? In what ways do we contribute to our own communities? How would our lives be different if we had more or less support?
- Closing – Read the quote below and have students reflect on its relevance in their own lives. Follow up with a journal writing activity. Allow time to share.
“What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously.
But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible
disease of loneliness can be cured.” Kurt Vonnegut