Yoga offers several benefits to children. Stress is becoming almost as common for our children as it is to us. Yoga helps stabilize mood, calm behavior and offers the same wide variety of health benefits to children as to adults.
Childhood is actually a great time to introduce yoga to children. Kids are naturally flexible, energetic and interested in learning new ways to move their bodies. Yoga enhances their natural flexibility and improves strength.
There are some challenges when introducing children to yoga practice. Kids, particularly younger children, have a notoriously short attention span. Attempting to get kids to practice for an hour, or even thirty minutes in the beginning, may be asking too much.
Start off with short segments and make it fun. When the kids lose interest or aren’t participating, it has probably stopped being fun, at least for today. Take a break and try again in a day or two. Ten minutes or fifteen minutes is plenty for kids in the beginning of a yoga practice.
Increase interest by connecting yoga poses to something that sparks a child’s interest and creativity. Children have a fascination with animals and many yoga poses are named after animals. Think downward facing dog, cat pose and cobra. Pretending to be cats arching and rounding the back is fun for kids and keeps their interest, for a while.
Yoga also helps kids improve coordination and body awareness. This happens best in a relaxed atmosphere with plenty of time to experience each asana. Follow your child’s cue in how long to practice cobra before moving on to downward facing dog. If they are getting tired, bored or losing focus, it’s probably time to stop.
Always remember that each person works to his own capacity in yoga. It is meant to be non competitive. It’s fine to instruct a child in how to move into each asana, but avoid critique. This will ensure the child loses interest and soon won’t find it at all enjoyable. Above all, this should be a fun time for your child, and you!