Louise Goldberg - Classroom Yoga Breaks: Brief Exercises to Create Calm

is a registered trademark of Relaxation Now LLC (Louise Goldberg, owner).

The visual props (Footprints, Flip Easel, and Focus Circles) in these photos are used with permission from S.T.O.P. and Relax 2006.

All photos in this book are courtesy of Ed Zeiss Images (edzeissimages.com) and Bryna Cain.

Permission has been obtained by the author to identify certain children referred to in these pages by their real names. Otherwise, names and certain identifying characteristics of all children appearing in CLASSROOM YOGA BREAKS have been altered.

Copyright 2017 by Louise Goldberg

All rights reserved

First Edition

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Production manager: Chris Critelli

Jacket design by Lauren Graessle

Jacket and author photos by Bryna Cain, studiobry.com

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Names: Goldberg, Louise, 1950 author.

Title: Classroom yoga breaks : brief exercises to create calm / Louise Goldberg.

Description: First edition. | New York : W.W Norton & Company, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016015309 | ISBN 9780393710953 (hardcover)

Subjects: LCSH: Classroom management. | Hatha yoga for children.

Classification: LCC LB3013 .G628 2017 | DDC 371.102/4dc23 LC record

available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016015309

ISBN: 978-0-393-71095-3

ISBN 978-0-393-71096-0 (e-book)

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110

www.wwnorton.com

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., 15 Carlisle Street, London W1D 3BS

Note to Readers: Models and/or techniques described in this volume are illustrative or are included for general informational purposes only; neither the publisher nor the author(s) can guarantee the efficacy or appropriateness of any particular recommendation in every circumstance.

Contents

Note to Readers: Models and/or techniques described in this volume are illustrative or are included for general informational purposes only; neither the publisher nor the author(s) can guarantee the efficacy or appropriateness of any particular recommendation in every circumstance.

To my teacher JoAnn Evans, for your friendship and example

To my son Mark Goldberg-Foss, for making me laugh and think

And to my husband Rich Foss, for being there for me, always

M Y THANKS TO all the students and teachers whose photos grace this book, and especially to the families who granted me permission to share their childrens talents.

I am indebted to my photographer and friend Ed Zeiss for his extraordinary eye, his patience and gentleness with the children, and his willingness to always go the extra mile. And to my friend and fellow yoga teacher Bryna Cain, for her stellar photography, including the cover and author photos. She made each photo shoot into a joyful occasion for the children and me. As youll see, Ed and Brynas work brings this text to life.

I was flabbergasted when Deborah Malmud, my editor at W. W. Norton, contacted me about writing my first book, Yoga Therapy for Children with Autism and Special Needs. In fact, I wondered if she had reached the right person. I still cherish my copy of The Norton Anthology of English Literature from my college years, and my husband and I have a shelf full of Norton texts. Once I got over the shock, I couldnt wait to begin.

When she proposed this project, however, I didnt feel ready to write another book. Having done it once and discovered the magnitude of the task, I was reluctant to begin again. The importance of this subject, however, rendered my concerns inconsequential. It is because of Deborahs encouragement, vision, and ability to make an enormous project seem doable that this book has come to be.

My thanks to Alison Lewis whose editorial commentary and organizational suggestions were extremely helpful. Elizabeth Baird oversaw the production of the book, crafting the beautiful product that you now hold. Thanks to Kevin Olsen and the marketing group at Norton for their diligence. Becoming a Norton author has been like winning the lottery. I am grateful to this extraordinary team of professionals who truly care about books and their authors. Thanks to Karen Fisher for her copyediting skills and Sheryl Rowe for taking exquisite care with composition and coaching me through the final stages of the book.

Id like to thank my teachers, students, family, and friends for their gracious support and encouragement throughout the writing process. I am grateful to my yoga community, especially my longtime friend and teacher JoAnn Evans, whose knowledge and love for yoga infuse my teaching and to Eunice Wellington for her inspiration. Thank you to my first teachers: Carole Goya, Swami Vishnudevananda, and Pearl Van Aalst.

My gratitude to the students and faculty of the Yoga Center of Deerfield Beach, Florida, my spiritual home, and especially to our director, Dotty Zevin, for her unflagging support and encouragement to fly.

Two friends reviewed the entire text: My yoga student Susan Vladeck whose editing skills have been honed assisting her talented children, and my longtime friend Barbara Harris, retired English teacher and librarian, who has a knack for cutting excess. Thanks to them and massage therapist Jody Kenyon for her thoughtful input on my stress chapter.

Thanks to my friends and family who propped me up when I needed it: my sister Roberta Callaghan, who knew when to listen and when to let me go; acupuncture physician Steve Templin and psychotherapist Eileen Templin, who shared ideas about the brain, stress, and learning; Wilma Schiller for discussing respiration; Karen Deerwester, author and teacher, for inspiring me with her own work; Debby Reynolds, Joni and Pat Clare, Brenda Martin, Marty ONeill, Kathy Hurley, Howard and Anita Goldberg, and Siri Goldberg. Thanks to you all for knowing when to talk and when to leave me alone.

Thanks to my partners in S.T.O.P. and Relax Your Special Needs Yoga ToolboxDebra Collins, Daniela Morales, and Sally Millerfor pooling their talents to bring a visual yoga-based curriculum to children in schools around the world.

My gratitude to John Smith, retired principal, who introduced the yoga program to the Broward Schools in 1981, and to Sally Creswell, retired curriculum coordinator, who continued the project with autism education in 2000.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to visit a number of schools while doing research for this project. A very special thank you goes to the Broward County Public Schools, especially to GiGi McIntire, the administration, and faculty at Mirror Lakes Elementary School for their extraordinary contributions to this book. Thanks to Machiko Morishita-Horner and the administration of Dania Elementary School. Thank you to Sondra Sellitti of Monarch High for testing out some of the BREATHE FIRST lessons with her classes and to Renae Lapin for brainstorming with me.

My thanks to middle school principal Patrice Rogers and to yoga teacher Pam Leal for letting me observe school yoga classes at North Broward Prep. I am indebted to Stefanie Gross who gave me a whole day to observe Move Through Yoga classes at Atlantic West High and Boca Raton High of the Palm Beach School District and to Principal Geoff McKee and teacher Catherine Freihofer for speaking with me about the program. I am grateful to Nancy Lieberman, Stacy Layer, and the remarkable faculty of Baudhuin Preschool of Nova Southeastern University for implementing S.T.O.P. and Relax yoga into their curriculum. Special thanks to Donna Davis for welcoming me into her dance kinetics classes at Edgewater High School in Orlando, Florida, for sharing her passion, and for becoming a friend.