Yoga for Kids: Best Poses, Tips and Master Classes

Stress can have far-reaching side effects on people, whether adults or children. Therefore, the National Library of Medicine suggests yoga as a possible tool for dealing with stress and regulating the body. This article seeks to discuss yoga for kids and the best practices.

Contents:

• Is Yoga Appropriate for Kids?
• What Age Should Kids Start Yoga?
• How to Start and Motivate Kid?
• What Does Your Child Will Need?
• Best Yoga Poses for Kids
  • Easy Yoga Poses for kids
  • Animal Yoga Poses for Kids
  • Yoga Poses For 2 Kids
  • Two People Yoga Poses for Kids (For Kid and One Parent)
  • Chair Yoga Poses for Kids
  • Hard Yoga Poses for Kids
  • Standing Yoga Poses for Kids
• Yoga videos for kids
  • 5 Minute Yoga for Kids
  • Calm Down Yoga for Kids
  • Bedtime Yoga for Kids
  • Yoga Breathing for Kids
• FAQ

Is Yoga Appropriate for Kids?

For many reasons, children can benefit from yoga. It can be a great way to calm your kids down. According to research, yoga may positively affect the mental health of kids and adults alike. It can help kids, and young adults manage the effect of stress better.

However, the appropriate yoga style depends on the age and specific needs of the child. Some of how children can benefit from yoga. They include:

• balance;
• sensory benefits;
• focus;
• reduction of stress;
• better body posture;
• release in strength;
• enhances relaxation;
• helps in managing anxiety/depression;
• it also helps to promote better sleep;
• six months of yoga, which includes breathing exercises, asanas, and meditation, is effective in reducing body weight;
• enhance flexibility.

Due to the significant benefits of yoga to kids, many schools today have begun to integrate yoga into their programs and curriculum. However, considering the numbers, only a few schools worldwide incorporate yoga into their practice.

What Age Should Kids Start Yoga?

It is essential to understand that yoga activities for kids are different from that for adults. While many adults can sit calm and still for long hours, the reverse is the case. Once a child is capable of understanding instructions, yoga activities can commence. Consequently, a child of 4 years+ can understand instructions and follow the directives of a teacher.

Nonetheless, parents and teachers should be mindful of the activities they teach the kids at this age. The yoga teacher should know what best suits your kid at any given age period. Specific movements and asanas should be left for a later age—preferably 12 and above.

A good example is Padmasana; it can bend the bones since they are still very tender.

Children are often excited about role-playing. As such, they enjoy playing the role of flowers, animals, trees, or warriors during yoga classes. Some activities that are suitable for kids include pranayama (the practice of breath regulation) and namaskar (greeting in yogic traditions). You should allow them to assume a pose and bark like a dog or meow in a cat pose. There are other numerous poses they can take. You can make it fun by telling them to count numbers one to ten while holding a pose.

How to Start and Motivate Kid?

Getting children to start yoga can be a bit difficult. Even after you successfully begin yoga with them, it becomes harder to motivate them to continue.

According to expert advice, making the activities fun can be a great way to start and encourage them. Ensure that all the instructions you give during the yoga session are fun and exciting. You can ask them to pretend to be a lion patiently waiting to pounce on prey.

Some other exciting ways to motivate you’re your kids to do yoga include:

Practice Yoga before Them

Kids love to imitate, especially their parents. They learn from the things they see and experience. Therefore, banking on this attitude of kids, you can invite them to join you. Doing so will help trigger their curiosity and help them to develop an interest in yoga.
You can ask your kids to climb on you or swing on your arms during your standing pose. Kids can also find it fun to watch you do strange yoga poses like twists and inversions. It won’t take time before they want to try out some of these activities.

Develop Fun Ways to Tell Them About the Benefits of Yoga

Explaining the numerous benefits of yoga to a kid may not be practicable. However, there are fun ways you can make them curious about yoga. For example, you can subtly tell them that yoga can make them very intelligent and strong as spiderman or as flexible as plastic.

Invite Your Kid to a Yoga Class

Once your kid can perform yoga on their own, send them to a yoga class. Joining other kids will help them to explore yoga in their way. It will improve their self-confidence and sense of responsibility. They will also mingle with other kids of like minds and form associations.

When selecting a yoga class for your kid, ensure to pick one with an experienced teacher for kids. You can also sign up for yoga teacher’s training and learn how to train your kids on your own.

