In recent times yoga has become quite popular not only among adults but also among children. Though the numbers are high in adults who regularly practice yoga, kids yoga has its own miraculous benefits and advantages that every parent must know and encourage their children to follow the routine. Regular yoga practice can help them conquer their anxiety, counter the school and study pressure, loneliness, and health issues and help them to build a stronger immune system. When the whole world is following yoga for the betterment of physical and mental health, there is no better time than now to incorporate kids yoga routine into your child’s life.
Kids yoga routine should not be stressful. Just a daily practice of thirty minutes filled with fun activities is the key to making your child adapt to kids yoga routine easily. Don’t have high expectations at the initial stage, start with baby steps and some easy-to-do simple poses. You can encourage them to follow you during your own practice or simply enroll them in online or offline kids yoga classes.
Tips for the child-friendly yoga routine and their benefits-
Practice at an open space
The best way to teach a child is to show them things practically with demonstration. Always choose an open space like a living room, terrace, or yoga studio where there is a space for you both to practice. Children also get fascinated by the open spaces like playgrounds, and open terraces. Make sure you always practice at such a place where there is some place left for your child to join you, as children have the tendency of imitating us. Don’t impose yoga on them, rather practice it in front of them, and let them know that they can follow the suit.
Fill it with fun
Kids yoga is completely different from adult yoga. Never keep the routine monotonous. As a parent or yoga teacher, it is your responsibility to make sure children enjoy the process rather than get tired or bored. Start with the easy poses and try to correlate them to animals and pretend to be the one. Try to phrase out the instructions in funnier ways like “crawl like a tiger”, “stretch like a giraffe”, and “twist like a snake”.
Get them their own mat
A yoga mat is a must for every yoga practitioner. Get your child his or her own yoga mat. Opt for kids’ yoga mats with the designs, and cartoon characters on them. Don’t keep it plain like the adult yoga mats. The mat should be creative, colorful, and inviting. When they see their own yoga space, they will feel encouraged to practice yoga asanas daily without failure.
Answer their questions
Kids are full of curiosity and love asking questions. When they see you exercising or they themselves start the yoga practice, their creative minds host a lot of questions. Don’t ever ignore their questions and feed their curiosity to such an extent that get excited to try out new poses.
Kids yoga benefits-
- By regularly attending the Kids Yoga Classes at a particular time your child develops discipline and learns time management, honesty, and self-control.
- Your child with his other fellow little yogi friends may not realize it, but cleaning, rolling the yoga mat after use, and putting it away imbibes the niyamas or observance in their life. It teaches them to take care of and value their belongings. This prompts them to keep their surrounding neat and clean and does their work on their own.
- Practicing a pose on daily basis to improve it to perfection, performing breathing exercises before every session, or meditating for a few minutes before sleep or after waking up makes them calmer, happier, and peaceful.
- The behavior children attend during kids yoga practice motivates them to face any challenge in life without giving up. It has a lasting effect on their mind making them truly believe that practice makes a man perfect. It develops an ‘ I can do ‘ attitude in them.
- Yoga makes children aware of their bodies and their functioning. This makes them slowly start appreciating their physical bodies.
- Kids yoga helps to maintain or build healthy social relationships. During the yoga classes kids perform asanas together, they tend to mingle with each other, impacting their social behavior positively. They cultivate the habit of showing a positive approach toward others.
Caution must be taken about which asanas are appropriate according to their age. It is very important that kids must perform yoga asanas under proper guidance and observation. Some advanced asanas demanding more strength to hold the pose must only be performed only after clearing the basic level and gaining the required core strength.