By: Matthew Hick
If you thought yoga was just for adults, you need to think again. Nowadays, yoga is greatly popular among all ages – especially with kids. Practicing yoga actually enables children to develop a fitness program and a way of healthy living. Yoga can give children these tools at a young age – allowing them to start out the right way.
Why would children need yoga? Consider the obesity problem existing with children today. Weight problems will result in health problems. It’s a great idea to have a physical activity for kids that will exercise and entertain. Also, it will relieve stress or tension in their lives caused by school, peer pressures, competitive sports and busy lives. Yoga is a healthy way for a child to deal with difficult situations and resolve them.
You may not have thought you would see children in yoga classes, but many yoga followers are beginning to see if yoga makes them feel good, then why not let it make their children feel good also. The yoga classes a parent attends might offer a “mommy and me” class, or you can just practice it at home with your children. Children love to mimic and they will love to try to get into the different positions you assume. Children’s yoga may differ from adult yoga in that dogma and spirituality aren’t stressed. Children’s yoga will revolve around storytelling, repetition, counting, problem solving, dancing and movements. It will keep the child’s attention and keep them interested in it.
The physical benefits of yoga for kids are obvious. They will develop greater flexibility, strength, good posture and coordination. The mental benefits would include concentration, relaxation and calmness. But the benefits do not end here. Studies have shown that students taking yoga have fewer disciplinary problems, higher grades and are more physically fit. It is a noncompetitive form of exercise that can and will build confidence.
If these are not enough benefits to convince you, yoga is also very valuable for children with special needs. Many physicians today even recommend yoga for special needs children. It can help children with Downs Syndrome, Cystic Fibrosis, Attention Deficit Disorder and Autism. These children need an outlet for their energy. This is a perfect outlet. They can refine their motor skills, learn to articulate better, develop improved eye contact and social skills, as well as, strengthen and tone their bodies. If the child has physical limitations, poses can be altered to use only certain portions of their bodies.
Yoga is gaining momentum in the world today and rightly so. It is for everyone, even kids. Whether you are young or old, whether you have special needs or physical limitations, it can be tailored for the individual to get the best results possible for them. Kids and yoga seem like a natural match. It can be therapeutic for those who need it. Kids can develop healthy bodies at an early age and also healthy habits. This is something they can keep with them for the rest of their lives.
