Why should children do yoga and how to practice as a family

Although yoga is often a serious meditative practice for adults, it has great value in involving the whole family, he says Amber DipieroA NASM certified coach and Yoga Master E-Ryt 500. Especially these days, there is much to win from yoga, for children and parents equally.

“Yoga has a lot of benefits Whether you are practicing alone or as a family, “he says.” It reduces stress and anxiety, improves approach and concentration, and can also reduce blood pressure, benefit sleep, increase energy and improve muscle strength and flexibility. “

Yoga benefits for children

Research has indicated that yoga (for children and adolescents equally) can increase self -esteem, memory and mood.

BENEFITS FOR CHILDREN

It has been shown that all these benefits improve their quality of life, General well -beingand Stress management. Other Research has even connected A consistent yoga practice to mitigate the symptoms of attention deficit disorder, including lack of attention and hyperactivity.

Benefits for adolescents

Teenagers can also reap these benefits. TO Yoga study for children at high school He discovered that after a single class, participants showed decreases in anger, symptoms of depression and fatigue.

BENEFITS FOR PARENTS

For parents or caregivers, doing Yoga together creates the opportunity to spend a quality time where everyone can connect, says Dipietro. It can even know each other a little better.

“You can see how your son learns and persists, and his son sees the power of a healthy lifestyle,” he says. “Simply practicing Breath exercises and finding synchronicity can build a stronger bond. “

The best yoga poses for children

A great introduction to yoga for the whole family is a short level of level 1 in Bodi’s Yoga52 program. These offer an excellent Yoga poses for beginnersAnd you can choose the duration that fits everyone’s schedule. For example, you can divide a 30 -minute class into two parts to practice 15 minutes at the same time. In this way, you can establish consistency and acquire the habit of making yoga together.

If you want to flow through some poses on your own, here are some that are good for beginners.

1. Child’s pose

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohdmbnojnc4

• Start with four legs, with hands directly under the shoulders and knees wide or wider. Gather your big fingers.
• Exhale and have your hips towards your heels. Rest the belly between the thighs and the forehead in your mat.
• Extend your arms in front of you (palms down, to stretch your full back) or along your sides (palms up, to stretch between your shoulders).
• Stay for breaths up to a few minutes.

2. Cat cow stretch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa4zms5m7xa

Inhale: Cow’s pose

• Low to four legs, with the knees under the hips and hands under the shoulders. Keep your back flat, look at the floor and long neck.
• As you inhale, arqueate your back, lifting the coxis and chest towards the roof while dropping the belly into the mat.
• Keep your shoulders away from your ears, the shoulder blade extends on your back and your head in line with your torso.

Exhale: Cat Pose

• From the cow’s pose, while exhaling, it surrounds the back, put the coxis and curl the chin into the chest.
• Keep your shoulders and knees instead.
• Inhale in cow pose.
• Repeat this flow for up to 10 breaths, or more if you wish.

3. Dog down

• Start four legs, with your knees directly under the hips and dolls a few centimeters forward. Point the fingertips forward and extend your fingers torque.
• In an exhalation, target the fingers of the feet, press your hands, straighten your arms and legs and lift your hips towards the roof. Keep your hands separated to the width of the shoulders and feet separated.
• Turn your shoulders out to avoid tearing them. Keep your arms straight and hire your biceps to prevent the elbows from blocking. Look back on your feet fingers and keep your ears in line with your arms.
• Keep the pose for a minute.

How to progress in the practice of your family

Whether you are doing yoga as a family, like a combo of children for parents, or seeing your eldest or teenage son trying some solo yoga practices, it is likely that as you feel more comfortable with yoga, you will want to continue adding poses.

“When you are ready to improve the challenge, you may want to try some higher level yoga52,” he says Brent laffoonA yoga52 coach. “Even if you and your children cannot make each pose or sequence, it is fun to explore different options,” he says.

In addition, you can adjust poses and even invent some of yours based on basic yoga postures. Being creative as a family is just another way of making children a cheerful activity for everyone.

“Extend your wings a bit,” says Laffoon. “Be sure to maintain the level of enthusiasm and enjoy, and have a challenge you can do that and keep it fresh.”