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Four times a year, Lynea and I conduct our Certification Workshops. They’re among our favorite events. We love seeing how practitioners creatively apply Yoga Calm activities as they share the 5 class plans they create as part of the certification process!
Each of these class plans is based on a Yoga Calm principle and tailored to a specific setting and population – a great way for our instructors to apply what they’ve learned to real world scenarios. They also serve as wonderful models and a source of inspiration for colleagues. They’re a way for professionals to share knowledge, highlight teaching topics and encourage best practices.
In 2012, our updated Wellness course series is designed to provide even more examples of and training in the creation of class plans. It’s a powerful way to learn the methods, explore the principles and apply the specific activities of the Yoga Calm system.
Even more exciting is the development of our online library of class plans – part of our new, enhanced website, which we’ll be launching early next year. Soon, you’ll be able to search Yoga Calm’s entire directory of over 500 class plans, using keywords specific to your needs. Imagine doing a simple, Google-like search to find a class plan for a 5-6th grade special needs class…or teen group…or preschoolers…or OT clients in a clinic; or finding a Community-themed plan for use at a treatment center….
Be sure you connect with us via Facebook, Twitter or email for news about these and other new courses and tools.
Meantime, we’d like to share one class plan with you, which was submitted by school psychologist Wendy Holley-Boen and is noteworthy for its use of mirroring activities, which stimulate the brain’s mirror neurons. These cells are found on either side of the head and are what allow us to experience what others are experiencing by mimicking their physical behavior.
Interesting, huh? But it gets even more amazing. UCLA professor Marco Iacoboni theorizes that mirror neurons tie us to other people’s feelings. His brain scan research has shown that when a subject looks at an image of a smiling face, the neurons that tell our muscles to smile fire up just as they do when we really do smile. And when a subject mirrors the smile, the area of the brain associated with feeling happy fires up even more!
This, says Iacoboni, is a consistent result. Mirror neurons, he believes, can send messages to the limbic – that is, the emotional – system in our brains. It’s possible that these neurons help us tune into each other’s feelings. That’s empathy.
Iacoboni strongly believes this is a unifying mechanism, allowing people to connect at a very simple level. Another researcher, V.S. Ramachandran, suggests that the development of these neurons was a key event in human evolution as a social species, conferring a survival advantage.
Other research has suggested that dysfunction in the mirror neuron network may be involved with autism.
But back to Wendy’s class plan. Tapping into the power of Yoga Calm’s student-leading method, the following Community-themed class plan is a brain-based method for developing empathy and compassion.
Yoga Calm COMMUNITY Class Plan
Class: Kindergarten
Facilitator: Wendy Holley-Boen, School Psychologist
Class Plan
Today we’ll be focusing on working together as a community.
You’ll find detailed instructions for each activity below in our book Yoga Calm for Children.
Belly Breathing, using Breathing Sphere
- Have one student come up to lead 5 breaths while another student counts the breaths. Tell the group to notice the teamwork that goes on between the two students.
- Have everyone breathe while using their hands as a “magic ball,” expanding and contracting in unison with the leader.
- Have the leaders choose a few children to give them a teamwork compliment.
Mirror/Human Activity
- In pairs, have the students practice yoga poses we have learned. One person will model the pose; one will mirror them. Switch.
- Discuss the power of being part of a team: How did it feel to lead? To have someone follow? To follow?
Trust Walk
- In pairs, have one student close their eyes and stick out their index finger.
- Have the other student gently guide their classmate around the room by their finger while watching their facial expressions to make sure they feel safe.
Trust Walk with Sensory Adventure
- Do Trust Walk again, this time handing the eyes-closed partner different objects from around the room (e.g., stuffed animals, flowers, soft fabrics, etc.).
- Discuss: How did it feel to keep your friend safe? To be kept safe?
Mirroring Circle
- Have one person leave the room and one person chosen as leader.
- Have the group practice following the leader, mirroring their movement.
- Have the person outside return to the room and guess who the leader is.
Back Drawing
- Form a circle, sit down and turn to the right.
- Place your hands on the back of the person in front of you.
- Using the back like a piece of paper, use your fingers to draw a story on each other’s back about finding a new friend.
- Now draw a gift the person in front of you might like.
- Lean forward and whisper what gift you would give them!
Learn more about mirror neurons, via PBS’s NOVA.
