“Children love yoga because they can pretend to be anything they can imagine!” - Betty Larrea
Often in today’s society, when we think of someone beginning a yoga practice, we are thinking about an adult who wishes to add a healthy activity to their routine. Usually, the physical benefits are thought of in terms of an older body and how to keep it active and strong for longevity.
Perhaps we also consider the spiritual advantage of a yoga practice. An opportunity to slow down, take deep breaths, and be present in the moment. Again, all things we think of as strictly solutions to adult problems in a hustle and bustle world.
But what about children?
They surely aren’t stressed by a job, university, family obligations, and so on. So why should they learn yoga?
There are actually numerous benefits to being exposed to yoga practice at an early age. It’s never too early, or too late, to begin a yoga practice!
Relationships and Discipline
A yoga studio is a great place for your child to learn how to interact with others and take direction from the yoga instructors. Additionally, being in class with other yogis, and learning a new spin on discipline can help your child make more sense of the world.
Relationship with the Teacher
Yoga trainers are different from “regular” teachers. The teachers at school that your child might be used to are likely more academically focused, and less able to provide individual attention. They might tell your child to stop moving or fidgeting during class, and they may administer disciplinary actions.
Although the schoolteacher must do these things so that everyone may learn the material in class, it can create a skewed vision of adults and authority figures for your child.
A yoga teacher encourages movement as well as stillness. They are able to provide individual attention and listen more closely to each student’s thoughts, concerns, and needs.
Having an adult who is not a relative who can provide a sense of safety and trust is extremely valuable because it teaches your child how to interact with people of a different age.
Relationship with Peers
If you enroll your child in group classes, they will have the opportunity to practice yoga for beginners with others!
Most likely this will be other children, but sometimes you might find that the class includes people of all ages who want to start learning.
Either way, this is another great opportunity for your child to build relationships with others. Whether it’s a friendship that blooms outside the studio, or a yoga buddy to practice with, exposure to new people is important for children.
Explore yoga classes online with Superprof to find a tutor who suits your needs!
Discipline
The discipline in a yoga class is probably much different than the discipline your child is used to at home or at school.
In addition to timeliness, appropriate behavior in a new environment is taught. It might be more tempting to be disruptive in a place with no desks, schoolwork, or parents. So, your child must learn how to behave in a new place with different rules.
This will set them up for lifetime success in new situations, jobs, courses, and more.
Find yoga teachers near me in New Delhi.
Body Awareness and Mindfulness
Obviously, one of the most crucial and long-term skills that children develop is how to move their bodies. From rolling over to sitting up, standing to walking, how to use a spoon, pour a cup of juice, and write with a pencil, body awareness is essential.
Alongside having the coordination to move the body, having mindfulness of movement is also pivotal. Think of all the times you’ve been walking behind someone, only to have them stop suddenly so that you nearly trip and fall right on top! That person could benefit from having more mindfulness, so they can smoothly move out of the way when they need to stop, rather than obliviously cause a near-accident.
Coordination
This is a skill that is developed throughout a person’s entire life, so it is really beneficial to get as comfortable with body awareness as soon as possible.
In a mundane way, having body awareness simply improves coordination. It increases more accurate hand, arm, foot, and leg movements. Things like cooking, trying shoes, sewing, handwriting, driving, dancing, sport, carrying things, and cleaning are all much easier, more effective, and more enjoyable when you have less difficulty moving the way you intend!
By practicing how to move on purpose - maybe even with closed eyes! - it becomes much more natural to understand your own body. Yoga asana practice can give your child a safe place to explore movement, balance, and coordination that they can take with them into everything else they need to do.
Aware of Relationship with Space
As in the previous example, a person who stops walking in a crowded space without a thought about the consequences could benefit from more awareness (or manners).
By learning yoga, children can become more mindful as a whole, and may better understand where their body is in space. This means that the child may be less likely to drop, spill, or cause accidents. They may understand when and how to stay out of the way of people walking, moving vehicles, and other dangers like a swing or rogue football.
