Nurture your Kids with Yoga

by Shubha NaiduYoga for Kids / yoga poses for kids
Kids yoga | Kids sitting down

This article speaks exclusively about yoga for kids:

  • Benefits of Yoga for kids and children
  • Link to some fun activities apart from yoga
  • Easy yoga poses for kids, that can be practiced at home
  • Popular yoga studios in Dublin giving yoga classes for kids

 

Kids learning Meditation | Yoga for Kids

 
Children are our most precious and we need to nurture them well. As children are growing up they are observing every detail in their surrounding and adding parts of it to make their own personality. Yoga for kids and children helps to open the mental dimensions and to instill the right thought process. Studies have proved that yoga for children has helped them in a wholesome growth. This article by Psychology Today lists down 7 ways in which yoga being a health practice helps children and teens.
 
This is a Children’s week! United Nations have declared 20 November as the Universal Children’s Day and today, 14 November, is the day when India celebrates Children’s Day – a day that is dedicated to children and their rights. I felt it is a good time to remember that yoga for kids is important because children’s welfare is our responsibility and yoga can be that fun way of letting the child grow happy and healthy.
Along with Yoga, there are certain steps we can take to make sure that kids are learning (their) responsibilities the right way. I came across this lovely article that talks about the fun activities with golden lessons for kids. Childhood is the correct stage to introduce them to real values that make our world beautiful.
 
If you are looking to introduce Yoga to kids, then there are some yoga poses for kids that I will tell you about. You can make the kids do along with you. Making a child do yoga may not be the easiest task, I know, because they are only looking for activities that are fun. While yoga is calming, it can be made fun filled for kids by adding storytelling and some names that they can relate to. There are few yoga poses that are playful and most loved by kids:
 

  1. Lion Pose

Make them sit on their heels with knees wide apart and sliding the palms (facing down) under their shin. They have to breath in from the nose and exhale from the mouth bringing tongue slightly out. While exhaling ask them to open the mouth wide and breath out with a lion roar. Kids enjoy the roars, feeling the power of lion in them.
 
Kids doing Lion pose - yoga for kids
 
Three Benefits of Lion pose yoga for kids:
  • Keep eyes healthy.
  • Improves blood circulation to the face.
  • Prevents the body from respiratory problems.
 

  1. Tree Pose

They have to balance on one foot and the other foot can either be rested on the side of shin (little above the ankle) or on the inner thigh (little above the knee). And there they are, looking tall and strong like a tree.
 

Kids in Tree Pose | Yoga for Kids
Kids in Tree Pose
 
Three Benefits of Tree pose yoga for kids:
  • Increases focus and stamina.
  • Improve body balance.
  • Strengthens the body
 

  1. Cobra the snake pose

Ask them to lie down and place their palms besides chest. And slowing lift their chest and chin up, looking flexible and powerful like a cobra snake.
 
Kids doing Cobra Pose | Yoga for Kids
Kids doing Cobra Pose
 
Three Benefits of Cobra Pose yoga for kids:
  • Increases flexibility in the body.
  • Strengthens the chest, shoulders and abdominal muscles.
  • Being a heart-opening pose, it helps in light up the mood and make them cheerful.
 

  1. Plank (call it long bridge)

By telling them to form a long bridge, make them come into plank. The strongest bridge stays longer.
Kids in Plank Pose | Yoga for Kids
Kids in Plank Pose
 
Three Benefits of Plank Pose yoga for kids:
  • Improves posture by strengthening lower back.
  • Makes the shoulders and arms strong.
  • Builds strength in the core muscles and stimulates digestion.
 

  1. Cat and Cow

Make them enjoy the cat and cow stretch with the ideas of purring cat and mooing cow.

Kids doing Cat and Cow pose | Yoga for Kids
Kids doing Cat and Cow pose
 
Three Benefits of Cat & Cow pose yoga for kids:
  • Improves blood circulation
  • Stretches their body and calms the mind
  • Makes the spine strong and flexible.
 
Giving kids a feel of yoga at home is wonderful because they start developing a habit of stretching and balancing their energies. But when you want them to better the yoga practices, sending kids to yoga classes will be a good idea. I have listed down a few studios that are running successful classes for toddlers, young kids and teens:
 
 
Ending it with a quote from Nelson Mandela (former President of South Africa) who once said – ‘Our children are our future and one of the basic responsibilities is to care for them in the best and most compassionate manner possible.’