Body

Benefits to Yoga

Kids Yoga is a wonderful and enriching activity which can be practiced individually, in partners or with many family and friends. There are a variety of benefits including physical, emotional and social and I have seen first-hand the positive impact that yoga has on the children who experience a one-off class or attend a regular prorgam. Classes are always fun for the children and they get to experience games and mindful activities that help create the yoga pose, sequence or adventure.

Maria Boulatsakos
Prana Kids Yoga

Here are the eight main benefits I have witnessed:

 

  1. Boost self-esteem, confidence and gratitude
  2. Develop strength and flexibility
  3. Builds body awareness and understanding of instructions
  4. Improves emotional regulation
  5. Develops mental clarity, calmness and concentration
  6. Self awareness techniques
  7. Manage stress and anxiety
  8. Builds compassion, understanding and empathy

 

Yoga can be practised at any time, place or space. When energy is needed to be moved in a safe and supportive way, yoga is a fantastic tool to have in your toolkit. You can use yoga books, cards, posters or videos to prompt you or just your imagination with a theme. Kids learn poses through animals, objects, shapes and sounds, and breathing and meditation are always a class highlight.

Benefits in more detail

  1. Boost self-esteem, confidence and gratitude

While practicing challenging yoga poses, the child builds their confidence in their own abilities. As they take turns at the pose and improve each week, they experience a boost in their self-esteem and self-worth, which can be applied to any life situation off the mat. Gratitude is always a key focus in a yoga class and certainly in kids yoga. There is always an emphasis on kindness, compassion and appreciation which leads to giving thanks and gratitude. There are so many opportunities to be grateful in class and it helps children to feel this too.

  1. Develop strength and flexibility

Kids Yoga is like any physical activity and has many healthy outcomes. Yoga poses build strength and flexibility of body and of mind. To do yoga, you learn to develop physically and mentally.

  1. Builds body awareness and understanding of instructions

Childen become more aware of their bodies when practicing yoga. There can be instructions that they may not understand, except when demonstrated by the teacher. These help the children to become visual learners but also to feel in their body the pose and the good feelings that come with it.

  1. Improves emotional regulation

Yoga definitely improves the emotions of the children. This is through breathing techniques and having a safe space to be themselves and express how they feel through the class.

  1. Develops mental clarity, calmness and concentration

Many parents tell me their child cannot do yoga because they cannot sit still, they have a medical diagnosis such as ADHD or the like. I reassure parents that yoga is just what they need. The practice builds mental clarity and the children learn to be and appreciate being calm. They concentrate better when doing yoga and again this skill can be taken off the mat.

  1. Self awareness techniques

Children learn about different themes in yoga and also explore who they are in the world. They become more aware of their bodies and minds and build feel safe to express who the yare and evolve their identify

  1. Manage stress and anxiety

Yoga is a fantastic tool to manage stress and anxieties. Children are exposed to many things in this world that cause them stress and anxious thoughts. Yoga has a beautiful way of decreasing stress and managing anxious thoughts through the tools of breathing and meditation.

  1. Builds compassion, understanding and empathy

When children practice yoga, especially with others, this practice builds compassion, empathy and understanding for self and others. The children learn from one another in the class as they all come from different walks of life and we also explore world themes that they can relate to through books and key messages.

More Information about the author

Maria Boulatsakos
Prana Kids Yoga

Maria is a passionate kids yoga teacher who embodies health and wellness of mind, body and spirit. As an educator for over 12 years, she has incorporated mindfulness, yoga and alternative engaging and creative methods into her teaching practice to meet the diverse needs of her students. She believes our young people have the absolute right to learn tools to develop healthy lifelong habits and to understand the importance and nourishing power of self-care. She has collaborated with TGA to build a yoga program for our educators and children; their little bodies and big hearts are at the perfect age to build and grow these habits now. The new mindfulness program will help your children to not only build strength and flexibility but regulate their emotions and learn breathing techniques. “The intention of Prana Kids Yoga birthed from following my passion to teach our next generation a positive and healthy mindset through creative and imaginative poses, fun and interactive yoga games and learning through play”.

More Information about the author

Maria Boulatsakos
Prana Kids Yoga

Maria is a passionate kids yoga teacher who embodies health and wellness of mind, body and spirit. As an educator for over 12 years, she has incorporated mindfulness, yoga and alternative engaging and creative methods into her teaching practice to meet the diverse needs of her students. She believes our young people have the absolute right to learn tools to develop healthy lifelong
habits and to understand the importance and nourishing power of self-care. She has collaborated with TGA to build a yoga program for our educators and children; their little bodies and big hearts are at the perfect age to build and grow these habits now. The new mindfulness program will help your children to not only build strength and flexibility but regulate their emotions and learn
breathing techniques.
“The intention of Prana Kids Yoga birthed from following my passion to teach our next generation a positive and healthy mindset through creative and imaginative poses, fun and interactive yoga
games and learning through play”.