Mother & child image by Henning Mühlinghaus, via Flickr
First time isn’t always a charm, but failures often bring blessings in their wake.
For instance, the first time we offered a training in Colorado, low enrollment forced us to cancel. But one who had registered offered to help us try again. An occupational therapist (OT) in the Littleton Public Schools, Ilga Paul helped make our second try into a big success.
What’s more, she’s since become a Certified Yoga Calm Instructor and trainer, and she’ll be teaching our next two Denver workshops: Integrated Approach to Wellness 1 with Kim Oliva, September 17 – 18; and Integrated Approach to Wellness 2 – Physical Connections to Learning with Jim Gillen, September 24 – 25.
Ilga first began sharing yoga with students several years ago, after learning that her OT intern also practiced. “We were working with a group of 2nd graders who all needed help with developing fine motor skills,” she says, “especially as it related to legible handwriting. The students also had very poor muscle tone, decreased core muscle strength and difficulty paying attention. We worked with them outside of the general education classroom, starting our sessions with poses such as Tree, Downward Dog and Cat/Cow. The students loved it!”
After she began working at a school where special education services were provided within the general education classroom, Ilga’s use of yoga expanded. There, she says, “I had a Kindergartener on my caseload and was asked by his teacher to collaborate on a 30 minute weekly session with the whole class. One thing led to another, and soon I was visiting many classes, teaching poses and breath work to support their academic effort, concentration and ownership of their learning.”
As soon as she began learning Yoga Calm’s principles and activities, Ilga put her new knowledge to work. At the time, she says,
my caseload was such that I served students at five schools (Pre – 5) and supervised three OT Assistants. At the same time, word spread of my 10 – 15 minute yoga sessions. At one point, I was going into 19 classrooms a week!
I saw amazing benefits from even this little bit of time and came to realize that Yoga Calm was the most meaningful and results-producing approach I had used in my 35+ years as an OT. Becoming a Certified Instructor seemed like the natural extension of what I had been doing, and now it’s opened the door to a new career! Some things are just meant to happen.
Using Yoga Calm in the classroom is a wonderful way to provide Response to Intervention support, particularly for students who struggle with attention or are highly restless or anxious. Kids love these short “yoga breaks” and get excited when I arrive. I stand quietly at their classroom door and watch the transition process, as that tells me how to structure the session.
One day, I silently walked into a 3rd grade classroom while the teacher instructed the kids to put away their math activities. When the students saw me, without any further instruction, they put away their things, pushed in their chairs, found their personal space and were ready for yoga. It’s so wonderful – and fun and exciting! – to see students go from being silly, distracted and restless to focused, able to complete activities with attention and intention. When a whole class is calm and focused during an activity such as Roots, the energy feels almost magical!
I regularly see students use yoga on their own to help them self-regulate. I have seen 3rd graders with significant anger issues use Belly Breathing to de-escalate. I have seen others use poses such as Chair Twist and seated Forward Bend during standardized testing to help them attend to their task.
The power of Yoga Calm, I believe, comes from students becoming aware of the messages their body is giving them, knowing what to do with those messages and implementing strategies to maximize academic achievement. I find it extremely well-suited to help manage anxiety and distraction. The physical yoga is a wonderful way to work on things like posture, core muscle strength and awareness of the body in space. Students on the Autism Spectrum definitely benefit from the activities, yet even those with more profound needs may benefit in a small group outside of the general education classroom.
In practice, I use a problem-solving approach in which students participate in developing strategies and are responsible for trying them out between sessions. They then report the strategies’ success or failure, and we determine the next steps. The sense of empowerment-in-action is amazing!
And all students can become so empowered, not just those designated with special needs, even though the special needs student was why I went into the classroom in the first place.
I believe that students with almost any dis/ability can benefit from Yoga Calm, in part due to its sheer adaptability to student and class needs. If needed, sessions can be shortened: Better a successful 15 minute session than a disjointed 30 minutes. If you have a group with mixed physical abilities, chairs or bolsters can be used to provide extra balance support. Completing yoga poses with Deaf and hard of hearing populations is a great way to improve vestibular functioning. (Having Deaf students lead poses also gives them an opportunity to practice oral skills.) With blind students, I stand nearby and mindfully use clear, specific and descriptive words in my directions. Often, a sighted student can be paired with a blind student, so they can help position them.
