Physio-Logics is bringing our programming online! Look for Tammy’s mindfulness practices and mindful movement activities. Use as a full lesson plan or break up throughout the day. Enjoy! Have fun connecting, being silly and capturing mindful moments!
Reset: Belly Breathing
Start in a seated (criss cross applesauce) position or lying down with legs extended or bent. Bring your hands to your belly. Begin breathing deeply in and out through your nose. With your hands, feel how your belly rises on your inhale, and falls on your exhale. Spend a few minutes here noticing how your breath and body connect.
Warm Up: Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Begin to warm up your body with the head, shoulders, knees, and toes game. For younger yogis sing along! To practice social emotional skills of self-awareness and self-management try speeding up or slowing down. Try singing loud, or in a whisper or see how gentle you can be with your touch.
Star to Twisting Star
Star Pose -Stand with wide legs and arms. Your 5 points are your head, right arm, right leg, left leg, and left arm. Stand tall and inhale. As you exhale, stretch your right hand down towards your left foot to Twisting Star Pose. As you inhale, rise back to your star. Exhale and stretch your left hand towards your right foot. Inhale and rise to star pose again. Repeat this 3-5 times
Sometimes simple is better! This is an easy pose but packed with benefits as children work on core strength and balance, and increasing their concentration as they practice stillness in their own space. To practice focused attention, increase your still star time over the week!
Throughout the week use as an energizing pose, shine and sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. To use this as a relaxation pose, take deep breaths and enjoy the full body stretch. To promote body awareness, notice the sensations of the stretch during and after.
Connection to Social Emotional Learning – Introducing how emotions, like yoga poses have sensations too! What does it feel like to be happy? Frustrated? Sad? How do we know others are feeling emotions? When notice your child is having a strong emotion, ask them how they are feeling. Try belly breathing together. Then help them label their feeling and say where in their body they are feeling it.
Alphabet poses
Think of all the ways you can shape your body to look like letters of the alphabet!
Down dog – Make an upside down V with your hands and feet on the floor and your hips lifted toward the sky. Hold the pose for a few full cycles of breath.
Warrior 1 – From down dog, step your left foot up in between your hands and rise up to standing. Try to keep your back foot flat on the ground at an angle. Bend your left knee over your left ankle. Inhale, and lift your arms up toward the sky to frame your head. This pose makes the shape of the letter H. Repeat again with the right foot forward. When you are finished with both sides come back to down dog. Let your knees come down to the floor into kneeling or child’s pose, dropping hips towards your heels.
Camel – Keeping your knees down toes tucked or feet flat, make fists with your hands and bring them behind you to your hips. Lift your heart up toward the sky as you lean back slightly and gently tilt your head back. This pose looks like the letter E. As you exhale, lower back down to kneeling or child pose again and take 2 full cycles of breath.
L Pose – Lay down on your back with your legs lifted and reaching toward the sky. Try to relax your shoulders. Flex and point your feet a few times and feel your low back press into the floor. This of course looks like the letter L.
See what other shapes you can make to look like a letter, then take turns trying them together!
Partner Poses
Partner poses are fun! A great way for siblings to be silly, foster communication skills and help build connection and trust. A fantastic way to improve social emotional learning in self awareness as children improve proprioception, or the ability to identify with the physical outlines of “self.” These poses work best with partners of similar sizes.
Lizard on a Rock – One partner will come into child’s pose. The other partner is on their knees behind the partner in child’s pose with their belly facing up toward the sky. Slowly lean back over your partner’s back. Stay here for a few breaths, and then switch places. Remember to be gentle and move slowly as to not hurt your partner. Let your partner know how you are feeling, and when you want to come out of the pose.
Partner Tree Pose – Stand side by side with you partner and wrap your arm around each other’s waist. The partner on the left will lift their left foot and place it somewhere on their standing leg (right leg). Try not to push your foot into your knee. If it is too hard to balance with your foot lifted, try to keep just your left big toe touching the floor. The partner on the right will lift their right leg to do the same. Push your hips into your partners hips, and extend your arm open, working together to keep you both balanced. Try to stay in this pose together for 3 cycles of breath.
Crab pose
Crab Pose – Come down to a seat with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Bring your hands behind you with your fingers facing toward your feet. Push into your hands and your feet at the same time to lift your hips up to a “tabletop”. Stay here for a few breaths, and lower back to the floor on your exhale.
You can use this pose to play a fun game…
Crab Races – have everyone come into crab pose at the “starting” line. Ready, set, go..see who makes it to the “finish” line first without coming out of the pose.
You can also make this into a relay, or a time challenge…
Have one partner come into crab pose and hold a paper plate or ball on their belly as they move across the room “crab walking” to their partner on the opposite side of the room. Place the ball or paper plate onto the next partner’s belly, as they crab walk back the other way.
Cool Down: Seated Twist
Seated Twist – Come back to a seat once again. Sit nice and tall, and stretch your right hand towards your left knee. Inhale, and lift your heart as your drop your shoulders away from your ears. Exhale and come back to center facing forward again.
Repeat on the opposite side, stretching your left hand towards your right knee. Come back to center on your exhale. Keep eyes open or closed, and try your belly breathing again as you did at the start. Stay seated and begin to imagine that you are in a very special place, some place that you love to be.
Notice what it looks like, smells like, and sounds like. Notice how you feel safe, loved, and relaxed. Notice who else may be there with you. Continue this for a few minutes, staying still and quiet.
When you are finished share the details of your special place with your partner, or other friends. Tell them what colors you saw, and what you heard, and then listen as they tell you about their special place as well.
Namaste
To finish your practice, sit together facing each other, bring your palms together and place them near your heart. Take a few heartful breaths, as breath deeply in and out of nose while thinking or sharing gratitude. Say the words “Namaste” (na-ma-stay) to each other. This word means that all of the light and good things that are inside of me, see the light and good in you as well.