With Time, Children Can Learn To Appreciate Yoga

We tend think of childhood as a carefree time, filled with play and laughter. What, other than anxiety over a spelling test, can cause stress in a child's life?

But just think about your own childhood experience. Feeling overloaded with homework assignments, pressure to compete with other children in school and sports, lots of after-school obligations. While these problems may not be on a par with the problems you may have as an adult, but to a child, they may be overwhelming.

But the same solution that you have discovered to cope with your stress – yoga – may also work for children as well.

Many yoga experts and even some child psychologists say that yoga can help children deal with a number of stressful issues, including peer pressure, school pressure and body-awareness issue, with the added bonus of learning self-control, gaining greater flexibility and developing coordination.

Also, yoga has helped children suffering from attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity, conditions that cause children to seek constant movement and stimulus. Learning the discipline of yoga can help children cope with the conditions and teach them how to control their body and emotions.

However, initially getting children to join in a yoga session is a challenging first step. Even without conditions such as ADD, children can be naturally restless and asking them to sit calmly or move in slow, thoughtful motions may be a big order. And just because a parent has an interest in yoga won't automatically mean that a child will have the same interest automatically.

A number of yoga experts think that the best way to get children interested in yoga is to let them see you participating and enjoying it, rather than forcing it on them. When children witness their parents enjoying yoga on a daily basis, in addition to seeing the calming effect it can have on their parents, they will be more likely to develop a curiosity in the practice.

Some yoga experts recommend performing yoga in the home to demonstrate to children how it is conducted and some of the movements associated. The experts say that the natural curiosity of children may lead them to want to try some of the moves themselves. Headstands and certain balancing poses, many of which mimic the games the play outside, will spark their interest in trying the poses.

Once children display an interest in the moves and positions, yoga instructors say, you can begin to introduce them to the meditation aspects of the practice. Yoga instructors recommend beginning with breathing exercises that can teach them to relax. Later, parents may introduce their children to poses like the Warrior or the Tree, two poses that can instill confidence, balance and peace of mind. The goal, experts say, is to get your child to start thinking about more than the movements and focus on what the poses represent and how they make them feel. For instance, ask them if the Warrior pose makes them feel strong and confident. Find out if the Tree pose makes them feel more poised and proud. The goal, the experts say, is to get them to mentally identify with the poses and the emotions that they create.

By combining the two feelings, experts say, children will learn how to connect their mind and body, which can bring an improvement in many aspects of their life, from school to outdoor activities. Children who make this connection learn to develop confidence in their movements and their thinking process.

Other aspects of yoga and meditation can be introduced at this stage, such as chanting for peace and harmony (tapping into a child’s natural instinct to sing and chant, the experts state) and developing an appreciation and respect for the world around them. By getting your child to become aware of the world around them, the sights and the smells and the sounds, learning becomes a more enjoyable experience and helps them develop a confidence from within.

By: Linda Adams

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Linda Adams enjoys all things health related. One of the most excellent yoga websites Linda has found is Yoga Teachers Kamloops, which is a exceptional mix of yoga and exercise. For more information, have a look at Yoga Meditation Takes Much Practice to Perfect one of the finest Yoga blogs.