Great, glad it was helpful.
I looked up the thread to get more tips myself but always glad to share any info I do have. I work with 0-70 yr olds at the moment, adolescents12-18.
Go back to Patanjalis basic structure and the koshas.
Keep your plan just expand on it systematically, and be prepared to do something completly different.
- Body Awareness
- Breath
3.Strength
4.Relaxation
- meditation
you could use this structure every week, integrating them all, but emphasise one especially each week. Move through all 5 then begina at no 1 (body) but exploring it in a deeper more subtle way, continue to rotate 4 x over 20weeks, gradually deepening their awareness and experience of the practices. Think in terms of moving through the koshas. Same as an adult class but choose practices that are direct, revealing the familiar in a new way , choose your language simply.
E.G. week 1. Body Awareness 1 > establishing a stable base (chakra /kosha 1) essential for teenagers ,specially if on drugs.
Savasana, base: body on the ground, feel the support , surrender to gravity. Tense and release body awareness
Breath awareness, talk them through it to encrease their sensitivity to bodily sensations of breath.
Simple breath and movement practices vini yoga style or joint freeing limbering > Come back to base, feel the areas in contact with the ground in every posture, Bring their attention to strength (body)by asking them to feel the contracting muscle as a different sensation to the relaxing one. Use appropriate language. simple A+P strengthen back muscles for posture, perinium and abdominals for support/stability. Simple strength developing postures E.g cat ,Tiger > balance to illustrate this. Tadasana body/postural awreness. Include standing balances good for concentration and they often like the challange, not too hard though, some are easily discouraged. All the time bring their attentions to the sensations they are feeling (body) grounding/ stable base. Interpret these ideas in your own way.
Relaxation : rotation of conciousness (body) feel the whole body, feel.
Meditation: Walking meditation (grounding) feet on the earth. Focus on contact of foot from heel to toe, balance , movement of weight, great outdoors on grass but anywhere will do. Help them feel their physical relationship with the earth.
Follow the same structure week 2, 1-5 integrating them all. Breath kosha (2>) as your emphasis/theme. Move them through all the koshas each practice, deepening awareness, emphasising breath at every stage in every chosen practice. eg body after grounding, settling in Savasana. Breath into each limb in turn exhaling releasing any tension. Put hands on abdomen, ribs upper chest to feel breath.
Breath and movement , use inhale , exhale to enhance the pose.
Relaxation ; breath in through the skin out through the skin, every pore.
Meditation; count the exhales in the belly back from 30 > 0.
hope this helps,
namaste Madelaine
