Rise and Shine Yoga

Week 7 of Rise and Shine yoga was all about Kriya! Kriya means action; engaging in a set of yoga exercises to achieve a particular outcome, and we sure did a lot of moving today! We did the Bundle Roll during warm ups-it sure can be hard to keep your legs straight! The kriya that we did was for spine alignment. Who knew yoga could be so much work? We relaxed to the gong and then did a Sat Ta Na Ma meditation. This meditation is good for cleaning out the garbage in your head, helping you to relax and refocus. We played the bell game when we were all done! I surveyed the students about their 5 favorite yoga exercises, and will create a yoga set based on theses exercises for our last meeting on June 6th. No yoga next Monday, it is Memorial day. Also, I have contacted a vendor who is putting together t-shirts and other apparel with the Rise and Shine Yoga logo. I will get the flyers out to you as soon as possible. I will be able to subsidize the cost of your order by using the materials fee that is associated with the club. Stay tuned, more information to follow!

Heather's shirt says it all; Peace and Love!

Thanks for sharing your children with me.

Mrs. Williams

Rise and Shine Yoga

The rain did not dampen our spirits at all today! Week 6 of Rise and Shine Yoga was full of great energy and focus. We read Peaceful Piggy Yoga and then did the yoga set that the piggies presented. Check us out doing shoulder stands and "Lord of the Dance." This is a MCAS testing week for 4th and 5th graders, so we reviewed different breathing strategies and yoga for anxiety. We learned about sitali breathing and some of us were able to do it right away! Ask your yogi to tell you all about it and why sitali breathing is important. Next week we will do a kriya for spine alignment, it is going to be fun!
Thanks for sharing your children with me,

Mrs. Williams

Mellow Monday

What an awesome Monday! Today, Mrs. Merten's class had to run the mile in P.E. What better way to stretch and relax before a race than to take a yoga class! All students who wanted to participate, assembled in the gym and took part in a yoga set to prepare their minds and bodies. A total of 41 students took part in this class. It sure was fun leading such a large class, and it was certainly made easier by the fact that everyone wanted to be there! We tuned in with Shakta and Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo, which loosely means, "I awaken the wise teacher inside me." Then we did some warm up exercises and began our set. In order to be seen, I put my yoga mat on the reading table and led the set from this perch. Emily and Mike were my assistants and helped everyone with the exercises. After our set, we had a peaceful relaxation time and short meditation. We closed with Shakta and Long Time Sun. Mrs. Perry, our PE teacher, said that everyone was totally relaxed and ran very well. Several students were able to shave seconds off from their previous times. Yoga is the way to go! Thanks to Mrs. Merten for all of the great photos. Thanks too to Mrs. Perry for letting us use the gym mats, and the gym ,for our class. We'll be doing this set again on Wednesday when it is our turn to run the mile. I'm sure Mrs. Merten's class will join us to help us stretch, relax and to provide encouragement and support for us, just like we did for them.

Great job everyone!

Rise and Shine Yoga

Maddie the spider

Side Plank! Woohoo!

Dolphin

Twin fish-really!

Emily the fish

Partner pull-we love this stretch!

Who thought the partner yoga of week 4 could be outdone? No one! Sure enough, our underwater sea story was a huge success. We practiced many different yoga poses and exercises and had a good long relaxation. This is an MCAS week for 3rd and 5th graders, let's hope everyone remembers to use their yoga and BREATHE!!! Thanks for sharing your children with me.

Mrs. W

Asanas and Mudras-Archives

Here are Ryan and Mike in a double gate pose. Way to stretch guys!

Quote of the Week-Archives

"Stop playing the negative tapes in your head, just stop it!" Guruatma.
I love this quote! It is so easy to fall into the trap of getting down on yourself and start focusing on the things that are "wrong," as opposed to what is going right! Playing the negative tapes takes too much energy and takes away from personal growth. This is one of Guruatma's all time classics; she says it often so I know she means it! The next time you catch yourself playing the negative tapes, just turn them off. I bet that will bring a smile to your face and a spring to your step!