Make Time for Yoga With Kids

Make Time for Yoga With Kids

Yoga has so many benefits: it can help you with improving your balance, stretching out your tight hamstrings, and even regaining your athletic agility. It also allows you to focus, to feel more relaxed, and be more present. These benefits, though, do not have to be restricted to adults only. 

Yoga is something that is accessible and rewarding for all people, even children. If you're a parent or a teacher, you can help make time for yoga with your kids.

Enrich the lives of your children with yoga. It is a positive activity that enhances multiple parts of their development:

•   Fun & Entertainment

•   Health & Fitness

•   Focus & Conversation

•   Socialization

Fun & Entertainment

First and foremost, yoga can be enjoyable for kids, especially very young children. They don't need to know the full understanding of yoga to enjoy its effects. Certified Kid Yoga Teachers make yoga both educational and entertaining. They can be taught many of the yoga poses with an age-appropriate spin. For example, many of the yoga poses have common names: tree, dog, cat, monkey, pyramid, baby, pigeon, and many more. Children can have a lot of fun contorting their bodies into these poses and remember their familiar names. Kids can also be creative and make up their yoga pose names: dinosaur, caterpillar, giraffe, etc.

Parents do not need to be certified yoga instructors to practice yoga with their children. You can have a lot of fun making yoga a family event. Make it a social and family-bonding experience. Family members can practice together using online yoga videos or even teach yoga to each other. There are age-appropriate books and videos a family can use as resources to build a yoga practice. It is a convenient and accessible way to do yoga together. And when you, as a busy mom, want to incorporate yoga into your daily routine, practicing with your kids allows you to do both.

Health & Fitness

Yoga for children can be a great source of exercise. It keeps them moving in a safe way as they explore various yoga postures. As they get a little older, yoga helps them build an awareness of their sense of self and developing bodies. They learn to accept and appreciate their bodies. Even at an early age, they will learn that it is important to take care of themselves. If they decide to pursue other activities like sports, martial arts, or dance, for example, yoga will have created a foundation of strength, movement, alignment, agility, and self-care.

Focus & Concentration

Just as yoga can give you access to greater focus, awareness, and concentration, it can do the same for kids. Adding simple breathing exercises will introduce the concept of meditation to children. Pranayama, the yoga practice of breathing, is the foundation of moving yoga practices and meditation. Helping a child to focus on their breathing has positive long-term effects.

If a child has a challenge with paying attention or concentrating on schoolwork, using a breathing exercise acts as an effective intervention. Breathwork clears distracting thoughts so they can direct their attention toward the intended task. For example, a Pranayama exercise called Bhramari can be a fun breathing exercise for kids. Bhramari Pranayama means "Buzzing Breath;" it refers to the buzzing of a bee. The idea is to take a full breath in and when you exhale, you create a humming sound. To intensify the sensation, one can cover their eyes and ears during the breathing practice. It draws the attention inward and makes a louder buzzing sound, leading to mind clarity and better concentration.

Yoga movement and yoga breath contribute to behavioral attributes that are beneficial to kids and adults. Having a regular yoga practice teaches one to be dedicated, to be consistent and patient when it comes to projects and activities. It is very easy to get into the mindset that everything must come immediately. Learning to be patient is a valuable strength to learn. Children that practice yoga learn more about waiting for potential outcomes. It often takes effort and time before the desired results can be achieved. This also relates to less anxiety and stress as they get older.

Socialization

Yoga, too, can help with improving social interactions and interpersonal relationships. Yoga helps one to be more aware of themselves; how they feel, how they think. As this connection develops, children of all ages begin to relate better with others; they grow to understand how others feel. The act of sympathy and empathy are acquired through a consistent yoga practice.

Kids today are glued to their mobile devices rather than interacting with their peers directly. Yoga can reinforce the human connection that everyone needs. Social media can be fun tools, but they can be used more effectively and sparingly. Rather than using them as the primary source for socialization, they can be secondary. Introducing yoga to young kids will teach them that contact and socialization in real circumstances is more valuable.

So, if you're searching for tools and recommendations on improving your kids' overall development, add yoga into their daily routines and watch them grow into happy, healthy adults.