CHAPTER 11: on THE mAT: foRmAl YogA PRACTICES foR SElf-REgulATIon And EngAgEmEnT • 263the feeling of their breath in their bodies, belly, back, ribs, and whole torso (Tantillo, 2012).
Encourage them to make their breath smooth like a stream flowing in and out. At this point,
ask them to create a S.E.L.F breath—Slow, Even, Long, and Full breath in and a Slow, Even,
Long, and Full Breath out (Tantillo, 2012). Remind students that deep, even breathing helps
them nourish and take care of who they are, “Know that each breath you take, you are nour-
ishing and taking care of yourself. With each breath you take, you feel good about who you
are” (Tantillo, p. 79).
RElAxATIon
Relaxation exercises create a bridge from the more active, external practices of yoga to the
internal, meditative practices (Anderson & Sovik, 2000; Stephens, 2010). Relaxation and
meditation are part of a continuous process of deepening and stilling the mind and moving
toward self-awareness (Stephens, 2010). Once there, the meditation process in yoga is much
like meditation in mindfulness.
Self-massage
School-based yoga is focused on empowering students to be the regulators of their own
bodies, minds, and behaviors. Self-massage is a great tool for showing students how much
they can help their bodies relax. Recall that is it very difficult to have an anxious mind in a
calm body. This is a simple self-massage technique described by Flynn (2013). The students
should be in a seated pose either on the floor with ankles crossed or at their desks. Read
Practice Script 11.2, adapted from Flynn (2013, pp. 62–63).
PRACTICE SCRIPT 11.2: SElf-mASSAgE
(Approximate timing: 10 minutes for practice)
Become aware of your body, beginning with your feet and the connection of your sit bones on your
chair or floor. Notice any tension you are holding in your body and breathe into the tension spots,
reminding yourself to soften. Breathe. Place your hands together and rub them gently, feeling the
warmth you create as you rub them together. Now place your second and third fingers on your
temples and gently press and begin massaging in small circles on your temples. Keeping the small
massaging circles going, move the massage into your scalp and hair; move across the sides of your
head, slowly moving your massage toward the back of your head. Next, bring your second and
third fingers to your forehead and make the same small, massaging circles. Massage slowly and
use all of your fingers, taking the massaging circles into your hair and scalp all the way to the
back of your head. Now take your second and third fingers back to your temples and massage
in small circles. This time take all of your fingers into your hair and massage your scalp as you
move just over your ears and down into your neck as you massage toward the back of your
head and neck. (continued )