Grounded in Concentration
This is a memory game. The object of the game is to turn over pairs of matching chips. Concentration can be played with any number of players or alone.
You will need two tubes of the Grounded Pose Chips. Decide how many poses to include in the game based on the number of players and time. Pick poses that the class is familiar with unless you plan on teaching the poses during the game. (This is not ideal since it interrupts the play). Lay the chips face down on a surface. In turn each player choose two chips and turns them face up. If they are of the same pose (e.g. Down Dog and Down Dog) then that player wins the pair, everybody practices the pose and plays again. If they are not of the same pose, the players still practice the 2 poses, the chips are turned face down again and play passes to the player on the left. The game ends when the last pair has been picked up. *The winner is the person with the most pairs, and there may be a tie for first place.
Variation: concentrate and relate
This is played the same way with the following twist. If the chips are two different poses then the player states a relationship or connection that the poses share and everyone practices both poses. The answer must be backed up with a
good explanation. For example, We Will Rock You and Bridge are both back bending poses. Calm Steam Silly and Take Out The Trash both help to release energy, thoughts or emotions that you don’t want to hold onto any longer. Tall Mountain and Forward Fold flow perfectly from one to the other linked to the breath. If the player is unable to relate the two poses to each other, turn the chips over and the play passes to the next person. (This can be played with just one tube of chips)
Grounded Tips:
Set the chips out in organized rows. Two tubes of pose chips takes up an entire yoga mat.
Set a timer for each pose to encourage the players to be mindful of their alignment.
Set out 12 or fewer poses for the Pre-Grounded Kids.
This game may be played in pairs. This works well for large groups (Yoga Clubs, PE)
*We have learned from our students that it is OK to have a winner sometimes. We will dive deeper into this topic on another post. Stay tuned.
The week before college life officially started at Belmont Abbey College, the Student Life department held one of its biggest and most important trainings of the year for its Resident Assistants. “RA’s” are some of the most influential student employees on campus. They represent the college in helping new students settle into resident hall life, assist in planning social events, lead discussions, report maintenance concerns, serve as a resource to campus information, lend a listening ear and comforting shoulder to cry on, perform room checks, work in the hall office and much more.
Sedef Dion who teaches a Pre-Grounded class at Springs Yoga shared with me the story of a four year old girl who in the cutest way mistakenly called Savasana….Lasagna. This inspired me to write a Savasana visualization with a Lasagna theme that Amy and I recently used to connect with our Fernbank Elementary Yoga Club students. After we did our practice complete with the Lasagna Savasana, one of our students..the Principal’s seven year old daughter said…”that was so relaxing…this could help me fall asleep at night”. Since it was her birthday that day, we wanted to put together a recording that her parents could play for her as she lays her head down for a good night rest after a long day.