226 • PART III: YOGA FOR EDUCATING FOR SELF-REGULATION AND ENGAGEMENT
everyone. With more challenging groups, I have assigned mats by placing their journals
(with their names on them) on individual mats before they arrive. Students often feel
safer with the mats in a circle facing each other so no one is behind them. If there is no
space for this, carefully consider who is in front of whom. Although research on gender
and yoga in schools is only in its infancy, yoga conference discussions on best practices
suggest that female students may feel vulnerable practicing in front of male students in
mixed-gender classrooms. Experienced teachers have observed and reported that this
occurs most often in middle and high school age groups. Have a feedback tool for stu-
dents to talk about their comfort level and class set up. In our work, we used the journals
as a tool for student feedback. Each week students had journal writing time. The yoga
teachers read and responded to journals between sessions. Several times we were able to
adjust our methods to increase student comfort. Finally, as part of set up, let the students
know how you would like them to be ready on their mats when it is time for class (e.g.,
sitting with legs crossed, checking in with their journals). One way to mark the transition
to class is to play music during the transition and then turn it off when you are ready to
begin (Herrington, 2012).
CONNECT: Turning Inward
Begin with an opening routine (Harper, 2013). Herrington (2012) uses this time to bring
everyone to focus. This is a time for connection (Harper, 2013). You want to choose exercises
that bring awareness to the felt sense of self (i.e., feelings), breath, and/or physical presence
(e.g., physical sensations, body scan). The first weeks of the program you can make a game
out of learning the set up (e.g., seeing how fast they can get it done and be on their mats;
Herrington, 2012). She asks the students to shift from the outward to the inward by sitting
and getting quiet (Herrington, 2012). Herrington suggests asking the students, “How do
you feel today?” (p. 68). From a scale of 1 to 10, the students “check in” as you write their
responses on the board using a line or a graph. Herrington (2012) suggests checking back in
after class and assessing change. They can also record this in their journals.
Once the class is set up and ready to go, you will want to bring students’ attention to the
current moment and to physical and mental presence. I think of it as two points of focus—
time and space. These two points are highlighted in the principles of embodied growth and
learning: principle 3, I am mindfully aware, and principle 2, I work toward presence in my
physical body. In terms of time, or present moment awareness, ask the students to let go of
what has happened before yoga class and what will happen after yoga class and be pres-
ent right in this moment. Getting even more specific, you can ask them to let go of the pose
before and the next pose and be exactly in this pose. In terms of space, I begin by asking
them to bring their attention and focus from the school, to the room, to their mats, to their
bodies, and then to their breath. In each pose, the specific point of focus may be different
(e.g., the feet in Warrior I pose). However, the breath is always a good choice for focus and it
works especially well for turning inward. You can also ask students to bring their awareness
from all the people in their lives, to the people in the class, to themselves. I like to remind
students of principle 1, I am worth the effort. That is, each of them is someone who is worth
paying attention to. Poses that work in this section include: Supine Butterfly Pose, Child’s
Pose, Forward Fold, Downward Facing Dog, and Standing Pose (i.e., Tadasana or Mountain
Pose; see Chapter 11 for review of poses).