Bringing Yoga to the Classroom: The Intention

As I’ve worked one-on-one reading and writing with first through third graders, I’ve noticed that after a point the student begins to squirm. Some students squirm right away, others’ threshold isn’t reached for upwards of 10 minutes, but each student invariably squirms. I admire their struggle to persevere once they’ve reached this point. I, too, often feel the urge to squirm out of my seat as intensely as any first grader. In these moments, I notice the state of my own body: I notice my breath and my posture and marvel at the tools I’ve learned through yoga. It has occurred to me that many children’s bodies are not yet up to the task of reading.

Originally, my intention was to offer the third grade students a tool or tools to help them focus their frenetic afternoon energy: 3-5 minutes of yoga in the classroom before independent reading/stations from November 18 to December 3 for a total of 9 days of instruction. I planned to focus on simple movements – shoulder rolls, for example, to warm up and then have students practice vrksasana – tree pose – on each leg. Because vrksasana is a balancing pose that demands intense focus, I supposed that students would engage their physical and mental energies to execute the pose and feel similarly to the way I do after tree pose: subdued but sharp. I’d start small, with students using chairs to help gain a feel for the pose to begin with, and then offer further challenges in the pose: shifting the gaze from the floor to the ceiling and lifting the arms overhead. We’d do the same basic routine each day so that students are prepared to challenge themselves to explore more deeply in the pose. I wanted to pair the time in tree pose with a visualization/lesson on trees – anything from The Lorax to the current pine beetle problem in Colorado and Wyoming seemed like appropriate tools to encourage students to think beyond themselves. I expected that some students would take advantage of the time to goof around, but that these students would probably be a factor in any yoga class that kids attend.

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Bringing Yoga to the Classroom: The Research

As I continued to research methods for teaching children after I had begun my experiment, I received a book I’d requested from the library: Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in Your Head, by Carla Hannaford. Hannaford’s book became a valuable tool: it changed the shape of my experiment. In the final stages of my experiment, the tools necessary for reading, and the eye in particular and relevant brain function, became of special interest in constructing a yoga class for the third grade.

In early primary grades, maturity is a huge factor in student success. I have tended to think of maturity in terms of social and emotional skills, and I suspect that many people think along these same lines. However, as Hannaford explores, physical maturity is a powerful factor in becoming a successful student. In light of the reading and writing work I do with students, I have become intrigued by the function of the eye: it is absolutely essential for students to look at letters in order to learn to read. This is a surprisingly difficult task, especially among first graders, emergent readers, but also at any level of reading – especially when reading a difficult word. One first grade teacher frequently reminds her students, “read to the end of the word;” “look at the word in your book! It’s not written on the ceiling or on my forehead!” Certainly the student looks up or to the teacher when she encounters a difficult word to seek help or affirmation. However, the letters themselves prove to be an obstacle.

According to Hannaford, before approximately age seven the muscles of the eye have developed to accommodate three-dimensional, peripheral, and distance vision. At about age seven, the eyes’ muscles begin to allow the eye lens to more easily focus an image on the fovea centralis of the retina: “ninety-five percent of the receptors the rods, are for peripheral vision, while only five percent are cones for foveal focus, which is what we use for up close, two-dimensional paper work” (116). Hannaford elaborates:

Children who have looked at books in the home may have already acquired some foveal focus if the process was their choice and free of stress and pressure to perform, however, most children are not physically ready to read at age five as is now mandated in our schools. (117)

Third graders are eight or nine years old: so foveal focus should have developed by this point. As I read Hannaford’s book, however, I began to wonder about the effects of intensive foveal focus on the eye before the eye is ready. What, for example, is the effect on the muscles that develop to support three-dimensional, peripheral, and distance vision? Again, I am not equipped to answer my question except based on my own observations and experience. I feel that the third graders’ lack of enthusiasm for reading is partially due to culture and partially due to the physical makeup and chemistry of their brains. Their explanation that reading is “boring” is too simple.

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Question and Hypothesis for Yoga in the Classroom

My question, in it’s various forms, essentially is: how does five minutes of yoga before reading and station rotations impact the behavior and productivity of third graders?

