Yoga for Teachers & Students in the Classroom
Are you a teacher looking for ways to keep your students calm and disciplined? Yoga might be the answer you are looking for! Yoga has many benefits, especially for students. Mindfulness and gratitude exercises are great to incorporate into your lesson plans.
Yoga not only helps students physically but more importantly mentally. Mindfulness exercises help students relieve anxiety and tension as well as improve their grades. These exercises can help ease the mind during learning activities which in turn helps students have more enhanced attention spans. Yoga also helps students build confidence in themselves. This not only helps with their overall self-esteem but also with their confidence in their academics.
Teacher Benefits
Teachers also benefit from doing yoga with their students. Teachers get a reset to their day and a chance to let go of stress. Breathing exercises can help students and teachers recenter, improve posture, attention, and focus. Breathing exercises also do not require special equipment or clothing and can be done anywhere at any time.
Focusing In New Environments
As students go from one classroom to another or come inside from recess, it is usually hard to center their focus back on learning. Distractions and a new environment may have students feeling anxious and overwhelmed. Doing simple exercises can give students the opportunity to recenter back to learning, and being focused. Yoga also works to re-energize students during a mid-day slump.
Exercises To Try
There are many different ways to incorporate yoga into your classroom. The specific type of yoga will depend on your classroom interests. The students will love to see their teacher enthusiastic about the type of yoga they are practicing.
Here are a few different types of exercises to try out with your students to see what they like best:
Yoga Postures:
There are a bunch of free printable yoga posters available online. Try printing one out and practice a five-pose sequence based on a theme your classroom would enjoy!
Silent Practice:
If your students have trouble focusing after recess, try to incorporate a “sit silently” exercise to help them refocus and calm down.
Breathing
There are plenty of options on YouTube for calming meditations. Introducing different breathing techniques to your classroom will help with lowering anxiety and calming their bodies. Students can be more in tune with what is happening around them and have a moment to relax.
Games
If your classroom is into games, grab a deck of yoga cards and play yoga card games with your students. There are also options for chair yoga poses to have them relax at their desk!
