Lesson Plan : Relaxation Techniques

Teacher Name:
 Cassie and Frances
 Grade 11-12

 Techniques to relax your children
 I. Dont Over Schedule Your Children A.Cut back on the tasks and activities which overwhelm them II.Teach your children relaxation techniques A.Stretching B.Deep Breathing 1. Abdominal Breathing a. Place one hand on you tummy so that the belly button is below the centre of the palm. Now place the other hand on the top of the first hand. Take a slow deep breath in and imagine the diaphragm, a large band of muscle below your lungs, moving down as your lungs expand, and causing your tummy to rise gently under your hands. As you breathe out your lungs contract, the diaphragm moves back up, and you can feel your tummy gently fall. Breathe in slowly and deeply, feel your tummy rise. Breathe out slowly and feel your tummy fall. Don't force your breathing; just make it deeper and slower. Continue breathing in this manner for at least 10 to 20 cycles. 2. Sigh Breathing b. Sigh breathing involves taking a moderately deep breath in through nose and, pausing only briefly, letting the air out slowly through your nose. The slow gentle exhale is the key to sigh breathing. Be sure to lengthen your outward breath. Now as you breathe out let go - relax your muscles of your face, your jaw and your shoulders. Let go of tension in your chest and stomach. Let your arms and legs relax. As your breath out feel a wave of relaxation flow from the top of your head and all the way down to your feet. As you continue to breathe in this manner for at least 10 to 20 cycles, direct your attention outside yourself. Focus your attention on what you can see and hear. C. Progressive muscle relaxation 1. Point your fingers and toes while stretching all the muscles in your arms and leg ... Really feel the stretch and hold ... Big breath in and as you breathe out relax the muscles and allow your whole body to soften and relax. 2. Now bend up your knees towards your chest and wrap your arms around your knees and curl yourself up in a ball shape, bringing your head forward towards your knees. Tighten the muscles and hold the ball shape ... Now take a big breath in and as you breathe out uncurl your body and relax the muscles and allow your whole body to soften and relax ... Feeling soft and relaxed like a sleepy cat or a rag doll. 3. Focus your attention on your feet, your toes, and your ankles ... As you breathe in imagine your breath flowing all the way down to your toes and as you breathe out just let go of any tightness, any tension and discomfort and allow the muscles to relax, feel the muscles soften. 4. Focus on your calf muscles ... As you breathe in imagine your breath flowing all the way down to your calf muscles and as you breathe out relaxing the calf muscles ... letting go of any tightness, any tension. 5. And so on, progressing right through the body to muscle groups in the face. Younger people find it easier to stay focused if someone talks them through the progressive relaxation and visualisation process. A relaxation CD with a variety of tracks is an ideal aid. C. Visualization 1. Imagine there is a butterfly sitting on your chest ... it has its wings spread and it is preparing to take flight ... it seems more and more likely to do so every time you breathe in and out ... but it remains sitting on you chest for some time ... Look at this butterfly carefully ... look at its colour and shape ... Soon the butterfly will take flight ... Imagine following the butterfly to a pleasant place. A place where you feel relaxed, comfortable and safe ... Pay careful attention to the sights and sounds, smells and sensations of this place ... how it feels and how you feel being there ... allow yourself to enjoy being there and to relax as fully as possible ... You have 1 minute to enjoy this place and it is all the time that you need ... remember that you carry this peaceful place inside you and you can come here and visit any time you wish.
 My goal is to teach potential parents relaxation techniques for children
 Students will be able to relax their fussy or stressed out child.
 A video clip and this lesson plan
 I can show a video clip of a fussy child or a child who is really stressed out and say that this wouldnt be happening if the parents knew how to relax their child
 We can use the relaxation techniques as a class -Visualization -Progressive Muscle Relaxation -Deep Breathing
 I can have them get with a partner and use one of the relaxation techniques the way they would do it with a child.
 They could do the project to the best of their ability.
Checking For Understanding:
 I can have all the students right a paragraph on how they can use the information I gave them.
 I can go back over the main points of the lesson.
 I can read the paragraphs and evaluate how well they learned the info.

Create New Lesson Plan Lesson Plan Center
