Winter sports season began prior to Thanksgiving, and yoga began this week on Monday. To my delight (and slight nervousness) there are eight students who are taking Sports Conditioning, which means that on alternating days of our cycle (Days 2, 4 and 6) the students will be doing yoga.
Monday’s class was organizational in nature. We gathered in the meeting room of the Athletic Center, where there are desks and chairs to be moved at the beginning and end of each yoga session. For now, the students are using mats from the multipurpose room – big, blue, thick mats that do not go well with socks. Since the kids prefer to keep their socks on, I am extra eager for the arrival of our yoga sticky mats.
Sports starts at 2:00, and to give ample time for changing clothing, getting mats, and a bit of chit-chat, we begin our yoga sessions at 2:15 and go till 3:00. There are ten minutes to then return the desks and chairs to a classroom setting, put away the mats, and head out without feeling rushed.
My nervousness comes from inexperience in guiding yoga sessions, and more so from the equivalence of “writer’s block” in crafting sequences. Despite being an avid practitioner for the past six years, despite having a huge loose leaf binder from YogaEd, I was having a tough time putting anything down on paper. And this made me nervous.
Friends to the rescue! Thank you to Deb G, my very first yoga teacher, and to Libby B, with whom I did the yoga sessions a few years ago. Between the two of them they sent reassurance and an entire sequence!
Here is the sequence Deb sent. I modified it on the fly to accommodate the mood of the kids.
Start sitting, a bit of breath work, perhaps asking them to set an intention.
then some simple stretch w/arms and or neck…then an om.
move onto backs…perhaps bridge and stretches, a twist maybe.
then hands and knees…dog cat then thread the needle. table balance maybe.
into plank and or down dog. then onto feet.
mountain, half moon, standing squat.
arm swings…empty coat sleeves.
perhaps warrior 1 and 2.
a balancing post.
then bellies…roat, cobra sphinx..take your choice.
then backs…shoulder stand…a twist to end things
shavasana.
back to sitting…a poem or thoughtful statement..om
namaste or j’ai b’gwan(sp)
On Monday some of the kids asked about playing Twister as a warm up. Today, prior to beginning the above sequence, we warmed up with Yogi Benders, an alternative to Twister. Yogi Benders is one of the games in the extensive YogaEd binder.
Yogi Benders
This game is for any size group, but is certainly more fun as the number of players increases. You’ll need a large carpeted area, a wooden floor space, a grassy yard or mats. Players spread out in the space. The coach calls out the names of body parts, such as: one foot and one thumb, one heel and one hand, two knees, just your tummy, etc. The players must touch the ground or floor using only the parts called out by the coach.
Shavasana are those moments of relaxation at the end of a yoga session when you lie on your back, eyes closed, arms out at your side with palms facing up. Our last five minutes of class were spent like this, and each student was asked if they would like a little massage. All five said yes (three students were out today). Ah, upper arms, shoulders, sides of the neck, forehead and top of the head, followed by a poem. What a nice way to end a school day.
Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins (from poetry 180)
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Neurons Firing 