I hypothesized that third graders would respond positively to yoga by participating with enthusiasm and by succeeding in following directions during independent reading and station rotation (i.e. they would make an effort to read and do station work).

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Bringing Yoga to the Classroom: The Process

I consulted whatever text I could find on yoga for children: during the project’s short time frame, I read books as I received them, and two in particular impacted my procedure. I was also able attend a Yoga For Young Warriors class at the Eliot Street Collective.

I began on a Thursday: I tried to organize a short sequence that would present the principals of diaphragmatic breathing, give students the opportunity to wiggle, and then to find focus by balancing in vrksasana. The first day, I felt rather deflated, as it seemed that most of the class chose not to participate in the yogic breath lesson, and then bounced around on one foot during tree pose. I felt frustrated and let my disappointment show in my body. The second day, Friday, I remembered that my posture communicates my expectations. I kept my emotional reaction to the chaos of bouncing children in check, and I made an effort to praise student’s efforts to participate.

Over the weekend I began to read Yoga Calm for Children: Educating Heart, Mind, and Body by Lynea and Jim Gillen. The book helped me to remember that children are not little adults, and a sense of play is important (how could I forget!). The Gillen’s section to “Use Language to Align from the Inside Out” helped me to develop the way I understand teaching yoga to adults or children. The Gillens suggest, “alignment will be easier and more desirable for students when you use simple, evocative, descriptive language that conveys an attitude of alignment (e.g., “Stand tall and proud.”) or quality of being (e.g., “Imagine you are a king or queen with a crown on your head.”) (57). This reminder that creativity is part of teaching alleviated the stress I experience when I think about teaching. I used the image of wearing a crown with the third graders with pleasing results: their chests and chins lifted and smiles adorned their faces.

  The following Monday, I attended the Yoga For Young Warriors class. I wanted to see an experienced teacher’s discipline methodology in action. The class had only one student in attendance, so I didn’t get the sort of demonstration I had hoped for. Nonetheless, the instructor presented the class as best she could as if to a room full of children. She reviewed rules (always listen to your body, always do yoga around parents or adults, have fun), a concept I hadn’t even considered introducing in the third grade classroom. The class was imaginative and mixed mat work with various movements around the room: big stepping, tiptoeing, hopping, a kind of “ministry of funny walks” – all muscles actions that are useful for moving in yoga asana. As a whole, the YFYW class reinforced the principal of play and emphasized imagination as a tool for teaching yoga to children – and for teaching, generally.

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Bringing Yoga to the Classroom: The Evolution

During the next week, I worked to return to my original intention: to pair the time in tree pose with a visualization/lesson on trees to encourage students to think beyond themselves. I realized that the third graders were reading about the life cycle of a plant in social studies. I quickly adapted our short time in yoga to reflect their reading. For the rest of the week, I worked to incorporate information about trees that would appeal to the third grader’s experience. For example, I talked about why some trees loose their leaves and others, evergreens, don’t. To incorporate eye movement into tree pose, I asked students to find a gaze point, and to shift as I signaled if they felt comfortable. To stimulate the eyes’ focusing ability, I asked them to shift focus from an object nearby to something farther away.

Because students were eager to explore more poses, I incorporated, garudasana, eagle pose. I chose garudasana because of its similarity to Brain Gym’s “Hook-ups” and “Cross Crawl” exercises. In Smart Moves, Hannaford states that “Cross Crawl” stimulates the hippocampus and improves learning and memory (132). The crossing of limbs in “Hook-ups” “consciously activates the sensory and motor cortices of each hemisphere of the cerebrum, especially the large area devoted to the hands” (133). Additionally, the movement stimulates “the entire motor coordination system and the vestibular system . . . bringing the system into coherence, ands assisting focus, learning and memory” (134). Graudasana thus has the potential to challenge the third graders’ thirst for a challenge and stimulate brain

Yoga Calm for Children offers several lesson plans for varying age groups. I noticed something fundamental that I’d been neglecting to incorporate into my time with the third grade: svasana! I began to give students time to integrate their short yoga experiences following the format suggested by the Gillens in Yoga Calm: I asked students to do a “one-minute exploration” with their heads down at their desks. Some days I gave students a format, “think about a time you felt strong,” other days I left the “exploration” open-ended. I offered two students the opportunity to share afterwards. It seemed that this svasana-like time in particular impacted the students’ behavior during the remaining hour of school.