People with better control and mindfulness of their bodies are less likely to cause or get caught up in accidents, meaning they are generally safer than an average person.
They will have better reflexes and understanding of how their actions create consequences.
And, all of this body awareness will especially help when they grow and need to get used to a changing body!
Early Detection of Possible Illness
A lot of children are clumsy, that’s just how they are sometimes!
But by encouraging your child to practice yoga asana, you can be sure that their personal coordination, movement, etc will improve. However, if they remain very clumsy, it might be prudent to look into another reason why that could be.
According to Healthline, if you feel that your child’s clumsiness is worsening, or perhaps comes in bouts, you should talk to your doctor. Possible complications include vision problems, foot problems, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), or Dyspraxia.
Of course, a diagnosis of any of these disorders is not a tragedy, and instead can help you and your child better understand how they must navigate life, and maybe there is a different way they need to learn.
Check for yoga training in Pune on Superprof.
Channeling Energy
“Yoga is not just repetition of few postures – it is more about the exploration and discovery of the subtle energies of life.” - Amit Ray
For kids, regularly practicing yoga is a great way to channel their seemingly endless supply of energy which will also allow them to focus and introspect. They’ll be looking to channel this energy and relax. Generally, the focus will come at the end of the lessons.
Physical Energy
Obviously, a lot of physical energy can be spent during a yoga class. All the different postures and the focus required to perform them requires the use of a lot of energy.
Learning a lot of fun asana can give kids a healthy outlet for their energy, even outside of the yoga studio! If your child is at home and having a hard time settling down, you can suggest that they do some of the yoga they learned in class.
Emotional Energy
Just like in adult yoga sessions, kids will learn to control their breathing, relax, and meditate.
In cases of fear, sadness, or anger, your child can have a healthy way to cope with these emotions from the skills they learned in yoga class.
Tantrums can be more easily managed and emotional intelligence can be increased.
Find out about yoga near Mumbai here.
Physical Health
Of course, setting your child up for a healthy life can never come too early!
As mentioned, yoga is often an adult’s way of keeping fit and healthy, but you don’t need to wait until you feel stiff and out-of-shape to start a healthy habit.
Priming your child to enjoy yoga and make it a habit gives them the foundation for a lifelong routine of health. In a study, it was shown that yoga provides increased whole-body endurance in children in as little as 3 months of practice.
Imagine getting the boost of a better body right from childhood! This is the gift you can give your child with yoga instruction. Greater physical strength, flexibility, endurance, metabolism, heart and lung health, and more is achieved with this mindful exercise.
Check Superprof for yoga classes near me.
Fun and Confidence
What’s the most important thing to kids? Fun, of course! There may be more than just your typical yoga exercises in a children's yoga class.
Often, children’s yoga instructors will make yoga fun by asking the children to act out which pose they are doing. Roar like a lion in Simhasana, sway like a tree in Vrksasana, and hiss like a snake in Bhujangasana!
The class might be really interactive, depending on the teacher, which gives your child the chance to play while also learning all the other key aspects of yoga practice!
When your child is in a setting where they can have fun freely, learn how to move their body, get stronger, and learn how to be themselves more, their confidence will skyrocket.
They have been given the tools to experience life in their minds and bodies more fully, and they are encouraged to use their own skills of coordination and balance to achieve tangible results.
As your child practices more and gets stronger, more flexible, and more familiar with how their body moves, they will be able to achieve poses that make them feel on top of the world!
Whether it's the ease with which they do it, the assuredness in knowing how to do the pose right, or the complexity of the pose, having a set of knowledge and skills is a major confidence boost for anyone, especially children.
So would you like your child to take up yoga?
Keep in mind that you can also do family or parent-and-child yoga sessions! Check out the best websites for yoga training to get your child involved with yoga!
Namaste!
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