I love watching students change over the course of the school year, and it is so exciting when they independently use strategies that I have taught! I also love watching the teachers. Their class interactions evolve, and they, too, receive the benefits of yoga. Every day, I see the seed Yoga Calm spread and grow. It’s exciting to be able share strategies that really work!
Our next Denver workshops will be held September 17 – 18 (Wellness 1) and September 24 – 25 (Wellness 2). To register online, just click the appropriate date.
Trainings are also slated for January and March 2012, including courses needed for Certification. To see our full schedule of courses around the US, visit us at yogacalm.org.
Guest post by Kathy Flaminio & Laurie Ellis-Young
It was serendipity – our meeting at a Health Expo: two yoga teachers who shared a passion for wellness, peace and human connection, and a vision for expanding that passion to a global audience. Having lived in Guatemala, Laurie suggested connecting with a local school in Santa Cruz la Laguna to facilitate an authentic cultural experience for the group of teachers who would accompany us.
While Laurie worked on those arrangements through Amigos de Santa Cruz – a nonprofit whose mission is to support the education and health care needs of this small Mayan village – Kathy recruited passionate teachers from across the US who shared our enthusiasm for making global change through yoga and mindfulness activities.
This past July, we made our first trip – 13 of us total, traveling to Villa Sumaya, a yoga retreat center on picturesque Lake Atitlan that would serve as our home for the next couple weeks. Once settled and rested, we engaged in personal reflection and community building to lay the foundation for Yoga Calm training. The group radiated gratitude as they gathered inspiration from their amazing surroundings to enhance both their personal yoga practice and lesson planning. And those surroundings were part of our practice. We learned about breath work on a dock as the waves rolled in. We experienced grounding work while gazing at three majestic mountains. We cultivated a relaxation story based on the local sounds of native birds and rain.
We also gathered at breakfast to brainstorm on the integrative lesson plan we’d design and take to the village. Creativity and cultural mindfulness were the foundation as the teachers explored ideas of yoga poses related to the local natural environment, Spanish translations and accommodations for cultural dress. Ultimately, the group decided on two Yoga Calm lessons centered on the principles of Strength and Community, honoring the volcanoes and strong sense of family present in Mayan culture.
Excitement built as we crossed the lake and made the rigorous mountain trek to the school. We reflected on lesson content and Spanish vocabulary, practicing to make sure we had the key words down cold: inhala, exhale…
The children – many dressed in their traditional traje – eagerly awaited their “guest teachers” from the States. Their eyes were wide and smiles, bright as we engaged them in activities such as breathing the Hoberman sphere, Volcano Breath and Tree Circle with distracters. Their school teachers happily participated, as well. One remarked on the calm feeling that filled the classroom when the children were breathing together using the sphere. Others spoke excitedly of using the Yoga Calm principles and practices in their school on a regular basis.
Ending the school day with a relaxation story, one of the local teachers carried the Hoberman sphere above her head, uniting the departing students in mind, body and heart.
Kathy Flaminio is a Yoga Calm Trainer, K-8 social worker and founder of 1000 Petals, LLC. Laurie Ellis-Young is a yoga teacher and director of Breathe The Change, LLC.
They already have a second journey to Guatemala planned for summer 2012. Click here for details.
We’re blessed that our work lets us regularly meet so many wonderful school teachers, counselors, OTs, nurses and others who work with children. You inspire us with your stories of using Yoga Calm so successfully and your shared commitment to the health and well-being of our youth. You share ideas for new applications of Yoga Calm and adaptations for its activities. You make Yoga Calm a better, richer and more effective program through your dedication and generosity.
Many have asked for Yoga Calm applications and adaptations in book form. So, inspired by and with input from you, Lynea and I have been putting together a series of curriculum guides. Our goal: to give you more ideas for using Yoga Calm in specific situations than we could ever hope to cover in any single two-day workshop. Our last post gave you a sneak peek at one of these new guides: Creating a Sustainable Future: Yoga Calm Environmental Education Curriculum Guide.
In Creating a Sustainable Future, we are guided by the principles and tools of ecopsychology and Yoga Calm. The basic idea of ecopsych is that mental health – or unhealth – can’t be understood solely in terms of social relations; we must also include the relationship of humans to other species and ecosystems. So we group activities according to the four elements, which are used in many cultures as a way of connecting to the natural world. Each section includes sample activities for observation and reflection, physical movement, storytelling and stewardship, and includes resources for information, material and opportunities to support the environmental lessons you’re teaching.
