Yoga and Movement for Kids
posted : 03/Sep/2019
Bend and stretch, reach for the stars.
Yoga and movement are becoming increasingly popular with young children, with many schools and childcare centres adopting the practice and integrating it into their curriculum, just as we have done at our Burnside centre.
Like adults, children are faced with their own emotional challenges. Moving to a new house or starting a new childcare centre can evoke a range of feelings. Yoga has been shown to improve both physical and mental health in children. The physical postures children learn help to improve their memory, balance, strength, endurance and even help them to build confidence.
Yoga also provides children with the tools to cope with moments of stress or anxiety while helping them become more in-tune with their little bodies and their breathing. Understanding breath and how to regulate it back to a relaxed state is a valuable life-long tool that children from any age can be made aware of and learn to practice in any situation or environment.
Most of all, Yoga is fun for children! Many of the postures resemble animal movements which children love to mimic. Depending on the age of the kids’ yoga classes are often a balance between structure and spontaneity. Some classes are a combination of storytelling, songs, dancing, poses, stretches, breathing and relaxation, all of which expose children to mindfulness and body awareness.
If you think that yoga is something that your child might enjoy or benefit from, why not introduce it into your home. Basic yoga breathing exercises can be practised by the whole family, here is one that you can try;
Mindful, breathing yoga exercise
- Lie down on your back
- Place your hand or small toy on your tummy
- Take a deep breath in and hold it for a count of three
- Breathe out forcefully, like you’re blowing out a candle
- Watch as your hand or toy rises and falls with every breath
- Repeat this for five cycles of breath
- Enjoy the moment of Zen in your household
At AppleBerries Early Education Service, we’re always looking to integrate activities that not only benefit children’s’ learning and development from an education perspective but also to help children become emotionally self-aware and accepting of themselves and others. Yoga is a wonderful avenue for this.
We have already incorporated Yoga into our AppleBerries Burnside centre, and we hope to introduce it into our other centres in the near future.
Namaste
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