The value of yoga to support young children in today’s fast paced world
Yoga isn’t just for adults – it’s great for children too, especially in today’s fast-paced world.
As parents and educators, we want our children to act and behave with mindfulness, compassion, respect, to be brave, to know love and happiness and feel secure. In this modern world where everything moves very fast for us and our children, it’s not long before we feel all kinds of pressure to keep up with everyone around us.
Yoga functions as a release valve that eases pressure and provides a foundation to nurture and develop a resilient and resourceful body and mind.
It is our responsibility to develop our children’s sense of wonder and to give them a strong sense of self so they know where they belong in this world and can contribute to making their community a better place.
Yoga teaches children to:
Persevere (trying again to get the poses)
Be patient
Work toward their goals
Be focussed
Be calm
Concentrate
Listen (on how to achieve the pose)
Breathe
Build self-respect
Develop confidence (once they’ve mastered a pose, they are filled with confidence!)
Achieve
On the physical side, it gives them:
Strength
Balance
Co-ordination
Flexibility
Behaviour control
Exercise
Children encounter emotional, social, and physical challenges or conflicts daily. Yoga practices which include breathing techniques, behavioural guidelines, and physical postures can be incredibly valuable for them to overcome these difficult altercations.
The great thing about yoga is that children can practice anywhere whilst the sessions are structured, but can also take these skills into their own imaginative play. The breathing, concentration, poses, and the way children learn to act or react to situations, will lead to constant self-discovery and inquisitiveness.
We can only offer guidance; it is the child who will work to succeed. Therefore, when a child masters a pose, it gives them confidence and self-esteem.
As parents, we all know the importance of reading to our children and exposing them to the wonder of language. Storytelling through yoga takes this to the next level, exploring the imagination through physical movement, make believing that they are within the story. It is a fun and interactive way that engages them in literacy and language, aiding their own language whilst developing their physical development. If they enjoy yoga, it can instil lifelong patterns for exercising, plus they are clearing their minds – leaving it all behind to just be able to balance on one leg!