Last time, we shared a group of three “Earth” activities for observing and beginning to form connections between the self and the natural world – especially appropriate for kids who may not be all that accustomed to spending much time outdoors. Now, we’d like to share some more physical activities from the guide – both to give you more ideas for getting kids moving and to show how academic and character concepts can be taught through the physical activity – in this case through activities that relate to the fire element.
4 Fire Poses
Click each title for pose instructions
- Woodchopper
As the children do the pose, ask them, “Can you feel a sense of strength and power inside of you? This energy is similar to fire. We’re going to feel that fiery part of ourselves and practice letting out just the right amount.” Ask them how they can tell what the right amount of energy is for Woodchopper pose. Have a student demonstrate too much, then too little. Then have the group practice just the right amount together. - Plank
Hold plank for 10 to 20 counts. Ask the kids, “Where are you feeling heat in the body? Now try lifting one leg a few inches off the floor. Does your body get warmer? Why do you think you get warm when the body is working hard?” - Volcano Breath
Tell the students that you are going to practice being volcanoes: “Deep inside the earth it is so hot that rocks melt and become a thick flowing substance called magma. Because the magma is lighter than the hard rock, it rises up, and sometimes it pushes to the surface and erupts into a volcano. Some volcanoes are explosive and others are not. It depends on how thick the magma is. If the magma is thick and sticky, the volcano is explosive. If the magma is thin and runny, the volcano creates a slower moving lava flow. Try being an explosive volcano and a slower moving lava flow. There are three main kinds of volcanoes. Can you find out what they are called?” - Warrior 1 & 2
Warriors learn to use their fierce fiery energy to help protect their families and their lands. Have the children stand in Warrior and think of ways in which they have used fiery words to express strong feelings. Ask: “Can you think of famous people who have used their fiery personalities to change something in the world?” or “Can you think of times when a person’s fiery personality got them into trouble?”
Adapted from the e-book Creating a Sustainable Future: Yoga Calm Environmental Education Curriculum Guide, available for download soon through the Yoga Calm Store.
Learn more about how Yoga Calm and environmental education activities can be used together to foster meaningful connections between personal and planetary health can be drawn, as well as a lifelong interest in science and increased environmental citizenry and stewardship. Join us for the next session of our Creating a Sustainable Future workshop, September 24 – 25 at Still Moving Yoga in Southwest Portland, Oregon.
Earlier this spring, we told you about an exciting new study showing the benefits of social-emotional learning programs like Yoga Calm on academic achievement. The very day we posted it, we got an email from Wendy Holley-Boen, a school psychologist here in Oregon who began using Yoga Calm with students late last year and wanted to update us on outcomes.
One of the schools is in LaPine, and we had a kindergarten class come in with very few school-readiness skills and lots of inappropriate behavior. They had taken their DIBELS [Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills] test early in the fall, and across the board they knew zero letters, zero sounds. Since November, the class teacher and I have co-taught Yoga Calm once a week: I do lessons for half an hour each Tuesday, and she incorporates what I’ve taught all day, every day for the rest of the week.
We just finished DIBELS for the winter term, and this kindergarten had THE MOST GROWTH in the entire Bend-LaPine School District!!! We attribute their increased focus, sense of community and growth to our weekly groups.
So…now people are starting to take us seriously
As well they should!
Congratulations to you, Wendy, and to the class teacher for such an outstanding accomplishment! Here’s hoping that more teachers and staff in your district begin to use Yoga Calm to give these kids such a wonderful academic start.
Have a Yoga Calm success story you’d like to share? Leave it in the comments – or email us at info@yogacalm.org.
Image by woodleywonderworks, via Flickr
Kids love to follow other kids. This was the inspiration for our first DVD for children, Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle, which earlier this month won the Mom’s Choice Award® Gold in Home and Mobile Viewing Category.
It’s an honor we’re extremely proud of, for the Mom’s Choice Awards are known for establishing the benchmark of excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. Parents, educators, librarians and retailers rely on them when selecting quality materials for children and families.
The honor is Yoga Calm’s second such recognition from Mom’s Choice. In 2008, Jim and I received their Silver Award for our book Yoga Calm for Children: Educating Heart, Mind and Body.
