Yoga is Playful and Helps Kids in So Many Ways

Guest Post by Susan White

(Note from Aruna:  This week I’ve been attending to some family matters as well as my yoga classes and Teacher Training so I hope you enjoy this guest post, which may be especially useful for those marketing their kids yoga classes. I’ll be back next week with some new stories and games.)

This post is written by Susan White, she welcomes your comments at her email id: [email protected] .

We all know that yoga has benefits beyond the physical alone and that if you’re a yoga enthusiast, you’re likely to be in the fittest of both physical and mental health. But how many of us think of the benefits that this ancient eastern art holds for kids? When it comes to health and fitness for children, we focus on a sport and outdoor play rather than think of exercising at the gym or following a workout routine. But another form of exercise that offers them various advantages is yoga, a fact that is not as well known as it should be. Yoga helps children by:

1. Enhancing concentration: When your child gets used to the asanas or postures of yoga, they automatically improve their concentration skills. Ancient sages used yoga as a form of meditation, and their powers of concentration are legendary. Your child learns how to sit still in one place and focus on what’s important as opposed to letting their mind wander and be distracted easily. This helps them in their lessons and at school, boosts their attention span and improves their grades.
2. Increasing flexibility and balance: Yoga helps improve flexibility and balance and tones their muscles too. It makes them stronger and less likely to suffer sprains and fractures through accidental falls.
3. Improving general well-being: Kids who practice yoga regularly feel good about themselves and are healthier and happier than those who don’t. They feel both mentally and physically rejuvenated after a yoga session and this improves their mental and physical health.
4. Boosting confidence: When your child is able to display great agility and flexibility, it does wonders for their confidence. Their improved performance at school also helps boost their popularity and their self assurance. They become more poised and start to believe in their abilities. This feeling provides them with the adrenaline they need to achieve success in all their endeavors.
5. Relaxing their minds: Even kids are subject to a great deal of stress these days because of their workload at school and the high expectations that their parents have for them. They are pushed to be achievers at every single point of their lives, and when they fail, they take it to heart and become depressed. Yoga helps them relax and de-stress when they feel upset or depressed. It soothes their frayed minds and helps them get back to a normal mental state.

Children are more flexible and agile than adults, so the earlier you get kids started on to yoga, the more benefits they gain.

Become a Kids Yoga Teacher

Are you interested in sharing the benefits of yoga with children? Young Yoga Masters offers kids yoga teacher training and is a Registered Children’s Yoga School with Yoga Alliance, you can take weekend trainings or one of the summer certifications (that’s the whole training in 12 days).  Find out more here.