Savasana

Our days in the 1-2s start with a deep breathing practice to help kids calm down the high energy of a fast paced morning to a more calmer, more relaxed state that helps to improve focus and lessen anxiety. One such deep breathing exercise is savasana. This involved students laying on their backs with their arms laid out beside them, their hands open and upward. Their legs are laid straight out and their feet relaxed out to each side. Their heads rest with faces up and eyes closed, imagining their quiet place. Students are then guided through long, deep breaths as they (hopefully) achieve a relaxed state of mind.

Slowly, after many minutes, they begin to wiggle their fingers and toes to draw their minds and bodies back to the present moment at school. They push themselves up to a seated position and are ready to take on the day! Many kids were able to verbalize how they felt both during and after this practice. Many describe a sense of calm (some SO calm they were nearly asleep!), while others tell about the difficulty it took to bring themselves to that level of peace. Either way, they feel refreshed and restored once savasana is complete. It becomes a style of deep breathing that they often request  in seeking out a quiet to the thoughts flitting through their busy minds and/or the fidgety energy looking for an outlet.

Check out the pictures below of our savasana session (and keep scrolling for two cool creature finds from Free Friday today!).