Article + Photography by Lene Saint-Orens
Today’s children live in a hurry-up world of busy working parents, school pressures, tutoring lessons, competitive sports, and video games. Parents don’t usually think of these influences as stressful for our kids, but they often are. The intense pace of our children’s lives can have a profound negative effect on their innate joy.
Yoga can help combat these pressures. When children learn techniques for self-health, relaxation, and inner fulfillment, they can navigate challenges with more ease. Yoga at an early age encourages self-esteem and body awareness with a physical activity that is non-competitive, providing your child with cooperative activities, not oppositional ones.
Our children derive enormous benefits from yoga. It enhances their physical flexibility, strength, and coordination, as well as body awareness. In addition, their concentration and sense of calmness and relaxation improves. By doing yoga, children exercise, play, connect deeply with the inner self, and develop an intimate relationship with the natural world that surrounds them.
A CHILD’S WAY
Yoga with children offers many opportunities to exchange wisdom, share positive experiences, and lay the foundation for a lifelong practice. All that is needed is an open mind from the adult, who will find that yoga for children differs greatly from yoga for adults.
When yoga is geared toward children, one must let go of the typical agenda and all expectations of what yoga is and is not. By honoring the children’s innate intelligence and tune in to how they instruct us, you begin to co-create your class. Together, you can weave stories with your bodies and minds in a flow that could only happen in child’s play.
TOO YOUNG FOR YOGA?
Yoga’s expanding popularity now reaches down to even younger students, and some parents even wonder if yoga is the new soccer. Parents are enrolling their children at class hoping to look after not just their kids’ mental and physical but also their spiritual health. To help your child enjoy yoga safely, watch out for the following factors:
Consider your child’s age.
With the recent boom in prenatal yoga classes, some kids started practicing in the mother’s womb, and mommy-and-me type classes are the logical continuation for kids up to the age of four. Yoga for children three and under is more of a partner activity, with the parent moving the child through stretching movements. From four to eight, children begin to follow direction and connect one posture to another. They can also participate in games that incorporate postures as well as ideas about yoga, like learning how to focus, breathe, and appreciate their bodies just as they are.
Search for the right program.
Yoga is not a competitive sport, and you’ll want a teacher who will convey that to kids. Your young ones may have a hard time grasping an athletic endeavor that doesn’t include a score, goalpost, or a fuzzy mascot unless they have the proper guidance.
Mix up the routine.
Without question, yoga for children has its pluses—some research even points to therapeutic benefits for those with cerebral palsy, autism, and attention-deficit disorder. But in no way should it be viewed as a complete substitute for old-school aerobic exercise, especially with childhood obesity levels on the rise. Children need to develop their gross motor skills through running and walking and their hand-eye coordination through ball sports. They also need to be aerobically active to strengthen and develop their hearts and lungs. Yoga should be just one part of a well-rounded fitness regimen, not your child’s only form of exercise.
Patience.
The yogic ethos should help kids remember that it’s perfectly okay to be imperfect. They don’t have to push themselves or compete with friends. While adult yoga students sometimes have a hard time with the mind-emptying, om-shantying parts of classes, kids can be more receptive. But don’t expect them to become masters overnight. Sometimes, just closing one’s eyes can be scary to children, and it can be hard to get them to sit still. Encourage students to use calming techniques in the non-yoga classroom, such as before taking a test or speaking in front of a group. This ability will be an invaluable tool for the rest of their lives.
WHY IS YOGA POPULAR AMONG KIDS WITH DISABILITIES?
Kids with disabilities have the same needs as kids without disabilities—the needs to feel confident, strong, happy, and focused, just to name a few. Over the years we have learned many wonderful benefits of yoga for children who experience physical, learning, emotional and other disabilities.
We know that no two children are alike. It is best to think about the whole child (strengths, talents, what brings a smile to her face) as opposed to focusing on the disability. If a child has been identified as visually impaired, for example, you will want to create a yoga experience for him based on who he is rather what a book or doctor may say about the characteristics of his disability. The diagnosis is just a label. The disability is one of many aspects of the child and does not define who he really is, what he is capable of achieving or how he learns best.
It is important to make sure that as a parent or caregiver, you speak first with your child’s doctor, therapist or teacher to discuss how yoga can complement the support your child may already be receiving. If your child has moderate or significant challenges, it is a good idea to find a yoga teacher who has specific experience or training in working with children with special needs.
WHERE WE GET MOVING:
Austin Kula Yoga Center
Owners Meg O’Connell and Dana Wills are committed to creating a beautiful, safe, nurturing environment where community members can come together and feel inspired. Students of all ages are welcome, and we love the toddler-parent classes where children can explore and play while moms and dads alike heal their chronic backaches and let go of stress. Yoga Kula has worked in many different capacities with families in order to include children with special needs. Parents are encouraged to try out a class or private lesson with their child and opt for the best fit. Qualified teachers will help families to find the perfect class for children of all abilities.
Yoga Kula is a partner of Whole Kids Adventure, and we can’t wait to offer the Kula experience to our children. More information on Yoga Kula can be found at www.austinkulayoga.com.
Yoga Naiya
Yogi and educator Krista Phillips is the owner of Yoga Naiya and currently teaches Yoga for children and their families at a local Reggio-inspired program located in North Austin. She inspires children at a public yoga storytime class at BookPeople. You can contact Krista for private family sessions at most any Central Austin yoga venue or learn more about her YogaArt classes and camps (facilitated at a variety of schools) by visiting her website, www.yoganaiya.com.
