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You are here: Home / Archives for The Mind

The Mind

The Functional Minds Method of Classroom Management

I recently took some yoga teacher CEU’s (Continuing Education Units) in a wonderful course called “Mind and Meditation.” I can’t wait for my next kids yoga class to try this one communication tip using The Three Functional Aspects of the Mind.

I took the Level 2 Yoga Teacher Training with Krishna Kaur – a mentor in Yoga for Youth

The Three Functional Minds can become a lesson plan in your kids yoga classes. For now, here’s a recap of the functional minds and then see how you can use them for classroom management.

The Negative Mind functions to help you identify obstacles and potential dangers. It is negative because it examines the reasons NOT to do something; it is not negative in terms of bad.  You utilize the negative mind when you see danger on your path or when you avoid something to protect yourself.

classroom management kids yoga teacher training
Kids listening to the rules of the game – The Negative Mind functions to help them wait.

The Positive Mind sees the opportunities and possibilities.  It is positive like a green light, meaning go!  The positive mind is not always right or good, but functions to explore why you would say yes to something. Your positive mind will see the advantages of following up with a good contact or idea.

Kids are ready to go in the Kids Yoga Teacher Training
The kids begin the game! The Positive Mind functions to enjoy the activity.

The mind usually starts its cycle with Negative then goes to Positive. Then the third Functional Aspect of the Mind, the Neutral Mind, kicks into action.

The Neutral Mind weighs in to clarify the directions given by the Positive and Negative Minds. It does the cost/benefit analysis.  Sometimes the Neutral Mind puts things in perspective by remembering the big picture. Sometimes you get insight that it doesn’t really matter if you choose the chocolate brownie or the key lime pie as long as you eat dessert in moderation.

You know a Neutral Mind statement because it is true now and will remain true 100 years from now.

Kids Yoga Teacher Training Activity
The kids try another part of the yoga class lesson plan. The Neutral Mind helps them balance the obstacles and the opportunities.

How can the Three Functional Minds help classroom management?

When you are teaching, use not just negative and/or positive mind statements, nor give only Neutral Mind advice. For classroom management try giving all three statements.

Here’s an example for when a class is getting rowdy and needs some calming down:

  • Negative Mind Classroom Management:  Slow down because someone might get hurt.
  • Positive Mind Classroom Management: Move in slow motion for fun.
  • Neutral Mind Classroom Management: Yoga requires balance.

How does saying all three sound different than just one function to you?

Three Functional Aspects Classroom Management: Slow down because someone might get hurt. Let’s move in slow motion for fun. Yoga requires balance.

You won’t need to do all three every time you have a rowdy class, but consider the three Functional Aspects of the Minds for those tough times when you really want to emphasize the class rules.

According to these Yogic teachings, your students will naturally be drawn to look at all three functions of the mind anyway.  Giving one can be effective but when you just give one, the kids may come back with the other functions that were not given.

Share your thoughts and comments:

Does anyone have a tough or successful classroom management example they’re willing to share?

Can you come up with an example of how to use the Three Functional Aspects of the Mind in classroom management if someone doesn’t want to participate?

What is your favorite classroom management tip or resource?

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Kids Yoga Teacher Training and Certification with Young Yoga MastersTake a look at upcoming Kids Yoga Teacher Certification Courses to enhance your yoga for children.

Filed Under: Classroom Management, Kids Yoga Tagged With: classroom management, kids yoga teacher training, The Mind

How the Olympics and Yoga Can Inspire Children to Believe

How the olympics and yoga can insprie Children to believe
How the olympics and yoga can insprie Children to believe

Helping Sore Losers by Using the Olympics and Yoga

“I Don’t Want to Play If I Get Out!”

At the end of a kids’ yoga class I announced, “Now it’s time for a game.”

To which one child responded, “Is it a game where people get out?  I don’t want to play if I get out.”

Today’s blog post is about olympic spirit and the joy of playing. It includes important yoga philosophy that can help children, especially kids who have trouble with losing, understand why it really isn’t whether you win or lose, its how you play the game.

Competition for Kids: Good or Bad?

This yoga lesson plan aims to show kids that competition is not necessarily good or bad, rather our perception of competition is what makes it so.

When competition is seen as a rivalry, it’s easy to understand why kids don’t like to play. They risk the chance of becoming “losers” rather than participants.  The root of the word competition means “to strive together.”  In this sense of the word, competition can be a wonderful experience of completely involving yourself in a task, bonding with a team, improving a skill, and striving towards a goal.

Take the example of the school children in this picture. They broke the world record for the largest Olympic rings.

 

children, competition and the Olympics
School children work together to break the world record for largest Olympic rings

To give kids a fresh look at competition, consider a lesson plan with this insight from my yoga teacher, Yogi Bhajan.  He said we all have three minds:  the Negative Mind, the Positive Mind, and the Neutral Mind.

The Negative Mind

The negative mind is not negative meaning bad.  It is awareness of the negative, the dangers and obstacles that will result from a choice.  Simply put, the negative mind may think “if I play a game then I might lose”, which might make someone less inclined to play at all. The negative mind thinks that losing makes a person a loser. It pays attention to all the things that could go wrong in any given situation.

Ask the kids for examples of the negative mind in their life or with family or friends.

The Positive Mind

The positive mind is not necessarily the good mind because of the word “positive.”  It’s thinking that helps us see opportunities and pleasant outcomes.  The positive mind may think, “I’ll play and I’ll win, and that will make me a winner”. It is the mind that realizes that there is value in trying your best, no matter the outcome.

Ask the kids for examples of the positive mind.

The Neutral Mind

The neutral mind weighs both the positive and the negative, and then decides.  It quickly recognizes that everything can potentially have dangers and opportunities that can be evaluated before a decision is made.  The neutral mind also sees how both negative and positive events help you grow.

The neutral mind thinks, “I may lose or I may win, but that will not determine who I am. I will play for the fun of doing my best, being part of a team, and becoming a stronger player.”

Ask the kids when they have noticed their neutral mind in action.

Yoga Poses for the Neutral Mind

To strengthen the neutral mind, try yoga poses that raise your energy from the base of the spine upwards.  Examples include:

  • cat cow
  • bridge pose
  • bicycle legs
  • leg lifts

Then move to yoga poses that open the heart:

  • archer pose
  • warrior poses
  • yoga mudra (hands clasped behind the back) while standing, sitting in rock pose, or resting in child pose
  • bow pose

Squeeze and Release Relaxation

Finish with a body scan for relaxation. Squeeze your feet tight, hold, then release your feet.  Squeeze your legs, hold, then release them.  Continue through the body, from the feet to the face. This body scan show kids that many things, like tension, can be both harmful and useful depending on how they are used.

Leave a  silent period at the end to let the children rest in a neutral space during relaxation.

The Olympics are wonderful example of striving together.  Try watching the Olympics together to observe athletes handling both victory and defeat.  These athletes can be valuable role models to help children discover the joy of striving, regardless of whether you win or you lose.

With a neutral mind, what matters is playing the game.

Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below!

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Filed Under: Attitude, Kids Yoga, Lesson Plans, Olympics Tagged With: character development, classroom management, fairness, inspiration, Kids Yoga, lesson plans, Olympics, sore losers, The Mind, win, winning, yoga, Yoga Games

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