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Yoga and Reading in Elementary School: Conclusion

At first, I felt suspicious of books on yoga for children. I initially felt that incorporating too many elements, like music, acting, costume, puppetry, shouldn’t dilute yoga. However, as I reviewed why I thought yoga for children might be important – to provide them with tools to know and interact with their own bodies – I realized that yoga for children really is a different beast. Because children’s brains and bodies are developing at a fast pace, yoga can be a tool to get to know their bodies through the changes. 

The impact of yoga-like movements’ stimulation on the brain is something I can only begin to grasp. Most yoga programs designed for children provide anecdotal data on yoga’s impact on the brain. I have relied heavily on one source, Smart Moves, by Carla Hannaford to build my understanding of how this happens within the brain. At the very least, yoga offered the third grader’s brains an opportunity to stimulate three-dimensional focus before entering into an activity that demands two-dimensional focus, thus offering an emotional and physical break from the rigor of the classroom. For the third graders I work with, yoga has been an opportunity for them to know me better, and I them.

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Student Experiments with Sequence Creation

As part of Denver’s Axis Yoga teacher training, aspiring teacher’s hone in on their skills by designing personal experiments using yogic philosophy.  In wanting to work on her sequencing skills as well as increasing her knowledge for using yoga as medicine, this student chose to create asana sequences that catered to healing particular ailments. She carried out this experiment by enlisting the help of four friends to be her willing and enthusiastic test subjects. She designed specific sequences for them based on their chief physical complaints.

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Creating Sequences for Specific Ailments

The idea came to me while meditating in class about mid-October.  As I was fighting myself to focus on the white light resonating from the middle of my head, it came to me. I wanted to make sequences for my friends. Specifically for my friends with ailments. Thus unfolded my four part (sequencing, ailment understanding, my practice and translating them all to ASL) personal experiment.

First, I wanted to work on my sequencing skills. This has been nagging on me as a particularly scary responsibility for a future yoga teacher. I not only hope to gain the skills required to create a proper sequence, but to also have some stock sequences to go back to in case I get yoga writer’s block. I also want to be able to have some sort of helpful pointers for the people who come into my classes with unexpected illnesses or physical  injuries. I have heard countless teachers tell me countless horror stories of classes gone wrong. While I’m sure I wont have a perfect track record, Id like to minimize the negativity that might reside in or result from my classes. Practice makes perfect. So I contacted my friends I knew who had an interest in yoga and asked them if I could make them a personal sequence. Most of them were 100% on board, much to my excitement. Next, I asked them to share their most prominent ailments. Again, they were happy to do so. People love the idea of relief, so getting good participation was a piece of cake.

 As I started making the sequences, I realized, to no shock or awe, that I knew very little about yoga for “medicine.” I ordered the book, but, as of now, it still has not arrived, so I utilized teachers and the good old internet (yogajournal.com, mostly) to aid me in my trek. What I found was astonishing! All of the poses that you would think would help a certain problem, do! Once you have the basic understanding of what you are trying to do, generally, you can handle the smaller scale problems! I love it! I only wish I had more people to practice on. I’ll be making up imaginary people with imaginary ailments from now on to practice with! I am starting to feel more and more confident in, as Kevin says, treating the person, not the problem. **The sequences and the reviews of my new yogis are below**

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Jason’s Sequence

**Designed for lower back pain, weak knees, stress, anxiety, weight loss**

NOTE

All poses should be done vigorously and held for an extended period of time. Modifications are available if needed for your knees. I’ve provided a longer meditation period for grounding and relaxation.