Invest in Yoga Products

The yoga doll can be a great tool to motivate your kids to practice yoga. The yoga doll can be twisted into different yoga poses. As a result of this, use it to teach your kids proper poses and alignment.

There is also the pose-by-pose bedtime storybook that can help kids to learn yoga poses. The poses in this book are all inspired by animals.

What Does Your Child Will Need?

The following materials can make your child’s yoga experience fun and exciting.

Alex Active Yoga Kids Activity Exercise Mat

The yoga mat is essential for your child’s yoga activities. Therefore, finding an appropriate yoga mat can make it even more enjoyable.

The Alex Active Yoga Kids Activity Exercise Mat is a great kid’s yoga mat to invest in. What makes this mat exciting is the fact that it doubles as a puzzle. The mat comes as 24 separate foam tiles. Each foam features a different yoga pose. When all the foams fit together, you get a yoga mat.

The price of this yoga mat starts from $29.85 on Amazon.

The Yogi Fun Kids Yoga Book for Girls and Boys

Источник: amazon.com

The Yogi fun kids’ yoga book for boys and girls is suitable for kids who love arts. It is a combination of a workbook and poems. It contains 20 different poses appropriate for children and rhyming poems. The lyrics help children to remember the various asanas in the book. When they are not practicing yoga, they can get busy with coloring.

This book also has free pages for children to get creative with their poses. You can purchase the Yogi Fun Kids Yoga Book for Boys and Girls from Amazon. The price of this book starts from $7.99.

Meddy Teddy: Mindful Poses for Little Yogis

Источник: meddyteddy.com

If your kid loves stuffed animals, then Meddy Teddy is a great product to consider. The teddy can make a significant part of your kid’s tea party. The Meddy Teddy is also poseable. Therefore, you can use it to demonstrate to kids what a proper asana looks like before they proceed to try it out.

You can from the official product website starting from $48. The company also offers Book of Poses for $7, which you can add to your children’s collection of books.

Children’s Yoga Pants

Источник: m.media-amazon.com

Your child will also require yoga pants for their daily yoga activities. Amazon, Etsy, and Target are all great places to find quality kids’ yoga pants.

One thing to consider when purchasing yoga pants for your kid is the quality. Go for breathable, lightweight, and stretchy pants. Children get easily irritated, so getting the right size is essential for comfort. You can obtain quality children’s yoga pants on Amazon for $23.99.

Cali’s Books Yoga with Music | Interactive Musical Books for Toddlers 1-3 and Babies with Yoga Poses, Songs, and Fun! A Great Yoga Gift Idea for Mom, and Toddlers

Источник: amazon.com

One of the best ways to teach children about yoga is through books. The Cali interactive music book offers you that opportunity and even more. It contains a collection of yoga poses, songs, and classical nursery rhymes for kids. It also features twists that are suitable for young children.

You can get Cali’s Books Yoga for $24.99.

GAIAM Kids Stay-N-Play Children’s Balance Ball

Источник: amazon.com

The balance ball is a great way to teach your kids to learn great posture. Besides, it takes them away from your couch and allows them to bounce off all the energy on the ball.

GAIAM balance balls come in two sizes and twelve baby-friendly colors. The price of this product starts at $17 to 22.59, and you can purchase it by following the link.

Kid’s Meditation Cards for Kids

Источник: amazon.com

Meditation cards make it easy to teach kids to stay mindful and focused. They are large and beautifully illustrated and contain breathing and mindfulness exercises. The card can serve as a yoga aid for parents, therapists, and yoga teachers for kids. They are great when you want to introduce your kids to meditation exercises.

The price of these cards starts from $27, and you can purchase them by clicking here.

YOGi FUN Yoga Puzzle Pairs for Toddlers to Learn Yoga, Colors, and Counting

Источник: amazon.com

Besides the colorful feature of this puzzle, it is also non-toxic, and an excellent manipulative to teach your toddler yoga. The Yoga Puzzle Pairs features ten different puzzles that show ten appropriate yoga poses for kids. It can also come in handy as an educational tool for studying animal names, learning colors, and counting from one to ten.

The cost of this puzzle starts from $15, and you can purchase one by clicking here.

Alex Active Monkey Kids Toddler Balance Board

Источник: amazon.com

The Toddler Balance Board is a great way to teach your kid to learn self-coordination. The skill they acquire from this tool will help them in the future when dealing with more challenging yoga poses—also an excellent way of introducing your kids to board surfing games.

