5 Benefits of Yoga for Children

Why is there Yoga for Children?

Thankfully, you see adverts for ‘Yoga For Children’ & ‘Kid’s Yoga’ much more frequently now. 

Now, the benefits of Yoga for adults are well known.  Such as better sleep, healthy mindset, less stress, pain relief for the body and greater flexibility.

But how do these benefits translate to a child? 

Consider this:

Life is fast with 24/7 connectivity- however, us humans are now LESS connected than we have ever been.

The art of conversation is now losing its hold on humanity.

Children now communicate with their friends from the privacy of their bedrooms at any time of the night – right up to lights off and immediately in the morning.

Digital life is a reality that we have now come to accept and enjoy, but we need to counterbalance the negative side of this digital age. 

What are the benefits of Yoga for Children?

As well as the above mentioned you can add emotional maturity & balance, greater reasoning, greater focus, relief from growing pains & adolescence discomforts. 

The ability to create & grow relationships, the ability to communicate and, above all, find peace when connecting to themselves.

I am lucky enough to witness this every day in my Yoga in Schools work. To see how I can help you and your child’s school just visit me here.

Here are 5  ways that Yoga benefits Children.

Connect to Self

Growing up and playground politics are the major focus of a child’s day to day life. 

How they navigate these situations relies on their sense of self awareness and ability to self analyse. 

Yoga for Children has a strong focus on ‘feeling their feelings’.  So if something doesn’t feel good to them, they can communicate effectively. 

When able to do so, they are more confident within themselves and less likely to accept bad behaviour from others around them.

Greater Focus

Breathwork in yoga, enables a child to go quiet (listen to their inner voice) and feel calm. 

By learning from a young age that they can control their breath, means that they control how they feel.  When the breath is calm, the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in and children calm down.  They find this peace and with it comes focus.

Having fun with their body. 

For young children the posture part of the Yoga class is their favourite; with Teens, on average, they prefer the Relaxation. 

Making the fun playful shapes with their bodies and learning their limits and capabilities is vital.  Plus for children that find competitive sport a challenge, the freedom in Yoga is liberating. 

Meditation and Mental Focus.

Children are naturally yogic. 

Up to the ages of 8-9 they don’t approach everythig with an expectation and are willing to try something to see how it feels. 

In a children’s meditation, there is a mental focus, such as a mantra or a visual point like a candle or crystal.

With meditation comes the peace and clarity that children need to be able to navigate those playground politics and emotional & hormonal surges.

Relief from Growing Pains

Growing pains are a real problem for fast growing bodies.

When the bones, muscles and joint are growing at a rapid speed the pain can cause sleep disruption, which has the knock on effect of anger, frustration, lack of focus and depleted concentration.

The posture part of Yoga eases tight muscles and joints which relieves those growing pains. Secondly the tools they learn during relaxation, in which to consciously relax the body initiates pain relief.

How do we move forward?

By providing Yoga with yoga lifetyle tools, such as breath control, physical movements that they can practice easily and freely whereevre they are and teh skills to relax and senlf soothe means we are empowering them to live a full and healthy lives.

Why would we keep this knowledge from them?

I provide Yoga classes online, plus I go into schools and share yoga knowledge with children of all ages.

So, to learn more about how I can help you and your children then contact me here.

Why would we keep this knowledge from them?

Jo Yoga

I am Jo Moules AKA Jo Yoga and I am passionate about sharing Yoga Lifestyle tools easily and effectively. Are you interested in sharing Yoga with children? The Mindfulness for Children Project is a digital course for parents, teachers and all humans wishing to introduce mindfulness to their children. You receive a full downloadable manual explaining the science of mindfulness, exercises and practices to share with children across all Key stages. Plus a Yoga session to ensure that you are cared for too. Visit here to day to find out more.