The wonderful benefits of Kids Yoga
Yoga, a word rooted in the notion of union, is a method that enlists all the aspects of our nature – body, mind and spirit – in the search of inner harmony. Yoga for Happy Kids, a method I created after years of experience in teaching children and closely watching their needs, is the adaptation of all the valuable teachings of yoga into lessons that are aimed at children. Yoga for Happy Kids classes present a rare opportunity for kids to experience the play and discipline of yoga, without worrying that they are doing something wrong. Even kids without any inclination in sports find in my classes a way to approach exercise with a different mindset.
Yoga for Happy Kids improves your kid’s life along five fundamental axes:
1. Improves physical condition
Yoga teaches kids to use their muscles in completely new ways. Each exercise challenges kids’ muscles in different ways, while teaching them how to better be conscious of their body and its functions.
2. Perfects balance and motor coordination
Balance is an essential part of ypga. Balance exercises were created in order to reinforce physical and spiritual grace. Even when a kid has a hard time performing these exercises, the teaching still remains: if you fall, all you have to do is get up and try again. The feeling of achievement, when new challenges are presented and successfully faced is truly unique – even more so, when it happens at an age when the personality is still being shaped.
3. Improves focus
Today, the incoming stimuli perceived by our children just keep increasing. They grow up in a world dozens of times more “loud” compared to the one we grew up. The practice of Yoga for Happy Kids encourages children to empty their mind and focus on the effort they are making. That knowledge is put into practice in other areas in life, with school being the most important of them, where they can be more focused during the class, when they study their lessons, during exams etc. A most valuable tool, at a time when our kids are only distracted and confused.
4. Boosts confidence
It is crucial to teach confidence to our kids and how to develop an image of who they are as clearly as possible. Yoga for Happy Kids teaches them to be persistent, patient, generous, work towards their goals and not give up. I, as a teacher, am showing them the way to achieve an exercise, but it’s them who are responsible of practicing it, which gives them a sense of being able to process any kind of challenge, any problem, until they solve it.
5. Strengthens the body-mind connection
Yoga, above all, strengthens our spirit, by exercising our body and calming our mind. Kids nowadays need this important lesson: you are the master of your mind, just like you are the master of your body. The modern world moves incredibly fast, and the pressure from the environment can be unbearable if one lacks the appropriate tools to handle it. Sometimes, I see yoga as a relief valve that alleviates the pressure of all that is built up inside – and when I see the kids I teach internalizing its valuable teachings, I know I don’t have to worry about their future.