Instructor: Heidi Adamson-Baer
Community: Grades 4-5, School Setting, 30 minutes
Plan Creation Date: March 21, 2016
Yoga Calm Principle/Lesson Goal: Grounding
Equipment Needed: Yoga Mats
- Yoga Calm Ground Rules
- Treat yourself like a King or Queen
- No stepping on Mats with shoes
- Respect each other’s space
- Give it your best effort
- Use Positive Self Talk: I am strong; I am in control, I can do it, I can be responsible
- Instead of I can’t use: I am not ready for that or I haven’t learned that yet.
(Get students focused and self aware)
- Review – Belly Breathing lying down on back x 5. Hands are placed on the belly “Feel your body sink into the earth.”
(Get them moving and activate their bodies and minds) Use language of alignment principles and grounding. Connected to the earth. Develop sense of competence, safety, and security.
- Bridge - Repeat x 3; “Breathe in, activate arms, and lift heart by pressing shoulders and elbows into the earth.” “Breathe out, lift tailbone, and press down through feet and shoulders to lift hips and heart to the sky”
- Rock & Roll - 1 minute
- Table - Repeat x 3 – “Breathe in, press down through hands and feet, and lift heart and hips up until the front part of the body is parallel with the floor. “ “Knees should stay bent at about a 90 degree angle”
- Cat/Cow – 1 minute – “Breathe smoothly, moving from cat to cow and matching the motion with the breath. Make Cat and Cow motions of equal duration, inhaling and exhaling the same length of time.”
- Child’s Pose – “Relax your neck, hips, and back. Sink into the earth. Let your head be heavy. “
- Alternate Arm/Leg Kicks – Each side x 3 – “Come to all fours with hands under shoulders and knees under hips. Spread fingers and press out through the fingertips and four corners of the hands.”
- Child’s Pose
- Downward Dog – “Press down into the earth through the four corners of the hands and feet.”
- Mountain – “Standing tall, strong, and confident.”
- Tree - Each Leg x 2- Ask student to demonstrate. “Do your very best. If you are unable to find your balance do your best and keep on trying. It doesn’t need to look like the person next to you and it doesn’t need to be perfect. Persevere and don’t give up.”
- Eagle – Each Leg x 2 Ask student to demonstrate. “Try to feel the ground support you during this pose. Keep pressing the four corners of your foot into the ground.” Give it your best.
- Eagle on a Cliff – Challenge/Variation – “For those that are feeling confident in the eagle and would like to try a more difficult pose, let’s try Eagle on a Cliff. For those that are still learning the eagle, keep on with that pose. Again, it is okay for everyone to be at their own level.” “While in EAGLE pose, imagine you are an eagle perched on a cliff. While still balancing on one foot, unhook your arms,”open your wings,” unwind your top leg and stretch it back. Imagine yourself flying and then come back to your perch (EAGLE Pose) again without touching your foot down.”
(Activity or process that allows them to rest, reflect, and integrate what they have learned)
- Belly Breathing – while lying on back- Ask student to lead belly breathing x 3.
- 1 Minute Exploration – “Imagine if you were an eagle sitting in its nest high up in a tree in the mountains. What is supporting you as an eagle to make you feel safe? Now imagine you are back to yourself on this earth. What makes you feel safe? What or who is around you that gives you the safe feeling?”