Kids love to move. Getting them started early with yoga feeds that need and offers a ton of benefits—both physical and mental—including: strength, flexibility, concentration, self-control, balance, expression, confidence and relaxation. Who doesn’t want all that for their child? Below are five poses (four easy, one challenging) that are great for introducing kids to yoga.
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Tree Pose (Vriksasana)
This classic is the first yoga pose my daughter latched onto, and she still loves it. Tree pose teaches self-control and concentration while it improves a child’s balance and lower body strength. Kids “become” a tree by planting their feet into the ground for stability and noticing the sway of their bodies. Many often find they have better balance on one side more than another, which is perfectly normal. -
Downward-Facing-Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
An excellent and invigorating pose for kids and adults alike, Downward Dog is good for relieving tension and energizing the body. Its full-body stretch helps relieve back pain, headaches and fatigue. Traditionally part of the Sun Salutation sequence, Downward Dog flows well into Child’s Pose.
A fun version of this pose is L-Dog, which is like downward dog with your feet against a wall. Sofie loves L-Dog, which she learned from her yoga teacher, Miss Elyse (Om Kids Yoga Studio), who believes upside poses are excellent for all ages: “Anytime we go upside down we are improving digestion and blood circulation throughout the body. Upside down poses such as L-Dog and Scorpion build lots of upper body strength and helps kids let go of their fears.”
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Bridge (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)
This floor pose stretches the upper body and chest, improves digestion, increases flexibility and calms the mind. It’s also helpful for relieving stress. You can make a game of Bridge by pushing toy boats or animals beneath your child’s lifted body. This will inspire them to see how high they can raise up. Bridge is also an excellent pose for adults who spend large quantities of time hunched over a computer. -
Lion Pose (Simhasana)
Kids always love animal poses and this one adds a fun vocal element. Lion strengthens the lungs, releases facial tension and activates the immune glands of your lymph nodes. The pose can be done sitting cross-legged or kneeling. Have your child think of something that’s bothering them as they squeeze their body, hands and face real tight. Then let it go by extending the arms forward, releasing the tension, sticking out the tongue and roaring loudly. Repeat several times. -
Crow Pose (Bakasana)
This one takes some practice. I have never been able to do Crow, but Sofie’s getting close. Crow is the pose for building arm strength and balance. According to Miss Elyse, crow also builds confidence. “Most kids have to work really hard at learning the arm balance, and when they finally get it, they are so excited and more confident to try other challenging yoga poses.”Here’s a great video for getting into Crow.
Rhode Islanders should definitely check out Om Kids Yoga with Elyse Rotondo. She offers weekly classes for babies to teens as well as mother/daughter retreats and monthly pajama party yoga!
Crow pose image courtesy of OmGirl San Francisco. L-Dog pose image courtesy of Om Kids Yoga. All other yoga pose images courtesy of Namaste Kid.
This post is featured in Party Wave Wednesday at HolisticSquid.com.
