[currentuser role=”instructor_level”]
Instructor: Susan Dannen
Community: Older Elementary/Middle School Ages, School Setting, 45-60 minutes
Plan Creation Date: November 4, 2014
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Listening
Lesson Plan:
Calm
- Start soft music and dim lights in room
- Belly Breathing – with the Hoberman sphere – Refer to how Breath helps us feel calm – ask students to listen to their own breath and the breath of others. Breathe deeply for 7 breaths with student leader. Compliments to leader.
- Synergy Chime – student will lead, focus on students listening to when they can no longer hear the chime – raise hands when no longer hear chime – repeat 2 times. Compliments to the leader.
- Review Yoga Calm Rules
Activate
- 15 Minute Chair Flow – Emphasize Listening with poses – Discuss that we will be adding a couple of poses to the usual chair flow, so they need to “listen” and be ready for the poses and listen to the directions
- Student leader for flow in front of room, with music in background
- Volcano Breath – Standing by chair – feel breath rising up – think of someone and send your thoughts out to them
- Mountain Pose – feel your feet grounded strongly on the four corners as you hug your body in – Continue to feel centered – After the Lunge add Woodchopper and Eagle
- Woodchopper – have students listen and watch how to do Woodchopper, if hasn’t been introduced before – have students practice a loud “huh” and a quiet “huh” and listen to the difference
- Eagle – Let students know that there will be an eagle in part of our social story today, so we are going to do eagle pose to help us get ready to listen to the story – talk about grounding through the four corners of each foot as they hug themselves into the twist, pressing their legs into each other to create a strong and centered eagle
- Continue rest of Chair Flow – emphasize listening with rest of poses
- Compliments to leader
- After flow – have students move to front of room to create a “circle” for story and game time. Show the students a Native American Talking stick – tell students the legend of the talking stick and how Eagle created it from one of his feathers to help crow and magpie listen to each other, rather than arguing. The rules of the talking stick are that only the person holding the stick can speak and no one else can add their thoughts, they can only ask a question for clarification. The person with the talking stick is allowed to keep it until he/she feels “heard” by the others.
- Play Compliment Game – practice using the “talking stick” as children take turns giving compliments to the child in the center, encouraging everyone to remember to listen to the person with the talking stick, and not interrupt, as they give the compliments. The student in the center is the only one who can talk without the stick – but all they can do is respond with “thank you”.
Calm
- Belly Breathing – Return to sitting in chairs for Repeat of Chime and Belly Breathing with Hoberman sphere
- 1 Minute Relaxation – rest head on desk on top of hands – imagine you are an eagle soaring above the sky looking down at the earth – describe what the eagle sees, feels, and hears in the sky