A block on ancient India is incomplete without yoga and so we began Grade 5 with Yoga as a part of our morning circle. This block was planned by me expecting a collective resistance and sigh. To my surprise the reception from the children was remarkable when I brought it to the classroom. Even the chore of carrying their yoga mats to school every day was an excitement (if left in the classroom, our little wildlife friends would work their magic on the mats).
We began with simple warm-ups, with “Surya Namaskara” and a round of “Pranayama”. Even the fidgety ones found a space in the movements and silence. Starting slow we built our movements and to control our breath. So keen were the children to explore yoga that they wanted to extend the block to accommodate the yoga. We went with the movement a little beyond the planned days.
We finished our block with a set of 13 Surya Namaskaras on International Yoga Day! Like one of the children pointed out -” We may not have begun well, but we sure did have a grand ending.”
Rightly so! It was a delight to see each of them sincerely work to be one with what they were surrounded with.
