Relaxation Dance: A K-5 Breath Practice    Relaxation Dance A K-5 Breath Practice
      
   Subject    Type of Practice: Mindfulness Intended Audience: K-2      
   Context    Social Context: Individual Duration of Practice: 5 minutes      
   Preparations and Resources    Materials:  One yoga mat per student.  Enough floor space that students can spread out. 
Set Up:  Arrange the yoga mats, ensuring that students are spread out.  If you have enough space, consider arranging the yoga mats in a circle so that you can see each student from your own mat. 
      
   Script    Begin by standing comfortably on your mat.  Now, do a slow, calm relaxation dance to help your bodies become still and calm. Move your bodies in whatever ways they want to move. Be creative!  Wonderful. Begin to slow your relaxation dance down.  Great job. Now see if you can move even slower.  And what about even slower?  As you dance, begin to lower yourself down toward your mat. Can you go even slower?  Wonderful. Now find a comfortable seated position.  Place your right hand on your heart and your left hand on your belly.  See if you can feel your heartbeat. What does your heartbeat feel like after your relaxation dance?  Now bring your attention to your breath. What is your breath like now that you are relaxed? Is it fast or is it slow? Wonderful. Now place your right hand on your forehead. What is your mind like after your relaxation dance? Now gently lower your hands to your sides. Take a deep breath in and out. Notice whether you feel any differently after this exercise.        
   Tips    You do not need to read the included script verbatim. Adapt the language so that it is appropriate for your students in particular.  This a great practice to do to set up for a seated mindfulness exercise. Alternatively, you could invite students to end their dance lying down and use it as an introduction for any of the mindfulness exercises that begin with students lying on their mats. For example, you might use this as a precursor to a body scan, tension release, or notice and release. 
      
   Variations/Extensions    None      
   Authorship and Provenance    Authors: Megan Downey and Anna Basile Adapted from: Compassionate Schools Project      
   Associated graphic    None