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Yoga For Kids! It Really Works!

Yoga is not just for adults and the debilitated; it is a great way to usher tiny tots into a healthy regimen.

Parents invariably do not pay much attention to the physical fitness of five-year-olds, as it is widely believed that children who cross the toddler stage are physically active anyway. That may indeed be true in most cases; but it is not necessary that they will sustain that lead for a long time. Soon other pressures - like sedentary habits required for academic work, and irregular and insufficient dietary intake - are bound to catch up and whittle away that advantage. 

In such a scenario, it is absolutely essential that you inculcate the habit of physical exercise - as distinct from sports and playground activities - in your child. There is no better way to ensure this than to teach your child Yoga. Yoga moves beyond physical exercise and is a great tool for calming and controlling the mind and the senses. This, as you'll agree, is more relevant in the case of children who, almost without exception, are hyperactive and excitable by nature and need to be reined in. 

Children can start yoga from age five. A 15 - 20 minute session is enough to get them started. This can be gradually increased to half an hour or more for older children. Starting from simple animal postures to meditating with the corpse pose, small children can enter the rich world of Yogasanas.

How Can Yoga Benefit A Child?

The most common benefits of yoga for children are related to maintaining a healthy body and fighting illnesses. Children's yoga may not be suitable for your child if it suffers from physical illnesses or physical defects.

General Health

Easy yoga for children has shown to build stamina in those who practice it, aid stability and also improve general balance. It strengthens the child's muscles, elongates the spine and promotes good posture. Yoga has also shown to improve children's digestion and aid the elimination of toxins and aid circulation.

It Fights Ailments and Disabilities such as:

Down syndrome

Down syndrome is a disability with an incidence of one in every 700 births. Children with Down syndrome are shorter than average. Motor , Language and cognitive development are also significantly delayed. 

Yoga poses (asanas) can help children affected by Down syndrome. They help to stretch tone and strengthen the entire body. Asanas also benefit the internal organs and help to balance and revitalize the endocrine glands. As children with Down syndrome get older, they tend to put on weight whereas children with Down syndrome who practice yoga stay slim and flexible. 

Yoga therapy for children facilitates the development of body awareness, concentration and memory which are vital skills for any child with a developmental disability and are key to helping children with Down syndrome.

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy is a disorder caused by injury to the motor areas in the brain, affecting muscle tone and the ability to control movement and posture.

The practice of yoga poses followed by deep relaxation can help to reduce the high muscle tone that is characteristic of most children with cerebral palsy. Holding a yoga pose gives the muscles and tendons a relaxing stretch, releasing overall stress and tightness throughout the muscle structure and around the joints. 

The yoga poses for kids provide enough resistance so as to exercise low muscle tone areas of the body. One of the most important aspects of asana practice for children with cerebral palsy is its ability to stretch and realign the spine. Because of this, the child is able to develop a greater range of movement and coordination, as well as greater independence.

Kids Yoga Poses

Today’s kids are under a lot of stress compared to the previous generation – homework, peer pressure, never-ending after-school pursuits and interests, over-scheduling. Teaching kids Yoga helps build better body awareness, self-control, litheness, suppleness and coordination. 
 

You will also have a chance to notice how they can carry these skills beyond class and into their daily lives. For instance, when you talk about asanas and breathing exercises, like camel pose or three-part breath, you will see how they perk up and get really centered and calm. Yoga is also a great way to help the hyperactive and attention-seeking kids. These kids yearn for movement and sensory/motor stimulus. 

Yoga helps direct these impulses and the energies in a positive way. Some of the Yoga asanas that appear to work particularly well for kids are the Warrior Pose and Tree Pose. 

Yoga poses for kids that work wonders for them are:

• Dog and Cat

• Downward Facing Dog

• Forward Bend or Extension

• Half Shoulderstand

• Head to Knee

• Mountain

• Sit/Easy Position

• The Bridge

• The Cobra

• The Corpse

• Triangle

• Warrior II

Therefore, yoga is not limited to age or gender. Its benefits and advantages are tangible and can be seen from ages 5 to 50. It’s all about teaching your kids healthy habits. Start them young!