According to a survey report, 37% of yoga practitioners around the world have claimed that their children enjoy yoga as much as they do! Some selective cool yoga poses do wonders for kids. However, just as we need trained supervision, our children also need the best yoga and meditation programs conducted by proficient teachers, to reap the benefits. Let’s take a look at the top 3 reasons why our kids too need yoga like we do:
Calm down yoga with dollops of fun: Yoga helps children to manage big emotions, calm down and use their limitless energy in creative activities. Yoga is particularly beneficial for hyperactive kids. We all are undergoing an emotional rollercoaster at present, given the ongoing pandemic situation. Kids are still not allowed to do normal activities like playing with friends in crowded places, sleeping over at a friend’s house, or visiting malls or amusement parks, with parents. Unfortunately, children are spending more time on screen. They are getting limited access to face-to-face interaction with their peers.
Practice of yoga at a particular time of the day acts as an outlet for pent up emotions. We can raise the excitement bar up a notch by setting new targets like that for improving the postures. During holidays, we can dramatize yoga activities or create some exciting games out of selective yoga poses.
Yoga to bust the goldfish myth: Elon Musk believes that everyone has turned into a cyborg nowadays, in terms of the power delegated to us by technology. Naturally, this power status has its own demerits and one particular drawback is the reduction of human attention span.
Some controversial researches have claimed that human attention span is even lower than that of a goldfish! Yoga, breathing exercises or ‘pranayama’ and meditation can substantially improve human attention span. When children practice yoga, they put their attention on their body and breath. When they try to improve their postures, they put more focus which acts like an exercise for their attention span.
Mind-body connection with yoga: Mind-body connection has some striking resemblance with the relationship between a rocket and a satellite. Our body achieves goals, but our mind propels us to put in all efforts on time to reach the target.
If our body doesn’t feel good and functions well, we also feel mentally unwell and tired, and vice versa. For example, children (some adults too) who suffer from stage fear may show symptoms of stress and anxiety like headache, stomachache, fatigue and stiffness of muscles, before performing on stage. In contrast, children who love to perform on stage feel happy and excited before performance. They also feel energized, lighter and more coordinated.
Awareness about mind-body connection can inspire children to understand their emotional and physical well-being. That awareness itself will help them to learn how to achieve their overall welfare.
Yoga is closely related with the body-breath rhythm. Awareness of the body-breath rhythm is the first step of spirituality. Yoga should enter early in life so that young children can reap the benefits at the very beginning.
FAQs
Question 1: What’s kid’s yoga?
Kids’ yoga is quite similar to adults’ yoga except that the sessions focus more on creativity, acrobatics and fun elements!
Question 2: How can parents start practicing yoga with children?
Start in small intervals, for example, a 5-minute yoga session with kids everyday. Maintain the routine. Wear comfy, loose-fitting clothes in an open space in your home or outside. Encourage your kids to be creative, particularly while practicing the animal poses.
Question 3: Is yoga a religious practice?
Yoga is strictly not a religious practice. Yoga is about practicing movements with a focus on the body and breath. Yoga offers a sense of calm and focus across the mind and body.
