Yoga is a wonderful activity for young children. They are naturally flexible and you often see them in poses a yoga follower would recognise from their practice. The picture above shows a position my daughter adopts frequently. Any yoga fans would recognise it as a Downward Dog but to my daughter it’s just a natural way to move her body.
Practising yoga with children should be like any play with them – with the emphasis on having fun. Little Lotus Yoga had a photo album of poses on their facebook page which you could try out, as we did today. We put on some music to create a peaceful environment and then simply had a try. My daughter loved it – she was giggling throughout!
We also have a favourite book called ‘My Daddy is a Pretzel’ which introduces different poses to children through a story where a group of children talk about what jobs their parents do.
From the yoga classes I’ve attended I’ve learned that anyone can do yoga – it’s about trying the poses and seeing how your body responds, not about comparing yourself with anyone else or having any specific expectations of what you ‘should’ be able to do. Yoga with children can help maintain their flexibility, and it can also help develop physical strength. It can help to calm children too, so could make a lovely addition to a bedtime routine. Why not give it a try?
How sweet is she? I will be trying some yoga with my 3 year old tomorrow! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Thank you for sharing this wonderful blog post. I adore seeing other little yogis having a fun time moving their body in such a natural manner for them. I am glad that you both enjoyed the time together!
Also am a great fan of Baron Baptiste’s My Daddy is a Pretzel book!
Namaste
Big fans of yoga for kids in this house – pre school we attended yoga bugs regularly and the kids loved making all the animal shapes.
This is adorable. If you keep it fun (and this looks like it was) yoga is such a healthy, natural thing for kids!
How old is your daughter? My son will be 2 in May and (as you know) has been working on downward facing dog!
Big is 7 and Little (who is the yoga girl here) is 3 and a half.
Thank you for sugessting this post. Will try out some of the poses with my son this week.
For younger children, you should check out Learn With Yoga: ABC Yoga Cards for Kids. (https://bit.ly/ABCYoga)
This card deck set combines yoga and pre-literacy and language learning.
You can read a review here: https://addriya.com/?p=745
Oh I love it! I think Yoga is one of those exercises kind of made for kids! The poses have fun names, like plough, cobra, downward dog, etc. that I think really appeal to a kids playful spirit. I will have to do some with my son! Thanks!
So sweet 🙂 I just taught my 4yo daughter two Yoga moves to ease her stomach ache, and she’s loving them. She does them on her own now, every time she has one.