Instructor: Jeannie Cziesla
Community: Kindergarten, Classroom Setting
Plan Creation Date: April 23, 2013
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Stillness
Lesson Plan:
Props/Music Resources required: Osprey feather, pictures of osprey and eagles, stuffed turtle, custom mix CD, CD player
Calm
- Discussion – Interaction with kids – Talk about visit to my brother’s cabin, seeing osprey and eagles, seeing turtles and frogs in the pond; how animals can be still for long periods of time. Do you know an animal that can be still for a long time? When would you need to be still?
- Belly breathing – on back
- Breathing – with Hoberman ball for 7 counts
- Stillness Challenge – Be still for 30 seconds; be either osprey sitting on tree (Butterfly – open pose) or like a turtle in the pond (Child – closed pose).
Activate
- Arm Raises and Shoulder Shrugs – Sweep arms up like you’re tracing the shell of a huge tortoise; reach up to get to the top of the shell; trace arms back down along shell with an exhale; repeat two more times; Raise shoulders up to your ears and roll them forward a couple of times, then reverse.
- Mountain and Upward Mountain Poses – Feel your feet rooted to the ground. Can you be still like a mountain? Which mountain are you? Is it quiet with snow, or is it still with the heat of summer? Now stretch your arms overhead, extend fingers to the clouds and sun above, be still.
- Crescent Moon Pose – Bend over to one side; feel the control of your body; how you can move it quietly; Repeat on other side.
- Forward Bend Pose – Let your arms hang down; shake head side to side; you might clasp opposite elbows.
- Active/Still Game – Call out “active” and kids are able to shake their upper bodies, move their arms all around but stay on mats; Call out “still” and kids come back to Mountain pose; Repeat 4 to 5 times; Ask kids to feel the difference in their bodies when they are active and when they are still.
- Volcano Breath – This helps us get focused and settled when we need to be still.
Calm
- Relaxation – with Story (music with eagle/wildlife sounds) – Walking along a beach; feel sand under your feet; hear the sounds of the eagles soaring overhead; look up to see eagle landing on tall tree; quietly looking out at the water, waiting to spot a fish; walk over to the rocks; pick some up and feel them warm in your hands; it reminds you of a turtle’s shell; you sit in the sun, still, just like the eagle in the tree.
- Breathing – with Hoberman Ball – One child leads with Hoberman ball; another child counts out 5 breaths; Compliments to leaders.