Top Tips For Teaching Yoga In Schools - Tip #37: Student Self-Care Through Freedom of Choice

Welcome back to the blog!

I’ve taken a few weeks off from writing since I’ve been in the thick of returning to the classroom, and everything that entails.

I’ve been trying to practice self-care this weekend, since it’s fallen by the wayside as it usually does during the first few weeks of the school by spending the weekend with my family, getting my sister ready for her freshman year of college!

In the spirit of self-care, this tip is all about creating the space for our students to practice self-care through freedom of choice.

Enjoy this tip, and as always, please share with anyone you think would benefit from reading it and leave a comment if it resonates.

Tip #37: Student Self-Care Through Freedom of Choice

This month, I invite you to honor student self-care by providing students the freedom of structured choice where and when it makes sense in your classes. 

But how do you know when it makes sense? It’s all about reading the energy in the room. If you know students are coming in right after a big test, you might read the room to find that while a group of your students are tired from all that reading and writing, you may have another group that are itching to move after sitting still for an hour. So, you would offer them two or three different movement options to meet the varying energy levels, and allow students to pick the option that makes the most sense for them. 

 For example, on the last day with my 7th graders one week, I gave them the choice as to how they wanted to spend our last class: playing yoga Jeopardy, practicing partner yoga, or having a normal practice like we usually do. They wanted to do something special, but also not as movement focused since it was a low energy day, so Jeopardy won by majority. Allowing my students this choice not only prompted them to check-in with themselves, but it also allowed us to have a successful class because they got to choose our activity instead of having it chosen for them.

So, as you teach your classes this month, I invite you to create more opportunities for student choice: whether it’s practicing any two backbends of their choosing in class, or giving them the choice to opt-in or out of specific activities. 

Tip Takeaway: Allowing students to have more structured choices over how they spend their time with you will increase their engagement and investment in yoga, and ultimately, will make your teaching time more productive, fruitful, and fun.