Yoga for the Elementary School Teacher ~ Tami Hill

Elementary school teachers face a special challenge in the work place: children. W.C. Fields is credited as saying “Never work with animals or children”, perhaps alluding to the unpredictability of both. No one knows this better than the teacher that, year after year, balances the needs of a classroom like a circus act spinning plates. Children are unpredictable, funny, loud, precious and demanding, and not necessarily in that order. To teach them requires energy, patience, creativity and understanding... and possibly thousands of other characteristics not mentioned here.

My goal when offering yoga to my elementary school colleagues was two-fold: get instructing experience and share what I was learning (and had learned) about balance in my life. Two words became my mantra, sthira and sukha, and I longed to bring steadiness and ease to the lives of others for whom I worked with and about whom I cared deeply. This project brought to my dearest colleagues just that, sthira and sukha, and I am forever grateful for the experience.

The following collection lists my offerings by month/quarter of the school year. Poses, meditations, ayurvedic supports, mantras, and quotes that formed my hour-long classes every Tuesday afternoon, are gathered here. May they be used in the future to overcome the challenges of teaching by creating balance in the classroom and in life.

To read more click here.

Introduction to Office Yoga ~ by Lisa Wingate

(Or: “Taking a Break to get out of our Heads and into our Bodies”)

People working eight hour days in an office may not get to move around much. Office culture is governed by pressure to perform and 'get the job done;' and much if not all work is tied to sitting at a desk working on a computer. Individuals may also sit during their commute on a train, bus, or car. When the work day is over, folks may like to 'unwind' from the stressful workday by sitting in front of a TV or playing on their smart device. Unfortunately, the constant sitting, use of technical devices, and a general lack of varied bodily movement creates unhealthy physical patterns and postures in the human body.

Practicing yoga asana (postures) can give office workers ways to discover and explore their bodies thus assisting them in gaining a 'mind-body awareness'. While many people have taken typing or computer classes, many are not familiar with yoga classes. Through yoga, office workers are introduced to their own habitual postural and mental patterns. Further, specific yoga practices can counter the physical and mental effects that office culture places on individuals. This project exposes and aims to change the office worker's daily physical, mental and perhaps spiritual habits. I will give basic information relating to physical postures encountered at the office and further provide accessible yoga exercises to counter them. This project will show that yoga can benefit office workers' posture and well-being.

I work in a small office at a computer forty hours per week. While I personally have implemented yoga into my daily office routine, I knew that my practice would be beneficial to my coworkers. I attest to the physical and mental modifications yoga practice offers, so I envisioned this project as a means to share this with my peers. The overall goal of this project is to guide my coworkers in exploring their own mind-body connections to ultimately make them feel better during the workday. …

Click here to read more.

Juicy Joints Workshop ~ by Terri Surabian

… Think about that stiff feeling you sometimes get after a long car ride, a trip in an airplane, or simply as long day sitting at your desk. Immobility in the body for an extended period of time creates this stiffness, and when we have an opportunity we usually stretch our bodies, in hopes of relieving stiff knees, hips, shoulders and back. We are seeking joint freedom. Joint freedom is the ability of each joint to move freely through its full range of motion without muscular stress or discomfort. Your activity level, sex, age weight, genetic postural imbalances, injuries, pain, body conditioning and emotional state will all impact your flexibility. Our optimal age for joint freedom is between 3-5 years old. The activities we engage in will have an impact on our joint freedom as we age. For example, running makes hamstrings tighter and stronger and reduces hip flexibility. People who are knock kneed will have less distance when opening the legs and drawing the hips away from each other. Depressed people often collapse forward, round the upper back and cave in the chest, tightening chest muscles and making it more difficult to pull the shoulders back. … Yoga is proving to have more and more significant effect on healthy joint function as certain poses promote release of fluids while strengthening the muscles supporting the joints. …

To read more click here.

Welcome to the Beginner Teacher's Guide to Chair Yoga! ~ by Natalia Garcia Valencia

The idea for this project came to me during a level 1 class observation. A few minutes prior to the class start, the teacher was informed that she would have a drop-in student join the class, and that he would require the use of a chair, due to his physical limitations. While this particular teacher's class plan for that day did not include the use of a chair, she proved to be incredibly flexible, accommodating , and by thinking quickly on her feet, she modified poses by using a chair. The class was a success. In addition, I realized, that during the teacher training process, I have been building a "toolbox" of skills, which will all help me, when I begin to teach yoga to my students.

The following pages are designed to give you ideas, to spark your own creativity, and most importantly, to help you, when you find yourself in a bind. Here you will find simple chair asanas, along with modifications, which can be appropriate for levels 1 and 2 classes. …

To read more click here.

Eyes on Yoga ~ by Kathleen Stemplinski

… The benefits of eye yoga range from better vision to increased concentration and spiritual insight. In yoga we learn to focus our eyes with precision. We direct our gaze purposely at a drishti which can help direct the energy of the pose. In balances the dristi can keep you keep upright; in twists, it can help you turn further. In general it helps us stay mentally clear. …

To read more click here.

Yin & Yang: A New Approach to Yoga for the Military & Beyond ~ by Unyong Kim

In Taoist philosophy, Yang and Yin describe two harmonious and opposite energies, which remain in constant dynamic balance: when yang energy waxes to its maximum, the seed of its opposite, yin energy is sown, which then waxes to its maximum, while its opposite, yang energy wanes, until the seed of yang is sown with the maximized yin. …

• Yin is associated with the receptive, feminine, deep, spiritual, restorative, while Yang is associated with the active, masculine, surface, worldly, challenging.

• The military is perhaps one of the most yang institutions in our culture, which is experiencing the birth of the yin element.

• Mindfulness meditation and yoga are two very yin practices, which bring balance to the stresses arising from an excess of yang energy.

• On a macro level, yang cultures such as the military, give rise to seeds of yin practices like yoga and mindfulness.

• On a micro level, individuals with forceful, clenched approaches to living, give rise to their own need for centering breath and mindfulness, moment to moment.

To read more click here.

The Pelvis ~ by Dena Jensen

Understanding and visualizing the way the body works can be an effective tool in self study. Self discovery and self study enhances the yogic experience. The inner workings of the body remain a mystery to most people. This paper will describe the bones and muscles of the pelvis in an effort to begin unraveling the mystery of this important part of the body. …

To read more click here.