Yoga for Kids
21 Feb 2021 HYN Himalayan Yoga Academy
Introduction to Yoga with Young Children
Yoga is union of life and asana is a form of exercise that focuses on strength, flexibility and breathing with the aim of improving physical and mental wellbeing. The aim of this package is to introduce a yoga programme that is suitable for all young children and can be delivered by practitioners in an early years setting.Talking about Yoga for Kids.
Children live in a hurry-up world of busy parents, school pressures, incessant lessons, social Medias, gadgets, video games, malls, and competitive sports. We usually don’t think of these influences as stressful for our kids, but often they are. The bustling pace of our children’s lives can have a profound effect on their innate joy and pleasures. In this day and age, children are exposed to a lot of stress—increasing homework and projects, video games, social network, peer pressure, and competitive activities. Yoga can help kids cope with daily pressure by enhancing self-awareness through non-competitive physical activity, breathing exercises, and meditation.
Name of Asanas from animals and nature:
When yogis developed the asanas many thousands of years ago, they still lived close to the natural world and used animals and plants for inspiration—the sting of a scorpion, the grace of a swan, the grounded stature of a tree. When children imitate the movements and sounds of nature, they have a chance to get inside another being and imagine taking on its qualities. When they assume the pose of the lion (Simhasana), cat (Marjari Asana) for example, they experience not only the power and behavior of the lion, but also their own sense of power; an act of cat: when to be aggressive, when to retreat. The physical movements introduce kids to yoga’s true meaning: union, expression, and honor for oneself and one’s part in the delicate web of life.
Have fun!
Finally, it is important that you have fun! It’s not enough that you just give instructions, because kids’ yoga is not a traditional class where the teacher stands in front and gives lectures. In kids’ yoga, everyone is equal. Do the activities together. Play, sing, and dance with them!
When you are having fun, you bring in a vibrant and happy energy that provides a positive impact to your kids. That way, they, too, can have fun and will grow to love yoga the same way you do!
Benefits of Yoga for Young Kids
Children derive enormous benefits from yoga. Physically, it enhances their flexibility, strength, coordination, and body awareness. In addition, their concentration and sense of calmness and relaxation improves. Doing yoga, children exercise, play, connect more deeply with the inner self, and develop an intimate relationship with the natural world that surrounds them. Yoga brings that marvelous inner light that all children have to the surface.
Here is a more detailed explanation of how teaching yoga to kids and using yoga in the classroom can have a positive impact on children’s well-being:
Yama and Niyama build a balance personality- Children learn the rules and regulations of society and own themselves. Some ways help children imbibe the virtue of truth. Creative hobbies help bring Satisfaction and happiness. One’s knowledge of one’s self determines one’s knowledge of the world around one.
Yoga gives total health; happiness and harmony – Yoga works in Physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual aspects of Health. Yoga gives us fun, smiles, and happiness. Yoga is itself union, harmony or balance.
Yoga helps children manage their anxiety. The breathing exercises and relaxation techniques learned from practicing yoga can help children with stress management. Teaching children how to reduce stress in a healthy way is an important life skill that will help them as children and as adults.
Yoga improves children’s emotional regulation. Another benefit of yoga for children is that it helps children learn to be in the present moment while relaxing and gaining a peaceful state of mind, which ultimately improves their emotional regulation.
Yoga boosts children’s self-esteem. Yoga for kids can do wonders for their self-esteem. Perfecting a pose or improving their balance and flexibility can give young children a sense of personal empowerment.
Yoga increases children’s body awareness and mindfulness. Going through a variety of yoga poses helps children learn about their bodies and the movements they’re capable of doing.
Yoga enhances children’s concentration and memory. One of the top benefits of kids’ yoga is that the different types of moves requires children to focus and work on their memorization skills—both of which can translate over into their academic performance.
Yoga develops children’s strength and flexibility. Yoga helps strengthen children’s growing bodies and helps them improve their flexibility, which can reduce their chance of injury.
It Refines Balance and Coordination -Balance is a key element of yoga. Balancing poses were created to promote mental and physical poise, as mental clarity and stability emerge from the effort of trying the poses. Even if a child has difficulty standing on one foot, she learns mental and physical balance if she can stay calm when she falls and when she gets up to try again. As children learn to improve their physical balance, they will be filled with a sense of accomplishment.
It Strengthens the Mind-Body Connection-Yoga helps kids achieve a sound mind in a sound body by exercising the physical body and calming the mental spirit. “As parents we want our children to act and behave with mindfulness and with compassion, to be brave, to know love and happiness, and to find inner peace.
Yoga teaches discipline and reduces impulsivity. Yoga can reduce challenging behaviors in the classroom by providing a physical outlet for children to express themselves. It also teaches children about discipline as they work on clearing their minds and perfecting their poses.
Yoga for Kids Application:
Yoga Hygiene – self-reliance e.g. Tattva Shuddhi – Purity of five elements; Trust in Nature; Living in harmony; personal cleansing – jala Neti, Kapalbhati, Agnisaara, Yama and Niyama, etc. Sitting or Meditation Postures: Sukhasana, Dhyana-viraasana, Vajrasana, Bhadrasana,
Namaste Pranayama, Clapping; AUM Chants;
Mantra Chants – e.g. Sarasvati Mantra –
“AUM (HREEM AIM HREEM) SARASWATAI NAMAH”Warm up Kriyas – -Baby Rock, -Butter fly, Shakti sanchalana, Squat-Rise, Pulling Rope, Pair-Acts, Pair-Boat posture
Standing Position – Tadaasana, Lord Krishna pose, Dhrubasana, Lord Shiva Pose, Garudaasana
Sitting Position – Mandukaasana, Balasana, Marjarisana, Vyagrasana, Simhasana, Yoga Mudra in sitting circle position.
Supine Position: Gudasana, Jhulasana, Druta Halasana, Sarvangasana, Happy Baby, Baby Play,
Prone Position: Bhujangasana, Shalabhasana, Dhanurasana, Parvatasana in pair with crawling,
Pranayama: Shitali Pranayama, Nadishodana Pranayama, Bharamari Pranayam
Yoga nidra – attitude training, links the five senses with sixth sense, the mind.
Sangita (Music) Dhyana: Music Meditation, Imagining Meditation, Mantra Meditation,