Mindfulness and Yoga in Schools A Guide for Teachers and Practitioners

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CHAPTER 12

YOGA PRACTICE TO CULTIVATE THE SELF

OFF THE MAT: MANAGING FEELINGS AND

BROADENING COMPETENCIES

We are what we repeatedly do

—Aristotle

Love, compassion, joy, and equanimity are the very nature of an enlightened person. They are the

four aspects of true love within ourselves and within everyone and everything.

—Thich Nhat Hanh (1999, p. 170)

As Aristotle says, “We are what we repeatedly do.” A yoga-friendly way of saying that is we
are what we repeatedly embody. Traditional yoga is an eight-limbed practice with a broad
array of tools designed to help you manage your body, feelings, and relationships (Cook-
Cottone, 2015). Off-the-mat practices provide ways to be in yoga, in connection throughout
the day. From an integrated place, we all can be better versions of ourselves (see Chapter 1:
Mindful and Yogic Self as Effective Learner [MY-SEL] model). As illustrated in the MY-SEL
model, yoga practice involves a positive relationship with one’s body, emotions, and
thoughts that facilitates a healthy engagement in relationships, schoolwork, and community.
The informal practice of yoga extends far beyond the mat and includes the building of basic
self-care skills to create stability in the physical body and emotions, the cultivation of posi-
tive emotions (e.g., joy, loving-kindness), a skill set for managing negative or difficult emo-
tions, and the ability to weave the four formal school-based yoga practices into the typical
school day (i.e., yoga poses, breathing exercises, relaxation, and meditation; see Figure 12.1).
This chapter reviews the ways to teach and practice yoga off-the-mat and in your life. To
do this, the broad-and-build theory as a rationale for engagement in informal yoga practice
is reviewed. This chapter also reviews the role of emotions in our lives from a yoga perspec-
tive. Next, the four immeasurables (i.e., joy, equanimity, compassion, and loving-kindness)
are reviewed within the context of the discussion on broadening and building positive feel-
ings and experiencing for our students. Last, ways to integrate yoga into your school day in
a more formal way are reviewed.