Instructor: Katie Kurmis
Community: School Setting, 30 minutes
Plan Creation Date: April 1, 2016
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Strength
Lesson Plan:
Calm
- Hoberman Sphere Breathing – Feel the strength as your breath slows down your minds racing thoughts.
- Pulse Count – for 30 seconds-We can change our heartbeat by our choices.
- Teach PEACE – PEACE is an acronym for a practice that can be used in any difficult situation. The practice goes like this:
- P- P is for pause. When you become aware that things are difficult, pause.
- E- E is for exhale. When you exhale you may want to let out a sigh, or a groan, or even weep. And after you exhale you want to…Inhale. Just keep breathing.
- A- A is for acknowledge, accept, allow. As you continue to breathe, acknowledge the situation as it is. Your backpack with all your stuff is gone, your parents are getting divorced, your best friend is now dating the person who just became your ex… Acknowledging a situation doesn’t mean you are happy about it. It just means that you recognize the situation is as it is, whether you like it or not.
Accept the situation, and your reaction to it. You are furious, devastated, heartbroken, jealous, or all of the above. - C- C is for choose. When you are ready, and this may take a few moments, days, weeks or even months, choose how you will respond. At its best, responding involves some additional Cs.
Clarity: being clear about what you want, what your limits are, what you are responsible for.
Courage: the courage to speak your truth, and to hear the truth of others.
Compassion: compassion for yourself, for others, and for how incredibly difficult it sometimes is to be a human being, and
Comedy: (Actually, I prefer the word humor, but it doesn’t start with C.) It is amazing what a sense of humor and a willingness to not take ourselves too seriously can do. - E- E is for engage. After you have paused, exhaled, allowed, and chosen your response, you are ready to engage with people, with the situation, with life.
Activate
- Mountain Pose – Think of a time when you felt really strong. What were you doing?
- Warrior Pose – Think of three things that make you feel strong and competent.
Calm
- Discussion or journaling about the following:
- What came up for you during the practice?
- Are there situations in your life where this practice might be helpful?
- Are you willing to practice PEACE when difficulties arise during this coming week?
- May you discover your own stillness, quietness, and PEACE, and may you nurture these natural qualities in your students.