Instructor: Caroline Falcone Goldstone
Community: Preschool Ages, Classroom Setting?
Plan Creation Date: May 1, 2013
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Grounding
Lesson Plan:
Calm
- Hoberman Sphere – each child gets a turn to lead with the ball
Activate
- Cat/Cow – Cows lift their noses to breathe in fresh grass and cats breathe out, stretch their backs up to the sky
- Downward Dog – Spread hands like starfish and keep the dolphin fin on your lower back out of the ocean water
- Plank – Move toward a dolphin friend, keeping your fin out of the water
- Cobra – Slither to cobra, as close to the ground as you can then pop up with a hsssss.
- Lay body on ground, arms out in front. This is Superfriend on the ground. Lets practice flying using right arm and left leg. Switch. Now try all four and fly over the trees and through the light fluffy clouds
- Downward Dog – Use your strength to bring your body up to downward dog position, remembering the starfish hands and dolphin fin.
- Forward Bend – Walk feet to forward bend. Release lower back, arms and neck. I’m going to ask a question, you can answer by keeping your voice quiet and shaking your head yes or no. Do you like ice cream? Did you ride your bike to school? Did you have pizza for breakfast?
- Chair to Upward Mountain – Tuck in your fin, bend your knees and rise up slowly and carefully holding a baby bear in your hands, bringing her up, up, up to the tallest branch of a tree into the mama bears waiting arms.
- Crescent Moon – The wind blows the tree and you sway to the right, reaching for the baby’s mama. The wind blows the branches to the other side, so you stretch the other way and finally bring that baby bear close enough for its’ mama to reach.
- Tree – Become a tree reaching up to the light of the crescent moon.
- Tree Circle – Let’s touch the tips of our branches together, quietly noticing all of the different trees in the forest.
- Block Creek – Within this forest, there is a large river.Help me place rocks in this river. These are smooth, strong rocks in a river. Ask what animals might be in the river that we’d want to avoid. We must cross the river without being nipped at or licked by (insert animals). First try with arms out to balance. Then try with arms parallel to floor, then bend elbows and place hands under eyes for an extra challenge. Do you want us to cheer for you or do you like it quiet as you walk tenderly on the rocks?
Calm
- Lie down, place real rock on belly and gently move it up and down as you breathe in and out, your belly moving like the slow running river. Sing, “May, may all, may all children, may all people everywhere hear this song. May, may all, may all children, may all people everywhere live in peace. Sweet Peace, in our hearts, in our lives, Sweet Peace. “ (adapted from Kenneth K. Guilmartin)