Yoga is a form of meditative exercise that has been handed down from one generation to another. It is considered to be a workout that not only focuses on the body but on the state of mind as well. Learning yoga is a good way to teach your child patience, socialization, discipline, the importance of practice and the merits of accepting their limitations as humans. It is also a productive substitute of team sports, especially for those who may have physical limitations, which prohibits them from participating in rough sports.
While there are parents who are concerned about allowing their children to try yoga, a study done on the pediatric health benefits of yoga has shown that it does not only improve their concentration and their motor skills, it also helps them learning proper breathing techniques as well as improve posture. The great thing about yoga, is that is is cost effective and there is no need for any complicated equipment, literally all that is required is a yoga mat. Not convinced yet? Here are six more reasons why yoga for children is a good form of child exercise.
Benefits of Yoga for Children
1. Yoga can help your child cope well with stress. Stress is almost always omnipresent in our lives. It doesn’t matter if you’re a kid, a student or a working parent, stress will forever be lurking somewhere. That’s the reason why teaching kids to cope with stress is important. It allows them to react in a way that is socially and physically acceptable instead of throwing tantrums or retreating into their shells. Yoga can help your children become more productive and resilient when stressed.
2. Yoga is a non-competitive and relaxing form of physical activity. Not everyone is caught up to be competitive and aggressive. There are those who are only out for a good time instead of focusing on the winning and the losing. In yoga, everyone is having fun and getting healthy. Ergo, everyone wins.
3. Yoga can help kids suffering from ADHD and kids with special needs. Studies have shown that yoga for children can be therapeutic for those with ADHD, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and other forms of physical impairments. In fact, when yoga is done as a supplementary treatment for children with ADHD, they have become more relaxed.
4. Yoga can help children learn about self-discipline. At such a young age, self-discipline may be hard to understand since children are far more prone to give in to their impulsive wants than control their own behavior. Fortunately, yoga can help them control their impulses and use their rationality instead.
5. Yoga helps with strength and flexibility. While yoga may seem like a physically undemanding activity compared to other team sports, it actually requires a lot of muscular flexibility and strength. As children progress at different stages, the stretching, deep breathing exercise and positions will also help them prevent injuries in the future, which is also why yoga is a good exercise to do if your child is an athlete.
6. Yoga improves focus and coordination. Although children are undoubtedly known for their short attention span, yoga can help dramatically increase their focus as well as their body’s balancing capabilities. Yoga is an exercise that depends as much on the mind as on the body. It requires a calm state of mind and good balancing skills in order to do it right. As children do yoga more and more each day, their balance and attention span inadvertently improves.
All these benefits can help your children grow to be better and more serene individuals in the future. Nevertheless, every child has different needs. That is why before deciding to enroll your kids in yoga for children classes, it is best to talk to your pediatrician about it. While most yoga classes for children will not teach a specific form of yoga such as Ashtanga or Bikram, they will allow them to learn the basics so that they can move on to the more complicated forms later in life.