More Yoga Poses for Kids

Kids Yoga Poses

Yoga Poses for Children

One of the more popular articles on the website is the Comprehensive Guide for Teaching Kids Yoga and there you will find many great yoga poses for kids demonstrated by my 2 little yogis, Shivum and Taran.  Well some time has passed and the 2 yogis have grown up some now and so I had them do some more yoga demonstrations for you all and in this article series I will share these poses with you.  If you are a parent interested in teaching your kids yoga, I strongly suggest reading the kids yoga guide above and then starting them with a few of the poses shown in these articles.

For those interested in becoming Yoga Teachers and teaching children’s yoga, I suggest joining the Mastery of Yoga Teacher’s Training and Certification Course, that course includes kids yoga training for you.  You will find more details on this course at the following site Yoga Teacher Training.

Teaching Kids Yoga 

When in comes to teaching kids yoga, or for that matter dealing with kids in any way, it is very important to be able to commune with them.  By this I mean, you need to be very attentive, open and selfless when dealing with children.  This approach will allow you to really understand the child and his or her needs.  In other words, you will have true communication with the child, and your images, ego and opinions wont corrupt your perception of the child and what he or she needs at that moment.  This approach is very important when teaching kids.

So specifically with regard to yoga, you will have children with different strengths and weaknesses.  Some will be more flexible, some stronger, some restless, some shy, etc, and your challenge will be tuning into the children closely so you can provide the appropriate response to what their needs are.  So make sure you allow the kids ample flexibility with regard to the poses, so that they can feel comfortable with doing the exercises, while at the same time learning, enjoying and benefiting. 

Below are 4 excellent kids yoga poses illustrated by Taran, who is now 5.  These poses have been detailed in the Yoga Poses and Exercises Collection, and you will find links below for each of the poses.  Here I have just provided a brief description of the pose and any tips that are specific to kids yoga.

Each title is a link to the article with full details about that pose and exercise.

 Kids Yoga Pose #1

Butterfly Pose for Kids

 

This is a great pose not just for adults to begin their warm-ups, but also for kids.  The best apart about this pose is that the kids can flap their knees and be like a butterfly.  This helps loosen their hips and the stretch this pose provides is excellent for their little growing bodies.

 

Kids Yoga Pose #2

Forward Bend Yoga Pose for Healing

 

This most important yoga pose is certainly one you should get children started with as early as possible.  This pose is also an example of one where you need to treat each kid independently.  Some flexible children will be able to touch their toes while keeping their legs straight, while others wont.  So for those who are not as flexible, you can modify the pose by allowing them to reach down only as far as they can.

When dealing with children it is really important to encourage each one and not to compare them to each other.  One of the most important traits you want to develop in children is self confidence, so be sure to always keep that in mind when teaching and dealing with them.

 

Kids Yoga Pose #3

Cobra Pose for Healthy Back

 

Here is another fun yoga pose for kids to do.  They naturally love this pose and if you need to make it more fun for them, then have them hiss like a cobra while doing it.

 

Kids Yoga Pose #4

Camel Yoga Pose

 

This pose might be a little tough for some of the children, so be sure to help them getting in and out of the pose if necessary.  Also, for this pose there are modifications that I have illustrated in the full article on the pose, so feel free to have them start with those before working their way up to the full version.

 

Yoga Poses for Kids Summary:

I hope you find these poses useful in getting your children into yoga.  As I mentioned this is part 1 of the new series on yoga poses for kids and in the near future I will be publishing more articles detailing kids yoga poses.  Of course one of the best ways to get children interested is to have them see you do it, so I hope you too are doing your daily yoga practice and enjoying the wonderful benefits that this technology brings :-).