My Course

Yoga and Meditation for the Classroom

Needs Assessment

The Problem

Today, 1 in 3 children aged 2-19, are overweight or obese. Since school-aged children spend 8 or more hours (more than half their waking hours) at school, this seems the ideal place to implement increased physical activity. Unfortunately, only 4.5% of schools provide daily physical education or its equivalent. Which means that the only physical activity that children are getting is outside of school, and most extra-curricular sports only provide kids 4 or less hours per week of exercise.

Another factor is stress. Now a healthy dose of stress is a natural, normal part of life. Life thrives on the brink of chaos after all. However, in today's society, stress is chronically exceed a person's ability to cope and discharge. These toxic levels cause a build up of cortisol and other stress hormones in the body, which gradually affects our immune system and other body functions--and even contributes to weight gain.

The good news is that physical exertion (such as yoga and other movement exercises) are an excellent way to combat these excess levels of toxins, by forcing our bodies to sweat them out. Yoga, meditation and other mindfulness-based exercises can also help to eliminate stress hormones from the body by triggering the relaxation reflex.

What Must Be Learned

Incorporating yoga, meditation, and mindfulness practice in the classroom does not necessarily need to be separate from the curriculum that is being taught. These tools can be integrated into many different activities and topics, while also serving to increase connectivity between the students, their peers, their instructor, their environment, and the content being covered.

The Learners

Educators teaching in K-12 learning environments. Instruction and activities will be geared toward the K-12 classroom teacher although the content could also be modified for an adult learning environment, and could be shared with students or parents as developmentally appropriate.

Learner Analysis

Learners within this course include educators and administrators teaching children in grades K-12 learning environment.

Learners will have varying degrees of familiarity with yoga, meditation, and mindfulness activities.

Learners will have varying degrees of familiarity with online training and coursework.

Context for Instruction

Participants in this mini-course will need to have access to a personal computer and a stable internet connection, in a location of his or her choosing, as the delivery of the content will requires these resources.

Content for Instruction

Participants will be able to explore sections of the course that will introduce them to basic tools and exercises that will aid them in incorporating yoga, meditation, and mindfulness activities in their classrooms. Participants will engage in activities that allow them to experience the benefits of these tools and exercises in order to form their own conclusions about their efficacy.

The Goals

To create an awareness of yoga and meditation, and its benefits for classroom management.

To provide educators with a framework that will assist them in creating a peaceful learning environment.

To provide educators with mindfulness exercises and yoga sequences that they can incorporate into their classroom activities.

To provide educators with activities to promote positive peer-to-peer interactions and positive self-talk.

To provide educators with tools to help them improve self-awareness and personal accountability among their students.

Performance Objectives

Mindfulness & Meditation

Define and explain the concepts of mindfulness and meditation

Based on research share three mindfulness and/or meditation exercises that would work for adults or children.

Drawing from personal experimentation share challenges and triumphs in practicing mindfulness and meditation.

Yoga

Define and explain the concept of yoga.

Research and share three yoga sequences that would work for adults or children.

Recognize and duplicate various standing poses, seated poses, and floor poses.

Describe the benefits and contraindications of various standing poses, seated poses, and floor poses.

Develop, demonstrate, and critique yoga sequences that are appropriate for adults or children.

Mindfulness & Meditation Techniques that Will be Taught
Mindfulness Exercises	Meditation Exercises
Focus on a Single Object	Breathing Meditation
Band of Light	Mantra Meditation
Inner-Outer Experience	Visualization Meditation

Basic Poses That Will Be Taught
Standing Poses	Seated Poses	Floor Poses
Tadasana (mountain pose)	Virasana (hero pose)	Supta baddha konasana (supine bound angle pose)
Vrksasana (tree pose)	Dandasana (staff pose)	Supta virasana (supine hero pose)
Utthita trikonasana (triangle pose)	Sukhasana (easy pose)	Supta padangusthasana (supine big toe pose)
Virabhadrasana II (warrior pose II)	Baddha konasana (bound angle pose)	Dhanurasana (bow pose)
Ardha chandrasana (half moon pose)	Paripurna navasana (full boat pose)	Adho mukha svanasana (downward facing dog pose)
Prasarita padottanasana I (spread out extended forward bend)	Janu sirsasana (head to knee pose)	Buhujangasana (cobra pose)
Uttanasana (extended forward bend)	Pascimottanasana (extended back forward bend pose)	Salabhasana (locust pose)
Garudasana (eagle pose)	Upavista konasana (seated wide angle pose)	Svanasana (corpse pose)
Utkatasana (powerful pose)

Curriculum Map

Unit One - Basic Yoga Asanas: Lesson One - Standing Poses; Lesson Two - Seated Poses; Lesson Three - Floor Poses

Unit Two - The Basics of Mindfulness and Meditation: Lesson One - What is Mindfulness?; Lesson Two - What is Meditation?

Unit Three - Yoga, Mindfulness, and Meditation in the Classroom: Lesson One - Mindfulness and Meditation in the Classroom; Lesson Two - Yoga in the Classroom

References

Active Living Research. Building Evidence to Prevent Childhood Obesity and Support Active Communities Research Brief, 2013 (http://activelivingresearch.org/files/ALR_Brief_ActivityBreaks_Feb2013.pdf)

Albany Peace Project. Happiness & Meditation. http://albanypeaceproject.com/ (2014-5)

Alliance for a Healthier Generation. Childhood Obesity Facts. Alliance for a Healthier Generation, 2015 (https://www.healthiergeneration.org/about_childhood_obesity/get_informed/childhood_obesity_facts/)

American Institute of Stress (AIS). Take a Deep Breath. Daily Life Blog: August 10, 2012.

Bourne, Edmund. The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook, 6th Ed. New Harbinger Publications, 2015

Brantley, Jeffrey, Jeffrey C. Wood, and Matthew McKay. The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation & Distress Tolerance, 1st Ed. New Harbinger Publication, 2007

Harper, Jennifer Cohen. Little Flower Yoga for Kids: A Yoga and Mindfulness Program to Help Your Child Improve Attention and Emotional Balance. New Harbringer Publications, 2013.

Howard, Jacqueline. 8 Ways Meditation Benefits The Brain & Body: This Practice May Boost Intelligence And Lower Stress By Re-Wiring Your Brain. Huffington Post (September 16, 2013) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/16/eight-meditation-brain-benefits_n_3903855.html

Iyengar, B.K.S. Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health. Dorling Kindersley: London, 2001

Karuna Center for Yoga and the Healing Arts. 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training Manual. The Yoga Loft: Albany, 2013-14

Mehta, Shyam et al. Yoga: The Iyengar Way. Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 1990

Mindful Schools. Why Mindfulness is Needed in Education: The Impact of Toxic Stress on School Communities, http://www.mindfulschools.org/about-mindfulness/mindfulness-in-education/, 2015

National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD). Yoga in the Classroom: A New Kind of Education, 2015. http://www.nchpad.org/881/5004/Yoga~in~the~Classroom~~A~New~Kind~of~Education)

Ratey, John J. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. Little, Brown and Company: New York, 2008

Solter, Aletha Jauch. Tears and Tantrums: What to Do When Babies and Children Cry, 1st Ed. Shining Star Press, 1998

Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now. New World Library. Novato, California: 1997

Wadsworth, Danielle D. et al. Break for Physical Activity: Incorporating Classroom-Based Physical Activity Breaks into Preschools. Early Childhood Education Journal, v39 n6 p391-395 Jan 2012

Yoga Journal. Poses. Yoga Journal, 2015 (http://www.yogajournal.com/category/poses/)