Dandasana-Staff

Baddhakonasana-Bound Angle

Bhardavajasana I-Bhardavaja’s Twist

Cat/Cow

Suptabadhakonasana -Reclined Bound Angle

Uptavishtakonasana -Open Angle Pose

Trikonasana -Triangle

Vrikshasana -Tree

Trikonasana -Triangle

Garudasana-Eagle

Parvritta Trikonasana -Revolved Triangle

Uttanasana -Standing Forward Fold

Ardha Chandrasana-Half Moon

Ardhabadhapada Uttanasana -Half Lotus Forward Bend (?)

Ardha Matsyandrasana -Half Sage Twist x2

Salambasana +Var. -Locust

Bhujangasana -Cobra

Adhomukasvanasana/Balasana -Dog/Childs

Parvrittajanusirsasana -Revolved Head of the Knee Pose

Janusirsasana -Head of the Knee Pose

Supta Padangusthasana-Reclining Big Toe with a strap

Paschittmotanasana -Seated Forward Fold

Malasana-Garland Pose

Pasasana-Noose Pose

Sarvangasana -Shoulder Stand

Halasana -Plow

Karnipidasana -Womb Pose

Shavasana -Corpse

 Bonus Move: VIPARITA KARANI MUDRA

Meditation: sit quietly in an upright comfortable position and start silently counting backward from 50. As your concentration improves, you can move the starting count higher, to 100, 200 or even 500. This exercise will improve your concentration and help you remember things better.

Jason’s Comments:

“I am brand new to yoga. I am studying massage therapy, and that’s making Chelsea and my’s transitions into our new careers much easier, because we are going into similar fields and we are doing it at the same time. We are a great support and source of strength to each other. I never had an interest in yoga, but when I was told to stay strong in my body for massage therapy, I turned to Chelsea and her yoga. She created my sequence, which was similar to hers. It was nice to be able to do it together. I feel stronger, calmer and more confident in yoga and in my body. My back feels much better, too.”

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Nicholas’ Sequence

**Designed for relaxation, concentration, and back and shoulder stiffness**

 NOTE

This will be a twist sequence to loosen up your back. The warmup and cool down, along with the forward folds should loosen your shoulders. Focus on the poses and hold them for extended amounts of time. The important emphasis for relaxation and concentration will be meditation, so I put in two extended sets.

To begin, sit quietly in an upright comfortable position and start silently counting backward from 50. As your concentration improves, you can move the starting count higher, to 100, 200 or even 500. This exercise will improve your concentration and help you remember things better.

