If you’re a regular practitioner of yoga, then you deem this relaxing hobby as something that allows you to be alone with your thoughts. However, there are yoga classes that include group training sessions that involve dozens of individuals so yoga is nothing like a game of solitaire.
Quite the contrary, there are such yogas as couples’ yoga, as well as yoga classes tailored for parent and their children. The latter is beneficial for you and the child in several ways but we’ll list only the top 4 reasons to start doing yoga with your kid.
What’s in it for the child?
As you are already painfully aware, kids often refuse duties and chores, constantly asking the “why” question. Hopefully, they will fall in love at first sight with yoga so they won’t need a whole lot of incentive to join your yoga class. However, if they are reluctant to take a seat on the mat, try to persuade them in a way you would when offering them a vegetable.
Tell them they’ll be strong as Hulk if they do yoga, their legs and arms will be flexible, and they will have better coordination when playing their favorite sport. After they realize all the benefits of yoga and join you for the first time, you’ll notice how their body awareness and body-esteem grow by the day.
What about older children?
The benefits listed above concern children at a young age but teenagers can also benefit from doing yoga. In fact, several years of practicing yoga result in increased memory, better concentration and a noticeable increase in the aforementioned self-esteem. As the end result, you can expect your child to achieve excellent academic and professional results as an indirect result of joining you for yoga classes as a young child.
What’s in it for the parent?
As far as the parent is concerned, you too stand to gain a lot from joint yoga classes. Firstly, you will have someone to make you company, as solitary yoga can become a tad boring after a while. Secondly, you will get to spend more quality time with your child. Unlike other social interactions during which your kid will scream his/her heart out, yoga is a time where peace will reign.
You can use this time for education and bonding. In fact, you can surprise them with a present, like a yoga mat or another suitable gift you can click here to find out more and then wait to see a huge smile on your son’s or daughter’s face. Essentially, yoga provides you with a chance for meaningful interaction with your loved ones, namely children.
The most popular yoga poses
In terms of yoga poses that are suitable for children, there are several we recommend. For starters, the happy baby pose is easy to execute as you need to lie on your back, bend your knees into the belly and exhale. When you inhale grab the outside of both of your feet and voilà, you’re taught your child their very first yoga pose.
The mountain pose is yet another pose suitable for kids. It requires the child to stand tall with feet parallel and relax their tailbone in order to achieve a neutral pelvis stance. Then they lift up through the spine while tucking the chin in slightly and keeping the head balanced over the shoulders. The tree pose and the warrior are variations of the mountain pose that are also suitable for children to perform.
These were just some of the methods you can apply if you want to do yoga with your child. After they start doing yoga, they will love the activity, as it will allow them to spend time next to their parents and have fun at the same time. They might not learn to appreciate achieving Zen instantly but give them some time to learn the true essence of yoga.