The price of this item starts at $18. You can follow the link to purchase one for your kid.

Breathe Like a Bear: 30 Mindful Moments for Kids to Feel Calm and Focused Anytime, Anywhere

Источник: amazon.com

Breathe like a bear is another excellent book to help your kids relax and learn mindfulness. It is a great book with rich illustrations and 30 breathing exercises for your toddlers. The book costs $12.89, and you can purchase it from Amazon. You can also check out other great books for kids from the same author.

Best Yoga Poses for Kids

Below are some of the top poses in yoga for your kids. What makes them even more exciting is that it is suitable for all ages. Therefore, you can perform these poses alongside your kids.

Easy Yoga Poses for kids

Easy sitting pose (Sukhasana)

Credit: emedihealth.com

Child’s pose (Balasana)

Credit: emedihealth.com

Cobra pose (Bhujangasana)

Credit: emedihealth.com

Butterfly pose (Baddha konasana)

Credit: emedihealth.com

Corpse pose (Savasana)

Credit emedihealth.com

Animal Yoga Poses for Kids

Animal poses remain one of the most significant ways to motivate your kids to do yoga. From the simple butterfly pose to the descending dog pose, there are many animals poses that kids of all ages can enjoy.

Some of the animal poses that you should encourage your kids to try include:

1. The Cat Pose

The cat pose is straightforward and involves only two steps. The first step is to let the kid have both hands and knees on the floor. Then the kid should look towards the ground and arch their belly upward.

2. The Cow Pose

The cow pose is like the cat pose. But this time, instead of arching the stomach, the child dips the abdomen and looks forward.

3. The Butterfly Pose

The butterfly pose is one of the most popular animal poses for kids, and kids enjoy it. Let the kid sit on the floor and bring both feet together on each ankle. Then gently move their knees up and down, imitating the butterfly wings.

4. The Tiger Pose 

Let the child go down on their hands and knees, lift one leg behind them, and keep it bent. Do the same for the second leg and repeat severally.

5. The Upward Dog Pose

Make the child lie down flat on their belly. Let them place their palms on the ground directly below their shoulders and straighten their arms. Then let them lift their head and torso off the floor. Hold for 5 to 10 seconds.

Yoga Poses For 2 Kids

It is more fun when kids perform yoga together. The aim is to help children find balance and develop self-respect. It also helps them to develop respect for others.

Here are some of the yoga activities that kids can perform together.

The back-to-back chair benefits pose

Credit: origympersonaltrainercourses.co.uk

The back-to-back chair benefits pose suitable for children of the same height (or almost). Let them stand back-to-back with both arms wrapped in each other’s arms. Slowly both kids should continue to go down until they form a chair position. With their backs and crossed arms as support, let them tarry in the position for a while.
See how long they can last in the position. The goal of this yoga exercise is to enable kids to learn to support each other.

The front chair yoga pose

Credit: kidsyogafun.com

The front chair yoga pose reverses the back-to-back chair benefits pose. Let both kids stand facing each other and then hold both hands together. Let them move back slowly until both hands are fully stretched. Gradually, both kids should continue to go down until they both assume a chair position facing each other. The goal is also for both kids to learn to support each other and develop self-respect.

Partner balance pose

Credit: kidsyogafun.com

The partner balance yoga pose also involves two kids. Let the kids stand side-by-side and hold arms close to each other tightly. Ensure that both legs are together and the two inner legs touch each other. Then, slowly both kids should begin to fall in the opposite directions until they reach a point where both kids find balance. The goal of this yoga is also to help kids find balance and to learn to respect themselves and others.

Diamond pose

Credit: gogoyogakids.com

Both kids should lie flat head-to-head (both heads touching at the top) with both legs. First, the kids should raise both legs still closed together. Then placing their elbow on the floor, they should slowly lift their backs while supporting it with their hands. They should continue to raise their back until their legs touch at the top forming a diamond shape.

Mountain pose

Let the two kids sit on their legs facing each other with both knees touching. They should raise both hands together and place their palms together, forming a mountain shape. This exercise aims to help kids learn self-respect and respect for others.

Two People Yoga Poses for Kids (For Kid and One Parent)

A great way to connect with kids while teaching them yoga. It takes you on an imaginary adventure with your kids and helps you understand their feelings.

Below are five yoga poses you can practice with your kids.

