While cleaning up my
desktop, I found this entry that I wrote just before Christmas. Fighting off a cold at the start of break
followed by celebration after celebration, caused me to overlook this piece of
writing. As we are getting back into the
swing of things in January, I thought this was a good time to share my reflection
on teaching elementary and teaching yoga.
Enjoy!
I don’t often write about my experiences in the elementary
school classroom for several reasons.
One of the reasons is that is not the focus of this blog. Another reason
is preserving my students anonymity. However I can’t resist sharing the lessons
of this afternoon with you. No names
will be used to protect the identity of the innocents!
As a conclusion to our study of Ancient India, I felt the
need to share some yogic principles with my class (as a yoga teacher how could
I teach about India for 6 weeks and not include a single mention of yoga,
believe it or not it really doesn’t come up in the textbook.) We learned a Sanskrit chant for peace, practiced
several asanas (poses), and discussed some of the philosophical aspects. Finally
I had students cradle their heads in their arms and rest on their desk as I led
them through a 3 minute guided meditation.
As they emerged from their meditation, stretching their arms and yawning,
one student claimed she had nearly fallen asleep. Another demanded that I make an app of my
voice because she thought others would want to experience my calming
words. One boy actually returned after
dismissal time to thank me for the meditation lesson and to say that he really
enjoyed it.
What did this experience teach me? While the kids had fun with the asana
practice and moving through the poses and they enjoyed learning the Sanskrit
and chanting, their biggest response was to the meditation. Many of them dove
right in, closing their eyes, welcoming the rest. A few fidgeted, needing permission to
surrender their pencils and books, needing assistance to clear their space and
make a comfortable spot to rest. One or
two eyes fluttered nervously not knowing if a classroom was a place where eyes
could be closed and one’s guard could be let down. Eventually they all got there. Audible breaths, still bodies, and while I’ll
never know what was going on in their little heads… Did they see the peaceful
hillside with the tree I described? Were
they counting their inhales and exhales as I instructed? Many probably were and a few may have
followed their own imaginations. Some
might have been thinking to themselves, this is pretty cool, I feel so calm.
While others might have thought, what one earth is she talking about, this lady
is crazy!
Similarly when I lead a yoga class through savasana at the
yoga studio, I hope my words inspire and guide them to a place of calm. Some students are on their backs ready for deep meditation before you finish saying the word savasana. While others shift and rearrange, trying to get comfortable and still. I imagine some are hanging on my every word and are completely into the experience and others may be thinking, "What is this lunatic going on about!" The point is, we never know what is truly
going on inside the mind of another human.
Our endeavor to try to understand someone else’s experience is one of
the challenges and privileges of a life well lived. Opening our hearts and minds to attempt to understand a journey other than our own, that is what yoga teaches. That and so much more.
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