To Begin your asana, start in a seated position.
Arms grasped, stretch them above head, raising shoulder girdle. Reverse grip
Arms grasped behind back. Stretch chest out.
Eagle Arms                                                                                                                                           
Dandasana (Staff)
Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle)
Cat/Cow
Tabletop position, extending opposite arm and leg
Tabletop twist, lifting one arm to sky
Adho Mukha Svanasana (Down Dog)
Side Arm Balance (Balance on right hand and right knee, place sole of left foot on floor behind right foot with left leg straight, extend left arm over left ear as left leg lengthens back-reverse)
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana (Standing Forward Fold)
Tadasana-Mountain
Tadasana side stretch
Tadasana
Uttanasana
Plank
Caturanga Dandasana
Bhujangasana (Cobra)
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana
Tadasana
Uttihita Trikonasana (Triangle)                                                                                                          
Uttihita Parsvakonasana (side angle)                                                                                                 
Prasarita (forward fold with wide legs)                                                                                               
Uttihita Trikonasana (Triangle)                                                                                                         
Uttihita Parsvakonasana (side angle)                                                                                                
Prasarita (forward fold with wide legs)                                                                                               
 Uttihita Trikonasana                                                                                                                         
Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (revolved side angle)                                                                                  Prasarita                                                                                                                                              
Uttihita Trikonasana                                                                                                                        
Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (revolved side angle)
Tadasana                                                                                                                                       
Uttanasana                                                                                                                                                  
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Tadasana
Utkatasana (Chair)                                                                                                                        
Utkatasana Twist to the Right
Utkatasana/Tadasana/Utkatasana
Utkatasana Twist to the Left
Tadasana for a break                                                                                                           
Sirasana/Ragdoll
Back into Trikonasana (Triangle)                                                                                                 
Parvivrtta Trikonasana (Revolve Triangle)                                                                                          
Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide Leg Forward Bend)
Arda Chandrasana (Half Moon)
Tadasana to demonstrate Parvrtta Arda Chandrasana (Revolve Half Moon)
Parvrtta Arda Chandrasana
Tadasana                                                                                                                                       
Utkatasana                                                                                                                                         
Utkatasana Twist Right                                                                                                                Utkatasana                                                                                                                                   
Utkatasana Twist Left                                                                                                                  Utkatasana                                                                                                                                      
Tadasana                                                                                                                                Uttanasana                                                                                                                                       
Vinyasa flow to adho mukha svanasana                                                                                                   
All 4’s tabletop                                                                                                                                 
Kneeling side stretch (hips over knees, walk hands out front and over to the side, reverse)             
Come to seated position                                                                                                                  
Dandasana (staff)                                                                                                                         
Marichyasana (sage twist)                                                                                                           
Dandasana (staff)                                                                                                                                         
Janu sirsasana (head to knee)                                                                                                              
Baddha konasana (bound angle)                                                                                
Paschimottanasana (seated forward bend)                                                                                             
Viparita Karani Mudra                                           
Uttihita Trikonasana (Triangle)                                                                                                            
Uttihita Parsvakonasana (side angle)                                                                                               
Prasarita (forward fold with wide legs)                                                                                             
Uttihita Trikonasana (Triangle)                                                                                                         
Uttihita Parsvakonasana (side angle)                                                                                               
Prasarita (forward fold with wide legs)                                                                                              
Uttihita Trikonasana                                                                                                                         
Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (revolved side angle)                                                                                 
Prasarita                                                                                                                                              
Uttihita Trikonasana                                                                                                                        
Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (revolved side angle)
Tadasana                                                                                                                                      
Uttanasana                                                                                                                                            
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Tadasana
Utkatasana (Chair)                                                                                                                       
Utkatasana Twist to the Right
Utkatasana/Tadasana/Utkatasana
Utkatasana Twist to the Left
Tadasana for a break                                                                                                          
Sirasana/Ragdoll
Back into Trikonasana (Triangle)                                                                                                
Parvivrtta Trikonasana (Revolve Triangle)                                                                                         
Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide Leg Forward Bend)
Arda Chandrasana (Half Moon)
Tadasana to demonstrate Parvrtta Arda Chandrasana (Revolve Half Moon)
Parvrtta Arda Chandrasana
Tadasana                                                                                                                                      
Utkatasana                                                                                                                                   
Utkatasana Twist Right                                                                                                                Utkatasana                                                                                                                                   
Utkatasana Twist Left                                                                                                                  Utkatasana                                                                                                                                      
Tadasana                                                                                                                                        Uttanasana                                                                                                                                      
Vinyasa flow to adho mukha svanasana                                                                                                   
All 4’s tabletop                                                                                                                                
Kneeling side stretch (hips over knees, walk hands out front and over to the side, reverse)            
Come to seated position                                                                                                              
Dandasana (staff)                                                                                                                  
Marichyasana (sage twist)                                                                                                            
Dandasana (staff)                                                                                                                                   
Janu sirsasana (head to knee)                                                                                                             
Baddha konasana (bound angle)                                                                                     
Paschimottanasana (seated forward bend)                                                                                       
Viparita Karani Mudra
Savasana

 A good ending meditation could be Tratak. Sit yourself at eye level to a lit candle. Close your eyes and get into a meditative mind set. Once you have opened your eyes from the meditation exercise, focus solely on the light of the candle without blinking for a long as you can and you should be able to rain your mind to hold onto a particular thought. Start doing this for five minutes and work your way up to a longer practice. Most yoga concentration exercises revolve around practicing regular and daily meditation.

Nicholas’ Comments:

“I have taken yoga classes recently. I am new to yoga, and I am always struggling to understand what a lot of poses are. This sequence takes me an hour to get done, and by the end I feel like I am in a different world. I don’t notice myself being less stressed in daily life, but at least at the end of my sequence I feel relaxed and ready for the day.”

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