UWC Day Dover Campus
Peace, Yoga and Mindfulness in Grade 1
UWCSEA is a member of the international UWC movement which is made up of 17 schools and colleges around the world and located across five continents. This week every one of those organisations celebrated 'our special day', UWC Day. The schools and colleges of the UWC movement are united by their common mission to 'make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future'.
We are living the mission!
In Grade 1 UWC Day activities were based on our mission with a specific focus on 'peace'. Children were asked "what is peace?", and "how do you know if we have peace?" One enlightened six year old answered, "I can feel peace in my heart, it makes me feel happy inside. If we all have peace in our hearts we can share it around the world." Wow.
Students and their parents participated in a Very Hungry Caterpillar yoga session, collaborated on mindful colouring, created beautiful 'calm down glitter jars', painted colourful peace stones and wrote stories about what peace feels like. It's really quite impressive to listen to a Grade 1 student talking about mindfulness, about being present and focusing on the here, the now. That a 6 year old can describe their true inner feelings, recognise and connect to their emotions at such a deep level really is amazing. What a powerful tool for young children, to enable them to successfully self manage a range of emotions, perhaps anger or anxiety, with the help of a glitter jar or a conscious practice of calming breath. If only we had been taught these valuable lessons when we were young!
One of my passions is yoga and many years ago I completed the training to become a yoga teacher for children. On UWC Day I had the absolute pleasure of leading the yoga session for 112 Grade 1 students and their parents. Unfortunately we were rained out and we moved indoors, but this did not dampen our spirits! The 30 minute session was based on the Eric Carle story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and, for 30 minutes, students and parents 'ate' their way through their yoga practice!
I am very thankful for the support of two amazing UWCSEA mums and yoga gurus, Kavita and Niloufer, who helped lead the session. We are especially fortunate that both mums work at Yoga Journal Singapore, THE leading Yoga and Meditation Magazine in the world! THANK YOU Kavita and Niloufer for supplying every Grade 1 family with a copy of the magazine, a very special treat! To all the mums and dads who came along, THANK YOU, we are grateful for your involvement and support. Another very big THANK YOU to our Grade 1 teachers and TAs who spent many long hours planning and preparing and then fully immersed themselves in this day so that it ran smoothly and was purposeful for students.
One of my passions is yoga and many years ago I completed the training to become a yoga teacher for children. On UWC Day I had the absolute pleasure of leading the yoga session for 112 Grade 1 students and their parents. Unfortunately we were rained out and we moved indoors, but this did not dampen our spirits! The 30 minute session was based on the Eric Carle story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and, for 30 minutes, students and parents 'ate' their way through their yoga practice!
I am very thankful for the support of two amazing UWCSEA mums and yoga gurus, Kavita and Niloufer, who helped lead the session. We are especially fortunate that both mums work at Yoga Journal Singapore, THE leading Yoga and Meditation Magazine in the world! THANK YOU Kavita and Niloufer for supplying every Grade 1 family with a copy of the magazine, a very special treat! To all the mums and dads who came along, THANK YOU, we are grateful for your involvement and support. Another very big THANK YOU to our Grade 1 teachers and TAs who spent many long hours planning and preparing and then fully immersed themselves in this day so that it ran smoothly and was purposeful for students.
It's the way we connect to our mission and the relationships that we build and nurture on days like UWC Day that make our college a very special place. It's days like today that I feel especially grateful for being a part of this incredible movement. If peace is all about the 'feeling in our hearts, that happy feeling inside', I think we all found it on UWC Day!
Kavita and Niloufer are offering a special discount for the Yoga Journal for our UWCSEA community - if you would like to subscribe please go to https://checkout.subscriptiongenius.com/yogajournal.com.sg/
