Partner Diamond
A K-5 Mindful Movement Partner Practice
Students begin this practice by sitting on the floor facing a partner with their legs spread wide in a letter V shape and their feet gently pressing against their partners’ feet. They reach forward to clasp their partners’ hands and then sit up a little straighter lengthening their spines. One of the partners then slowly leans back while the other slowly stretches forward. Both students keep their backs straight and go only as far as is comfortable for both. They pause in that position for several breaths and then slowly sit back up and repeat the exercise, reversing who is stretching forward and who is leaning back. Then they unclasp hands and return to a comfortable seated position.
Students begin this practice by sitting on the floor facing a partner with their legs spread wide in a letter V shape and their feet gently pressing against their partners’ feet. They reach forward to clasp their partners’ hands and then sit up a little straighter lengthening their spines. One of the partners then slowly leans back while the other slowly stretches forward. Both students keep their backs straight and go only as far as is comfortable for both. They pause in that position for several breaths and then slowly sit back up and repeat the exercise, reversing who is stretching forward and who is leaning back. Then they unclasp hands and return to a comfortable seated position. When practiced regularly, this pose may help students develop greater flexibility in their inner thighs and hamstrings and improve their collaboration skills.
Preliminary research into the impact of yoga training in schools suggests that yoga may be beneficial to child development. For example, early studies indicate that yoga training is associated with increases in students’ perceived self-concept (Scime & Cook-Cottone, 2008) as well as improvements to their emotional balance and well-being (Stück & Gloeckner, 2005). Students who participate in school-based yoga programs also experience fewer maladaptive responses to stress, including, for example, less rumination, fewer intrusive thoughts, and less emotional arousal (Mendelson et al., 2010).
Yoga programs are also associated with improved classroom readiness. Students who participate in yoga training experience enhanced concentration and greater abilities to function under pressure (Ehud, An, & Avshalom, 2010), and they tend to enact fewer disruptive behaviors in school (Berger, Silver, & Stein, 2009).
Yoga programs may also offer physical health benefits to students. A systematic review of the therapeutic benefits of yoga for children found that yoga enhances children’s motor performance and cardiorespiratory health, while it decreases children’s resting heart rate, cortisol levels, and symptoms related to childhood-asthma. The same review also found evidence of yoga’s positive impact on children’s musculoskeletal system, including by enhancing children’s flexibility and strength (Galantino, Galbavy, & Quinn, 2008).
Yoga training appears to be associated with relatively few risks. At least one adverse event has been observed in research on the impact of yoga on children, however. An individual was unaware of a preexisting condition that was exacerbated by an inverted yoga posture (de Barros, Bazzaz, Gheith, Siam, & Moster, 2008). Thus, educators should exercise caution when teaching more advanced poses to students in school settings.
Audience: K-5 students
Time: Any time of day
Duration: 5 minutes per session
Space: Classroom
Social context: Partner practice or group practice
Materials
- One yoga mat per pair of students.
- Enough floor space that students can spread out.
Setup
- Arrange the yoga mats, ensuring that students have enough space to move without bumping into one another.
- If you have enough space, consider arranging the yoga mats in a circle so that you can see each student from your own mat.
Visual Aids
You do not need to read the included script verbatim. Adapt the language so that it is appropriate for your students in particular.
It is perfectly appropriate to simplify the breathing cues, particularly when you first introduce the pose to your students. You might invite students to simply count several breaths in the pose, or you might opt to omit explicit reference to breath altogether.
It is not important for students to get the pose exactly right. Instead, focus on helping them build mind-body awareness each time you practice.
Offer students positive reinforcements throughout each practice. Focus on qualities and behaviors they can control, like their focus, effort, or persistence. Be specific whenever possible. This will help your students develop a growth mindset.
Before introducing this posture, brainstorm as a class what it means to be a good partner during partner poses. Discuss how the students can help keep each other safe and consider creating a list of class agreements for partner poses that are easily visible throughout the practice. For example, students might agree that if one partner feels uncomfortable and says “stop,” the other partner will immediately pause and determine how to help.
Prior to starting this pose, have the students choose which partner will lean forward first. This will minimize confusion and help prevent injuries.
Start by sitting comfortably on the floor across from a partner.
Now spread your legs wide. Move your legs as wide as you can while staying comfortable. This distance will be different for everyone. Rest your feet against your partner’s, or if your partner’s legs are wider than yours, rest your feet on your partner’s shins or ankles.
Take a look at your kneecaps. Are they facing straight up toward the sky? If not, move them so that they are.
Check out your toes. Are they reaching toward the sky as well? If not, flex your feet so your toes reach toward the sky
Wonderful. Now hold your partner’s hands or grab one another’s wrists or forearms.
As you breathe in, sit up just a little bit straighter. Check to see whether your chest feels any different when you sit up taller.
As you breathe out, one of you should gently lean forward while the other leans back, going only as far as is comfortable for both of you.
Let’s hold this pose for two breaths.
As you breathe in, press your thighs down into the floor. Check to see whether this feels any different in your body.
As you breathe out, lean into the pose a little bit more, making sure to lean only as far as is comfortable.
As you breathe in, notice any areas of your body that feel tight.
As you breathe out, imagine relaxing those parts of your body a little bit more.
Wonderful. On your next breath in, gently sit up straight.
Now you and your partner will switch roles. As you breathe out, the opposite partner should gently lean forward while the other leans back. Make sure that you’re not doing the same thing you did the first time.
Let’s hold this pose for two breaths.
As you breathe in, press your thighs down into the floor. Check to see whether this feels any different in your body.
As you breathe out, lean into the pose a little bit more, making sure to lean only as far as is comfortable.
As you breathe in, notice any areas of your body that feel tight.
As you breathe out, imagine relaxing those parts of your body a little bit more.
Wonderful. On your next breath in, gently sit up straight.
Now release your partner’s hands and use your hands to move your legs back together.
Slowly return to a comfortable sitting position.
Great job.
Berger, D.L., Silver, E.J., & Stein, R.E. (2009). Effects of yoga on inner-city children’s well-being: A pilot study. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 15, 36–42.
de Barros, D.S., Bazzaz, S., Gheith, M.E., Siam, G.A., & Moster, M.R. (2008). Progressive optic neuropathy in congenital glaucoma associated with the Sirsasana yoga posture. Ophthalmic Surgery Lasers and Imaging Retina, 39, 339–340.
Ehud, M., An, B.D., & Avshalom, S. (2010). Here and now: Yoga in Israeli schools. International Journal of Yoga, 3, 42–47.
Galantino, M. L., Galbavy, R., & Quinn, L. (2008). Therapeutic effects of yoga for children: A systematic review of the literature. Pediatric Physical Therapy, 20(1), 66-80.
Mendelson, T., Greenberg, M.T., Dariotis, J.K., Gould, L.F., Rhoades, B.L., & Leaf, P.J. (2010). Feasibility and preliminary outcomes of a school-based mindfulness intervention for urban youth. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 985–994.
Scime, M., & Cook-Cottone, C. (2008). Primary prevention of eating disorders: A constructivist integration of mind and body strategies. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 41(2), 134-142.
Serwacki, M., & Cook-Cottone, C. (2012). Yoga in the schools: A systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Yoga Therapy, 22, 101–110.
Stück, M., & Gloeckner, N. (2005). Yoga for children in the mirror of the science: Working spectrum and practice fields of the training of relaxation with elements of yoga for children. Early Childhood Development and Care, 175, 371–377.