Partner tree pose

Stand next to your child, hold hands together, and stand straight with your head, spine, and shoulders. Ensure that your legs are firmly planted on the ground. Then tilt a bit and stand on your inner leg. Bend the outer leg and place the sole on your inner calf or thigh. Ensure you don’t go over the knee. Help each other to balance. Once you attain balance, lift the other arm slowly to the sky.

Eagle yoga pose with your kid

Stand side-by-side with your kid. Hold both hands together. Stand on the inner leg and wrap the outer leg around the standing leg. Try to bend slightly like you are perching on a tree like an Eagle.

Double downward-facing dog pose

Bend from a standing position to the ground. Place both palms flat on the ground. Stretch out your legs into a reverse V shape. Let your head and neck relax. Let your child join you by practicing downward facing dog under you.

Sunbathing Lizard on a rock pose

Credit: kidsyogafun.com

Drop down on all fours, and shift your buttocks to rest on your heels. Let your shoulder relax on the ground with your forehead between your knees. Take a few deep breaths and pretend to be a rock. Let your child sit on your lower back and begin to recline into a sleeping position. Let your child relax. Hold the position for a while before coming out of the position.

Double easy pose

Источник: kidsyogafun.com

Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position (you might want to put blocks under your knees to help you relax). Place your child on your lap, and take deep breaths for up to five seconds. Let your imagination travel far and wild.

Chair Yoga Poses for Kids

Chair Yoga poses are like your regular poses. However, this time you perform them sitting on a chair. Some of the more popular chair yoga poses include:

The chair boat pose

Credit: kidsyogastories.com

The cow chair yoga pose

Credit: kidsyogastories.com

The cat chair yoga pose

Credit: kidsyogastories.com

The downward-facing dog chair pose

Credit: kidsyogastories.com

The cobra chair pose

Credit: kidsyogastories.com

Hard Yoga Poses for Kids

The following yoga poses are more advanced and take some practice to perfect. They include:

The heron yoga pose

Credit: kidsyogastories.com

Revolved side angle pose

Credit: kidsyogastories.com

Shoulder pressing pose

Credit: kidsyogastories.com

Wild thing yoga pose

Credit: kidsyogastories.com

Crow yoga pose

Credit: kidsyogastories.com

Standing Yoga Poses for Kids

Yoga does not necessarily mean that your kid must sit down. Some activities and poses require them to stand on their feet. Some of them are:

The banana yoga stand

Credit: kidsyogafun.com

The Giraffe yoga pose

Credit: kidsyogafun.com

The flamingo pose

Credit: kidsyogafun.com

The Elephant yoga pose

Credit: kidsyogafun.com

The monster yoga pose

Credit: kidsyogafun.com

Yoga Videos for kids

5 Minute Yoga for Kids

You will find some exciting yoga practices in this channel suitable for kids. The channel utilizes kid-friendly background to present the various exercises. Get your kids excited and motivated in just five minutes through this channel.

Calm Down Yoga for Kids

If you want to teach your kids to practice yoga, this channel is an excellent choice. You can train your kids in yoga, mindfulness, and meditation; this channel is a great one to visit. You will also gain advice from health and wellness professionals.

Bedtime Yoga for Kids

Join Jaime on this unique channel to teach your child some of the best yoga practices that will help improve their sleep. There are many things to take away from this channel, including beautiful scenery and fantastic countryside.

Yoga Breathing for Kids

GoNoodle is an excellent channel with an extensive collection of activities for kids, including breathing exercises. It is a great site where your kids can learn various breathing lessons and other yoga exercises.

FAQ

Q1. How Many Minutes Should Kids Do Yoga Every Day?

For children under eight years, once a day, especially before bedtime, is ideal. As they grow older, they can increase the number of sessions to twice daily.

Q2. How Long Should Kids Hold Yoga Pose?

The maximum duration of time children under eight years should spend in any yoga session is 20 minutes.

Q3. Is Yoga Good for Kids?

Yes. Yogastatiscs indicate there is a myriad of physical and mental benefits for children.

Q4. Can Yoga Help to Improve a Child’s Physical Performance?

Yes. Yoga can help improve balance, self-awareness, and focus.

Some Pieces of Advice to the Parents

The world is a much busier and noisy place lately. Hence, yoga for kids has become an essential part of many schools. As a parent, it has become necessary to introduce your kids to yoga very early. Since you don’t follow them around daily, the best you can do is to help them release tension. Teaching them to yoga will help them lead happier and healthier life.

Have you ever spent time with your kids in yoga? What was your experience? Share all this vital information with friends and family members.

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