Children, like adults, have to manage their stress. Children can be affected by stressful events such as moving house, starting school, or preparing for the birth of a sibling. Yoga is one way that children can manage anxiety and stress.
What is Yoga?
Yoga, which includes breathing control and specific body positions (asanas), is one practice. It provides a variety of mental, spiritual, and physical relaxation. It helps children become calm and self-controlled.
Yoga is suitable for children.
Yoga can help children increase their self-confidence, concentration, and strength of their bodies. Yoga can help children with behavioral problems. It can also improve their impulses and provide them with an outlet to manage their behavior.
The Physical Benefits of Yoga
To support the joints, it helps to maintain the proper balance between strength and muscle tone throughout the body.
For good posture and overall fitness, core strength is essential.
This product helps to maintain mobility and flexibility in all joints.
Encourages calcium retention to build strong bones by weight bearing.
It supports and strengthens your immune system by reducing stress levels and stimulating the lymph system (the body’s highway of white cells that fight infections and viruses).
The practice of postures improves coordination, balance, and alignment.
Children learn to care for themselves and have a favorable view of their bodies.
Balances energy levels and calms the nervous system. Twists that stimulate the spinal cord stimulation and regular practice relaxation help to do this.
Sensory awareness is a skill that helps children be more aware of what’s happening in their bodies and minds while in different postures.
Yoga is a form of exercise that all bodies can use.
Maintains a strong heart and respiratory system. It promotes better circulation and increases heart rate.
Yoga asanas improve digestion by moving the body through yoga poses. They also stimulate the parasympathetic nervous systems during relaxation. This triggers essential acids to be released in the stomach to break down food.
There is a lower risk of injury when playing sports or games. Yoga practice improves coordination and flexibility.
Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Benefits
It increases attention span and concentration.
Yoga practice and breathing exercises increase oxygen circulation, leading to better memory retention and learning abilities.
Children learn relaxation techniques and how to manage stress and anxiety.
Group and partner work improves relationships and social awareness.
Promotes good sleep habits through the practice of relaxation and deepening breathing.
As the voice is used in conjunction with postures, it increases speech and vocal performance confidence.
Teaching Yoga to Children
You now know all the benefits of yoga. How can you teach your children?
Start with the easiest yoga asanas. I am using 1 minute or less per asana exercise.
Encourage your children to adopt the correct posture.
Demonstrate this posture by yourself.
Tell a yoga story. This involves combining stories with yoga asanas to get the entire group involved.
You can play yoga games such as music yoga and yoga cards.
Have fun with it!
Yoga teaches us how our body and mind interconnect and how we need to be aware of ourselves. Children are more present when they are focused, engaged, and having fun while doing yoga. Children learn to be mindful of their bodies and mind to be more cautious in all situations.
It also shows children that everyone is the same inside, regardless of their culture or religion. We all have functioning bodies, hearts that love, feelings that feel, and minds that work. Yoga teaches children to be patient, kind, understanding, and emphatic towards themselves and their peers.