YogaBreak for the Classroom - III

12/22/2018

3 mini YogaBreak sessions to serve you as  a guide and inspire you to bring simple yoga tools to the classroom.

Five minute YogaBreak for Stretching Body and Mind

Sitting nice and tall on the chair, feet parallel, toes pointing forward, shoulders relaxed (suggested eyes closed -preferably). Take a moment to perceive the ground beneath, your breath, the air around... and then move on to...


- Head circles, inhale while up, exhale releasing down. Slow movement, to the rhythm of long, deep breaths; releasing the mouth, the tongue, the jaw (3 to one side, 3 to the other)
Shoulder circles, inhaling coming up through the front, exhale rounding down to the back (3 times), and opposite direction another 3 times.

- Now come to standing Mountain pose, arms stretching down along to the sides, fingers long and alive. Take a Big Breath in / Long soft breath out.

- Walk to the back of your chair, facing towards the backrest. Put the base of your palms on top of the backrest of the chair and walk some steps backwards, until your spine comes paralell to the ground. (Hands and arms separated to shoulder width, feet parallel and separated hip width). Breath 3 times, then walk back towards the chair, to standing pose.

- Keep the hands on the backrest of the chair. Make a step backwards with your right foot (as long a step as you can still keep the heel pressing to the ground). Inhale and lengthen the spine up, lifting the heart and looking a little bit up (without bringing up the chin, so as not to strain the cervicals), as you keep pressing the back heel into the ground. Breath three times and repeat to the other side.


- Take a moment to ground and bring awareness to breath into the present moment again. And then come back to a seated position.

- Sitting nice and tall on the chair, feet parallel, toes pointing forward, shoulders relaxed. Inhale and lift both arms along the sides and, as you exhale, take the left hand to the right knee and bring right arm around the back rest of the chair, deepening the twist of the spine to the right, with your eyes looking right over your right shoulder, eye level. Breath in the spinal twist 3 times, thinking not only of twisting but also lengthening the spine up as you twist.


- Come back to center, shake the upper body, releasing any tension. Then come to stillness again.
Take a moment to end the practice breathing with arm movement (Inhale lift the arms up along the sides, Exhale bring them down slowly, moving to the rhythm of the breath. Fingers long, shoulders away from the ears) for 3 rounds (or do 3 rounds of Belly breathing, if you want them to ground down a bit more) - eyes closed, preferably.

- And as you finish the practice, take a moment before opening the eyes and resume normal activity.

Very Short YogaBreak 

to begin the day

Sitting nice and tall on the chair, feet parallel, toes pointing forward, shoulders relaxed (I suggest to have the eyes closed -preferably- during all the practice).

- Take a moment to feel the ground beneath, to feel your breath, the space around you... 

and then move on to...

Belly Breathing*. Practice during 3 rounds.Take a short moment, or go directly to...

- Normal breathing with arm movement: Inhale lift the arms up along the sides, Exhale bring them down slowly, moving to the rhythm of the breath. Fingers long, shoulders away from the ears) 3 rounds.

Take a few seconds before (opening the eyes and) resuming your day.

(*) Check Belly Breathing technique in the Breathing Blog Post.


Five minute YogaBreak for 

Re- activating Energy and Focus


Sitting or Standing, parallel feet, spine nice and long, shoulders relaxed. Take a moment to ground and bring awareness to the present moment (eyes closed, preferably).


- Begin normal breathing with arm movement (Inhale lift the arms up along the sides, Exhale bring them down slowly, moving to the rhythm of the breath. Fingers long, shoulders away from the ears) for 3 rounds (or Belly breathing, if you want them to ground down a bit more) - still eyes closed, preferably.


- Inhale Shoulders up/Exhale down with "Hhaa..." (eyes as it is more comfortable.. no specific need to have the eyes in this one. During the rest of the practice, feel free to suggest closing the eyes when you sense it could enrich the experience)


- Head circles, inhale while up, exhale releasing down. Slow movement, to the rhythm of long, deep breaths; releasing the mouth, the tongue, the jaw (3 to one side, 3 to the other)

- Shoulder circles, inhaling coming up through the front, exhale rounding down to the back (3 times), and opposite direction another 3 times.

- Shake the whole body & keep grounding down

- Standing tall, arms stretching down along to the sides, fingers long and alive. Take a Big Breath in / Long soft breath out.


- Standing tall, bring the palms together and interlace the fingers except for the indexes, that are pointing upwards. Inhale lift the arms up, Exhale and tilt to one side breathing normally (3 rounds). Exhale to center. Repeat to the other side. (Remember to keep grounding the feet to the earth and keep the hips above the ankles, more lengthening than curving the spine).


- Shake and Ground


- Standing beside your chair, put your weight on the leg that is closer to the chair and slowly bend the opposite knee, lifting the heel towards the glute. Grab the ankle with your hand. You can use the hand that´s closer to the chair to help keep the balance; once you feel comfortable, you can leave the chair and softly bring your thumb to the center of your chest, stretching the rest of the fingers upwards. Keep the pose during 3 whole breaths and then repeat to the other side.

- Come back to center, move and shake the body, releasing tension. Then ground down again. And breathe 3 times, to finish the practice (with arms or just with the palms touching softly the center of the chest -the heart)