How to start yoga for kids and why
Kids learn focus and stillness when they start yoga.
It should be simple, right? Just some deep breathing exercises and holding easy poses like a cat pose on all fours? And you’re right! You don’t need very much to start for kids yoga.
That’s the beauty of it. Get a mat, ensure some time without any distractions and begin.
The fundamentals of kids yoga are really pretty much the same as they are for adults – body awareness, building up flexibility and strength and imparting a sense of calm. They too, could use a physical boost and mental time-out with yoga.
Because we forget that our children are really brave tiny warriors living in the same increasingly frantic world as us. Young as they are, they encounter new environments and unfamiliar situations constantly.
Here are 3 other beneficial reasons to start yoga with them:
1. Yoga builds focus
Remember Richard Scarry’s Busy Busy Town where everyone is running around doing something? That seems like the world kids are living in today. Going onto the yoga mat is a chance for them to relax and just be. They get to focus on their breaths as they hear about the simple and fun poses from you then use their bodies to make them. And that connection between what they hear and what they do is a small but affirmation that keeps them focused.
2. Yoga is non competitive
We could all do with a break from competition, don’t you agree? Even with sports. And yoga is similar to martial arts in how it’s all about the individual and what you can do. With yoga, children learn at their own pace. It’s ok not to get it perfect the first time or the second. There’s no prize and no need to compare.
3. Yoga helps kids learn patience
“Gimme that! Now Mummy!” Nope, we know that’s not the kind of behaviour we want in our kids. This last benefit of kids yoga could be the most important lesson for them. It takes time to nail a pose. They may be annoyed or frustrated they cannot touch their toes or do the rabbit pose right but tell them, it’s no biggie. Yoga is a journey. They’re where they need to be right now. With you. On the Mat. Learning to be patient with themselves and the situation. Ahh, isn’t it a good feeling?