Helping Children Under 10 Learn Yoga

Many parents in the United States are interested in having their children learn yoga due the many health benefits that come with this exercise. Many children are overweight and do not get enough exercise, leading to many health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, stress along with many others. Yoga can help your child to become much more flexible, fit and agile and will help them to relax and meditate and can also help to develop their thought processes and interpersonal skills. Since kids are much more susceptible to movement and suggestion, they may take to yoga even more quickly than adults, and may also be more able to accomplish certain yoga movements due to their flexibility.

Young children should always be taken to a very well qualified yoga instructor since many times they do not know their own limitations and may injure themselves, especially if they are being coached by a novice instructor. If possible you should try to get them into a specially designed children's yoga class, especially if they are below age 10. Younger children tend to have very short attention spans and a qualified children's yoga instructor will have the patience and the goodwill to deal with children and to properly instruct them to properly complete the exercises and also motivate them properly.

You should try not to force your child to do yoga, even though you are aware of the health benefits. Children may rebel if forced to do the task and they will just end up wasting your money and time so it would be best to choose another activity to engage your child in, especially if they have absolutely no interest in yoga. If you child is interested or only mildly interested, you should try to teach and explain to them the meaning of yoga and all the associated health benefits. You can also encourage your child to do yoga by promising to do something that the child enjoys or purchase something that the child wants upon the completion of each yoga class or course.

You should try to make yourself available for the first yoga class that the child goes to and watch their interaction with the instructor as well as the other children in the class very carefully. If the interaction between the instructor and your child is very poor, or if the instructor shouts and says disparaging things to the members of the class, you should remove them from the class. You could alternately speak to the instructor about being less harsh to your child. You should also note the interaction of your child with the other children in the class, if they are not getting along well with your child, you should try to speak to the instructor of your child to find out the problem. If this continues then you should try to send your child to another class or instructor. These instructions will help your young child to have an enjoyable yoga experience and help them to build a healthy and safe habit for the future.

References

1. http://www.yogasite.com/yoga%20kids.htm
2. http://www.anmolmehta.com/blog/2009/01/21/yoga-for-kids-kids-yoga-poses-part-1/
3. http://www.anmolmehta.com/blog/2009/01/23/yoga-for-kids-yoga-exercises/