Sticky Note Reflections: Mindfulness in Middle School Yoga

middle school yoga mindfulness toolFor some, yoga is experienced as just another “workout.” The effects are often overlooked as we simply show up on the mat, do our thing, and move on with our day.

The impact yoga has on each person is certainly multifaceted and individual. But through deliberate reflection, even young yogis can notice changes within themselves as a result of doing middle school yoga.

As part of our yoga class, our middle schoolers write down their state of mind when they arrive to class, after our opening relaxation, and at the end of class after Savasana. They gather these daily reflections in a folder for further contemplation in the last week of their 8-week session.

As they walk into class they grab their mat and blocks, as well as a blank stickymiddle school yoga sticky note reflections note and pencil. They quickly jot down the date and a word that describes their current state of mind or emotions. They set the note and pencil aside while we do an opening relaxation and they then record their state of mind again — often times feeling a change after only 90 seconds of stillness.

We enjoy a full yoga class. And then after Savasana they record their third word and put their sticky note into their folder, which is a large piece of construction paper folded in half.

Their folders remain with me in between classes and the young yogis see them at the end of each class as they add their latest sticky note to it. Keeping the folders with me is not only less distracting for them during class, but it keeps our young yogis from middle school yogalooking back to their feelings from the previous weeks. This allows them to remain more focused on their current emotions and experiences, rather than being taken back to past feelings.

At the end of the eight weeks our yogis will use their sticky note reflections to inspire a written or illustrated culminating expression of their experiences as yogis. I look forward to witnessing this full-circle process for them!

This has been such a gift to me as their teacher to be able to see vivid results from their experiences of yoga – through this super simple tool and process.

Yoga Course Work

Author and Sing Song Yoga® Founder, Deb Weiss-Gelmi offers kids’ yoga teacher training and professional development for school teachers. Connect with her on FB, IG and Twitter.

 


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This entry was posted on Monday, March 19th, 2018.
Posted in Benefits of Yoga, Education, Yoga in Schools.
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