Kids Yoga Benefits Making the News
Kids Yoga Benefits
Yoga Health Benefits for Children
It is said that yoga practice starts as early as when the baby in the womb! That’s correct. Yogis claim that the baby in the womb spontaneously does all the yoga poses, and that this is a part of it’s development. So it really should not surprise us then that once they have become little kids, yoga still comes naturally to them and benefits them in a myriad of ways.
A recent articles in the Latimes and CNN/Health (links below) studied this topic in detail and interviewed many children and their parents to find out just what benefits they were getting through yoga. Below is a quick summary of their findings for you, so that if you are a parent, you will be inspired to get your kids to start yoga as well. It is certainly never too early, as we found out from our Biggest Mistakes in Life Survey 
.
Yoga Benefits for Children – Highlights From the LATimes Article:
Source – Kids Health Benefits from Yoga
– A preliminary study of pediatric health benefits of yoga, published in 2008, finds motor skills and concentration improvements, on top of better posture and breathing.
– Yoga stretching and body alignment can create a better athlete, said Michigan State University strength coach Mike Vorkapich. Players use back and arm movements to improve strokes and pitches, he said.
– Listening improves too, said Jennifer Hayes, an MSU yoga teacher.
Kids Yoga Benefits – Highlights from the CNN/Health Article:
Source – Yoga Helps Even Little Ones Channel Energy Emotion
– “It’s just incredible,” Al-Yasha Williams said, shaking her head in disbelief when her 6-year-old daughter Sole Williams-Brewer walks out of class much more dialed back than when she bounded in. “My daughter has a lot of energy and this has channeled it.”
– Marsha Wenig saw the calming effect yoga breathing gave her young students more 20 years ago when she taught in a California school.
For children with a lot of energy or ADHD, yoga proves to be a suitable substitute even for medication.
– “He couldn’t settle himself, he was just very high-strung and bored with everything,” she said. “But, wow, yoga opened something in him. Pranayama breathing (slow, steady deep yogic breaths) put him in his space. When things get too tight, rough and crazy, do his own little Eagle pose.
– “I once found him in his bedroom chanting,” she said. “It almost seems like we put him on a yoga mat instead of putting him on medication.”
Kids Yoga Health Benefits Summary:
So you can clearly see from the above articles, parents and families all over are turning to yoga to help their children find calmness, balance and confidence. In addition, studies are finding yoga poses and exercises to be great for coordination, concentration, motor skills and other important mental and physical skills.
In the article, Yoga for Kids – Guidelines and Benefits, I summarize the many benefits of yoga for you. I also explain how to teach yoga to kids. You will also find a lot of kids yoga exercises, poses, tips and information in the following articles as well: Yoga for Kids – A Comprehensive Guide.
Yoga is not only really calming for kids, it can also help them learn better. Being calm enables the kid to be more receptive and retentive to learning. Here are some really good poses to try with your kids:
Loving your child,
Thank you!!
God Bless,
Trupti
Congrats! We just tagged your blog for the Beautiful Blogger Award.
Yoga practice with children is definitely different than practicing with adults, but children deserve opportunities to experience this ancient tradition. If you decide to include children in your practice or volunteer at a local school, be prepared for giggles and silliness. You might even find yourself joining in the laughter with the little yogis and yoginis!
Its wonderful to see you covering this important topic. As an expert in yoga for kids and teens I love seeing news coverage reporting how beneficial yoga is for our youth and children. Here is an article which explains more benefits of yoga for kids. You could also visit http://www.yogainmyschool.com for more detailed information on sharing the joy and benefits of yoga with kids and teens.