Interconnection

"'We live in an interconnected world', what do these words mean to you?"

This was the question I posed to my students at the beginning of Mind Move Make's fourth class during our third session.  I wanted the children to explain the central idea in their own words, and connect the concept to the book we've been inspired by, You Are Stardust.  There were many interesting, insightful thoughts about this.  The students decided that the entire book is about ways that we are connected to nature.  We also discussed how our actions impact all the other living things around us.

After our talk came to an end, I asked the students to set up their yoga mats for relaxation time.  Then I asked them find a comfortable seated position, close their eyes and find their "calm".  I told the children I would place a mystery object in their hands when I saw that each of them had found their version of calm.  I explained they could explore the object with any of their senses except sight and taste.  It was fun to watch the students first use the sense of touch to investigate the object, and then begin to engage the other senses.  Many students smelled their object; some students tapped it on the floor to hear the object.  When I finally let them open their eyes to see what it was, most of them knew already.  I had put one wooden block into each student's hand.  Afterwards I asked them to describe their sense explorations!

Then it was time to move!  After leading the class in a few warm-up movements I turned things over to the girl in class who won the game Pass the Drishti during our last class.  She led everyone in a pose called Thread the Needle, which helps stretch the muscles in the arms and neck.  It is also a subtle twisting pose.  She chose her brother to led the class next time!

For the art portion of the class, everyone is in a different place!  Some students are still in the very beginning stages of the piece, while others are ready to add finishing touches.  They are all illustrating either an idea from You Are Stardust or their own version of how humans are connected to nature.  They must include a self-portrait and it must be a mixed-media piece of artwork.  Here are a few of the works in progress!