Abstract
This Project is an Alternative Culminating Experience for a Master of Arts in Education: Curriculum and Instruction with an Elective Emphasis on Arts in Education. It follows Pathway I: Artist as Educator. Pre-service teachers are preparing to enter a field filled with uncertainty, frustration, and negative stress. The expectations are high, the compensation is minimal, and the job has immeasurable importance in terms of its contribution to the future of the world. For some teachers, the natural progression of working under such conditions results in patterns of negative thought processes, complaining, lack of enjoyment in both teaching and life, and eventual burnout. By entering this profession, the pre-service teacher is knowingly placing herself into a highly stressful environment. This stress cannot always be avoided or controlled. What can be controlled is the way the teacher experiences this stress. The focus of this masters project was to develop a teaching practice that is balanced and sustainable in the face of a highly stressful teaching environment. The art of yoga was used as support in the development of this teaching practice. Practicing yoga promotes physical, mental, and spiritual balance. While deepening a yoga practice through daily yoga postures and meditation, a teaching practice was simultaneously being developed through student teaching experiences. Scholarly literature about theories and practices in arts education, teacher stress and burnout, and yoga were explored. A journal was used for reflection upon the process of simultaneously developing a teaching and yoga practice. After developing her teaching and yoga practices, and reflecting on the process, the pre-service teacher was able to enter the field of teaching with the intention of maintaining balance and the tools needed to do so. The presumed result is a lifetime of teaching that is sustainable, enjoyable, and energizing.