Mindfulness and Yoga Techniques for School Teachers Wellbeing
Thank you Greensand Academy for inviting me again this year to teach Yoga and Mindfulness on Friday 14th Feb 2025 at Reigate School for the Wellbeing and Professional Development Inset day hosted by the GMAT Academy uniting on this occasion their 11 schools. A large event attended by over 600 local school teachers. It ran so smoothly, It was very well thought-out; and well organised from timing to parking, briefing, flow in and out of workshops rooms. No doubt the Greensand staff put in a lot of hours to get this organised.
Smiles throughout in the crowd and everyone seemed very grateful for the opportunity to try out a new fun activity such as Yoga, Mindfulness, Dance, Boxercise, Enameling, and much more.
I felt privileged to teach Yoga to complete beginners and experienced Yogis alike. My lesson plan aimed to demonstrate the parallel that exists between physical awareness and mental awareness, in particular how feeling centred can mean having good core stability or feeling mentally resilient
Physically, our focus was on Core stability and we used a Yoga brick to provide additional feedback in various strength practices and balances. We experienced feeling more centred when limbs were kept closer to the body in balance poses and prone poses (such as Locust pose)
Mentally, this idea translates in becoming aware that high and lows are destabilising for our moods. Feeling centred equates being in mood ranges that are closer to neutral. It does not mean we should not look for highs and lows, as these build mental resilience, but it is good to be aware and expect being off centre when we have out of the ordinary moods or experiences. This mimics the Window of Tolerance developed by Dr Dan Siegel to explain mental resilience in the nervous system. It is our ability to come back into balance that builds mental resilience.
All of the above techniques are effective for participants of all ages, whether school teachers or pupils!
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