Sitting like a Mountain or Merperson
Overview:
Teaching friends to sit up straight is an important life skill. Our posture communicates confidence, prevents chronic pain, and is a great way to get in touch with your body.
Instructions:
When you are in the circle, sit like a mountain or merperson (this is important if you have anyone wearing a skirt.).
How to do it:
1. Settle yourself into a comfortable and stable sitting position.
2. Imagine you are sitting like a mermaid on a rock, or a mountain, stable and solid supported by the earth.
3. Check that your head sits comfortably on your spine, tuck the chin slightly.
4. Shut your eyes or rest them softly on a spot in front of you. Gently relax your face and jaw.
5. Notice how it feels to sit still, get a sense of contact with the earth or the floor.
Teaching points
Explicitly teach good posture:
You might say something like, “Why you grow up, I want you to be strong. When you get old do you want to be hunched over or straight and strong. What is a situation where good posture will make your life better?”
Sit down to teach:
Whenever possible sit down with the kids and tell them why, “I sit down when I teach because I want to show you how to do it and lead by example.” Kids don’t want to listen to hypocrites.
Use a hand signal:
Work with your friends to develop a hand signal signal for “sit up straight.” Use it to remind each other to sit up straight. When you ask your friends to remind you to fix your posture, you will find yourself sitting up much straighter thanks to the many “teachers” in your classroom. Also, this allows you to lead the kids by example, and makes sitting up straight something you are working on together.