Seeds of inspiration are often found in the most unsuspecting places. Teachers of any subject can learn from the pedagogic techniques of yoga instruction. Treat your entire faculty and staff to a workshop designed to enhance their work in education.
1) Self Care
Educators are part of a giving profession tasked with the enormous responsibility of tending to the social, emotional, and intellectual development of their learners. When educators attend to their own needs in a healthful manner they are best positioned to care for others and reduce the risk of stagnation, fatigue, and burnout. A yoga session provides your faculty and staff with “me-time” and models for them the vital importance of creating space to rest and digest. A yoga sequence can be designed to match the abilities of your participants and can focus on ideas such as:
- Calm the mind to be present
- Open up to family and co-workers
- Stretch the body for the purpose of physical and emotional health
- Find balance and ease while pushing yourself to grow
- Discover newness in routine
2) Yoga as a Model Pedagogy
Yoga is a practice taught with great intention. Behind-the-scenes you’ll find:
- Clear enduring understandings that guide each practice
- Well-crafted sequences to draw the learner into the lesson, keep it relevant to the learner, and ensure the core objective is accessible
- Tools to overcome distractions and inhibitions
- Strategies to promote differentiated instruction and inclusion
- Multiple opportunities for self-reflection
- A code of ethics for instructors
A yoga session designed to model pedagogic techniques can focus on topics such as:
- Calm the Mind & Overcome Obstacles to Learning
- “What Does it Mean to Me??” How to Help Learners Embody and Personalize the Lesson
- The Art of the Sequence: How to Design a Lesson Plan that is Safe, Clear, and Accessible
- No Learner Left Behind! Differentiated Instruction in a Multi-Level Classroom
- Best Practices in Classroom Management
3) Yoga as a Tool for Jewish Life & Learning
As Jewish leaders and educators we strive to engage our community members and learners in a Jewish practice that is resonant, meaningful, and personal. Our success hinges on our ability to articulate through our own words and actions the power and benefits of the values, rituals, and customs that constitute the core of Judaism. When we view the component parts of Jewish life – prayer, holidays, text study, acts of social justice – as opportunities for exploration, understanding, experimentation, creative expression, stability, and growth, we optimize the Jewish experience.
Yoga instructors face a similar set of objectives. The goal of yoga runs much deeper than proper physical alignment. The purpose of the postures - forward folds, back bends, inversions, arm balances, and the like – is to build up a set of dispositions and abilities that serve the individual throughout life. In this way there are a variety of strategies that guide yoga instruction that can be adapted to our work as Jewish leaders and educators.
Take a deeper dive into how the pedagogy of yoga instruction can enhance our work in areas such as:
- Yoga & T’fillah: Opportunities for Self Reflection
- Poses are to Yoga as Mitzvot are to Judaism – Accessible!
- The Value of Sacred Text in Learning
- If I am Not for Myself, Who Will be For Me?
- The Jewish Response to Injustice
- Reduce the Barriers to Hebrew Language Acquisition
- Act with Kavanah