Mindfulness and Yoga in Schools A Guide for Teachers and Practitioners

CHAPTER 11: on THE mAT: foRmAl YogA PRACTICES foR SElf-REgulATIon And EngAgEmEnT • 233

shoes and changing (although specific yoga clothes are not needed), setting up mats, and
getting out yoga props (e.g., blocks and straps).
Each of the other sections of the overall yoga class layout are associated with a series of
poses that are believed to serve the overall intention of that section of the sequence (e.g., sun
salutations help students engage their bodies and warm up). Short descriptions of the poses,
the key instructional points, and a photograph are offered for poses in each section. The
twelve Principles of Embodied Growth and Learning can be offered as themes for the week
and re-enforced during the class (see Chapter 3 for a review of the principles; worth (1), breath
(2), awareness (3), presence (4), feeling (5), inquiry (6), choice (7), self-determination (8), sus-
tainability (9), compassion (10), kindness (11), and possibility (12). There are about 36 weeks
in a school year. A classroom teacher could rotate through the themes three times a year.

Tips for Teaching Poses

There are a few things to remember when teaching poses to students. First, no book or video
can replace a quality teacher-training program. This text is meant as a resource to reinforce
knowledge or introduce you to new ideas. It is not meant to replace a teacher-training pro-
gram (see Chapter 3 for notes on training). The following are tips from some of the best
school- and youth-based teacher trainers and some things I have learned over the years in
my own yoga teaching.

• Establish foundational poses first (Flynn, 2013). These are (a) Easy Seated Cross-Legged
  Pose, (b) Mountain Pose, and (c) Resting Pose (Flynn, 2013). According to Flynn (2013)
  these foundational poses provide a home base to return to between other poses. Further,
  Mountain Pose is considered to be the foundational pose from which all other poses are
  generated. The alignment in Mountain Pose is a framework for alignment in yoga.


• Build each pose from the ground up and center outward. When teaching alignment, begin
  with the ground as a root or base for the pose. Then instruct the students to notice the
  connection of their hands and/or feet with the floor. Ask them to ground, press, or engage
  here. Move your instruction up the legs and/or arms, to the core, and to the crown of the
  head (or whatever body part is closest to the ceiling). As you do this, instruct the pose
  from the center outward. Even in expansive poses (e.g., Half Moon), the student is more
  stable and can experience more success and expansion from a grounded and integrated
  starting point.


• Speak to action, body part, direction, and anchor (Stephens, 2010). That is, when giving
  refinements for a pose, first tell the students the action you would like them to take
  (e.g., press, move, step, engage, draw, reach). Next, tell them to which body part you are
  referring (e.g., your foot, hand, body, eyes, tops of femurs). Next, tell them the direction
  (e.g., inward, toward, into, away from, back, forward, up, down). Last, provide an anchor
  point for the action and direction (e.g., spine, back of room, ceiling, floor). All together it
  sounds like this, “Draw your naval toward your spine,” “Reach your hands up toward the
  ceiling,” “Press your foot into the mat.”


• Prioritize breath awareness (Flynn, 2013). For critical outcomes like decreased stress and
  increased self-regulation the breath is central (Cook-Cottone, 2015). This is why after the