CHAPTER 12: YogA PRACTiCE To CulTiVATE THE SElf off THE mAT • 291we need to stop and rest (Cook-Cottone et al., 2013). David (2009) suggests that there are
many informal ways to apply mindful awareness to physical sensations and movement of
the body. David (2009) encourages you to start with a body scan (see Chapter 6). Next, you
can use the body scan experience to bring awareness to the body when the class is walking.
When walking somewhere as a class you can guide them to walk silently as if everyone is
watching them, as if they are very tired, as if they want to pass unnoticed, or as if they are
paying attention to each step (David, 2009). Throughout the day, you can ask the class to
check in with their bodies, notice any tightness, and breathe into the tightness and relax.
David encourages “mini mindfulness movement techniques” (2009, pp. 123–126). These
include a check-in with legs and feet while students are walking, dialing into the energy
level of the body at any point in the day, noticing physical sensations while working on the
computer, and digging into a felt-awareness during a mini stretch break.
ConCluSion
Going back to where we started this chapter, Aristotle says, “We are what we repeatedly do.”
Educational research tells us that spaced practice creates durable learning (e.g., Kang, 2016).
Formal practice is important and adding in informal practice throughout the day, along with
yoga breaks and yoga games, can enhance outcomes. This chapter reviewed the ways to teach
and practice yoga off-the-mat, in your classroom, and in your life. The broad-and-build theory
was offered as a conceptual framework for informal practice and for work with emotions. The
role and management of emotions was explicated from a yoga perspective. Next, the four
immeasurables (i.e., joy, equanimity, compassion, and loving-kindness) were discussed within
the context of broadening and building positive feelings and experiences for your students.
Last, quick and easy ways to integrate yoga into your school day were reviewed (e.g., yoga
breaks and games). Note that, although the theory is compelling and some informal practices
have been found to be beneficial (i.e., loving-kindness meditation), more research is needed to
explore the role of yoga poses, breathing exercises, and the broader role of a variety of relax-
ation and mindfulness techniques and how they can help students broaden and build their
coping repertoire and set of resources. To add to your resource library consider these texts:
- For lots of ways to integrate social-emotional learning to your school day, see Philbert
(2016a), Everyday SEL in Elementary School: Integrating Social-Emotional Learning and
Mindfulness Into Your Classroom, and Philbert (2016b), Everyday SEL in Middle School:
Integrating Social-Emotional Learning and Mindfulness Into Your Classroom. - For yoga games, see Tantillo (2012), Cooling Down Your Classroom: Using Yoga Relaxation
and Breathing Strategies to Help Students Learn to Keep Their Cool. - For yoga breaks, see Golberg (2016), Classroom Yoga Breaks: Brief Exercises to Create Calm.
REfEREnCES
Anderson, S., & Sovik, R. (2000). Yoga mastering the basics. Honsedale, PA: The Himalayan Institute.
Armstrong, L. E., Ganio, M. S., Casa, D. J., Lee, E. C., McDermott, B. P., Klau, J. F., ... & Lieberman, H. R.
(2012). Mild dehydration affects mood in healthy young women. The Journal of nutrition, 142 (2),
382–388.
Asencia, T. (2006). Yoga in your school: Exercises for classroom, gym and playground. Highstown, NJ:
Princeton.