Designed for home and classroom use, Flying Eagle presents a very special Yoga Calm class in which 12 year old Haley, graceful and confident, leads a diverse group of boys and girls on a yoga adventure. The children learn how to calm themselves and use simple yoga poses to develop the strengths of the eagle: strength, focus and caring.
To build social skills and a sense of community, each child contributes by leading activities and giving each other compliments. Other team-building activities include Tree Circle, in which the kids help each other learn more advanced balance poses.
One of the most poignant scenes comes near the end of class when student Rylie invokes her Native American heritage’s love and respect for the eagle through a beautiful original song she performs during Haley’s relaxation storytelling.
Each time I watch this class, I’m touched by the poise and compassion of Haley and the students. And they all continue to practice Yoga Calm at home and school, which delights me.
Jim and I hope that as more children try yoga, they will learn how to direct their youthful energy and passion to helping others and making the world a better place.
- Lynea Gillen
The week of our Summer Intensive – an annual event encompassing all three of the basic Yoga Calm workshops – is our favorite week of the year. Not only to we get to spend time at the beautiful Still Meadow Retreat, but we get to meet and share our life’s work with interesting people from all over the world. All of us come together for one fundamental reason: We care about children and want to give them the tools to be successful and happy in their lives.
While the challenges to children’s health and well-being are significant, we find strength and inspiration from our growing Yoga Calm community. Knowing that there are so many talented and passionate professionals working together gives us hope. And that’s the real gift of our Summer Intensive – finding that we are not alone in our belief that we can create a positive future for our children and ourselves – a future that includes joy, love and beauty. The week at Still Meadow helps us to remember that. Here are a few of the highlights from this summer’s event.
Restoring with Yoga
Daily yoga classes with YogaJim – plus our Yoga Calm workshop sessions – helped participants heal from past injuries, develop new skills and strengths and rest and restore themselves. Here’s what a few of them said:
- “The training was nothing short of amazing. I had a very powerful mental, emotional, and physical shift in my body – very grounding, centering and healing.” – Desiree Gruber, Children’s Yoga Instructor
- “I want to thank you both for a most wonderful experience. [I] had no idea how great the experience was and how quickly the week went by. There is much that I can bring to our clinic as well as the yoga classes I teach. I really did not look forward to leaving. It was so peaceful to be there.” – Tess Kerzner, LMSW, LMHC
- “When I read the flier on Yoga Calm, I decided [that] I really wanted to see what this was all about. I have struggled with group ideas and how to truly involve the middle school students. I want to especially reach the students who on a daily basis cannot focus or organize themselves. I thought this workshop [could] be the answer for what I have been looking for in my practice. I was excited about the experience and it was much more than I expected. I believe that I left there a stronger person physically, emotionally, and professionally. I love the curriculum and came back and read the book from cover to cover. I find my mind exploring the possibilities of the different ways that I can implement this in my school. I am confident that the students who are involved in Yoga Calm will not only benefit from the classes but will develop skills that will be life-long. – Sandra Luecke, Middle School Counselor
Dancing with Lynea
Accompanied by Jim’s percussion ensemble, Lynea got everyone moving with her infectious African Dance class on Thursday night.
Time to Relax
We always include one “rest” day during our summer retreats – part to provide the opportunity for relaxation and processing all we’ve covered over the first few days, but also to take advantage of Oregon’s spectacular environment. Some took the opportunity to hike the old growth forest surrounding Still Meadow. Others headed to the beach.
Some paid visits to the nearby lavender farm or Columbia Gorge waterfalls.
Pretty active “rest” if you ask me!
Eating with Impunity!
With all the yoga and dancing and hiking, we all could certainly afford to have second helpings of the amazing food Kristin and Thomas made for us. (Be sure to check back here for future posts that will include some of our favorite of their recipes – including Thomas’s incredible gluten-free chocolate-raspberry cake! Yum!)
Add to that many enjoyable evenings telling sharing stories and singing songs around the campfire, massage and other health services from Tommy and Leslie, and the general atmosphere of camaraderie as we all got to know each other – all this made for a most memorable week.
In fact, we’re already looking forward to next year – and we hope to see you there. So save the dates: June 25 – July 1, 2011. We’ll be posting the Yoga Calm Summer Intensive 2011 event and registration info on the main Yoga Calm site as we have it available.
Image credits: Alan Vernon., (^_^)wellwin via Flickr.
