Basic Yoga Poses for Kids

 

Yoga has so many benefits  for the entire family. We really endorse the idea of introducing children to the joyful peace of yoga! We hope this post, which is about more than just yoga poses for kids, will inspire you to help your child to adopt this way of life. Even better, we hope it will also encourage you to nurture their creativity, mental focus, embolden them to be composed, and limit their stress.

Why is yoga good for kids? Yoga is educational in a variety of ways. How can we teach our kids strategies and methods of living a long healthy life considering the speed and the stress of the technological age? The answer is fairly simple: Breathing, along with simple movements, feeling each movement. Yoga helps children develop various skills, including fitness, balance, and focus.

One prerequisite, however, is to focus on the need for clarity of mind. The purpose of yoga is to focus on the movement itself and leave the outside world. Through practice, your children can transpose this tranquil feeling into their school and daily life.

A Few Tips Before Starting Yoga for Kids

Yoga, especially when introducing it to your child, should happen in a quiet and peaceful room. So before you get into these fun yoga poses for kids, it is important that you and your child focus on breathing in and out in each position for 8-10 seconds. If the pose takes longer to explain or to follow the guidelines, the timing should start once you and the child are in the pose.

Once the child responds positively, it is important that the time spent in each pose increases gradually. Another important aspect is not to do yoga after heavy meals, as some poses might exert pressure on internal organs. Lastly, the most important detail is to have FUN! Yoga with your child strengthens the relationship among family members and it is a healthy family activity.

Yoga has become more and more popular among many adults, especially in its ability to become a life-long activity. The main reason an adult might undertake yoga classes is that it offers silence and peace. However, you should not be surprised if your child has another reason to follow your indication: It’s fun!

Role Play with These Fun Yoga Poses for Kids

Let’s start with some simple yoga poses for kids.

Cat Pose

What is more fun for a child than to try to imitate a feline? It is possible with the cat pose for yoga to combine two activities: fun and yoga. The cat pose nurtures the child’s imagination and brings families together through role play! Tell your child to imagine they are becoming a furious lion/ lioness in the jungle — on their knees and hands, arch their backs and purr furiously! For more domestic animal lovers, this could turn into a meowing cat.

Puppy Pose

Another basic pose to try with your child is the puppy pose. The child’s introspection and composure are stimulated through this pose wherein they, still on hands and knees, face the mat and raise their tailbone high, with hands stretched on the mat.

Away from any visual distractions, children can focus on their inner thoughts and feelings and become composed. It may take some time, but they will get there.

Cobra Pose

The cobra pose requires the child to lie down on their yoga mat on their tummy. With the elbows along their side, they will slowly raise their chest while legs are straight on the mat behind them. The child can pretend they are a cobra ready for attack!

Alphabet Pose

Yoga teaches more than a way of living. It also teaches the alphabet! Work with your child on the alphabet pose. Standing up straight, with arms straight above the head in a ‘v’ position, wherein each hand points to the opposite way, stretched up. The result is the body in the letter ‘y’. This helps the child to breathe deeply, calm down and focus on introspection.

Yoga as a Social Activity for Kids

Children are generally social and friendly. Siblings and friends can become part of the yoga process and add more fun through the partner pose. This way, the children can develop their social skills, friendships and imagination. Ask the children to sit on their knees, facing away from each other, back-to-back.

One of the children needs to bend their body so that their face is close to the mat, the tailbone being to the same level with their heels and arms stretched above their heads. The child’s partner comes from a squat, reaching up to other’s back facing the opposite way. The partner then stretches their back over their friend’s back, wrapping them similar to an embrace back-to-back.

Let’s have a roar contest! Both children should lay down on their knees and hands, similar to the ‘feline pose’ earlier, breathing in and out. Counting from one to three, children should arch their body forward and roar!

Best Yoga Aids for Kids

If you’re hesitant about teaching your child yoga, fear not! There are a number of great products that can ease you both into it. 

For the youngest yogis, check out the ThinkPad Yoga Spinner Game. It’s such a fun way to introduce basic poses.

We also give up an enthusiastic thumbs-up to the ThinkFun Yoga Dice Game. This fast and easy game is the perfect solution to a boring, rainy afternoon.

Here’s another fun and simple go-to tool to enhance your yoga time with your kids. Yogi, a yoga-inspired card game, is inexpensive, easy to learn and immensely replayable.

What is the Best Yoga for Kids?

Easy–any yoga! Introducing yoga to your child early on will yield a lifetime of benefits. By keeping the mindful elements of yoga at the forefront and mixing in a healthy dose of fun, you may just end up with a yogi for life.

We all know that kids’ energy levels are well beyond those of adults. However, yoga is one practice which brings composure closer to children, an attribute which is similar to patience, and extremely important to practice as a future adult.

This is possible with the ‘lay-still’ pose, wherein children and adults alike need to lay on their back, with their legs and arms spread wide and … breathe! The breathing exercise helps children calm down, get in touch with inner thoughts, their environment and listen to their own bodies and minds.

Let’s Get Started with Yoga, Kids!

There are different yoga poses for kids which will help your children improve their physical and mental health. Despite the already long list of benefits for the practice of yoga, your children will add special ingredients ­— things like joy, imagination, and fun!

Yoga will nurture your child’s imagination as they become more excited to try new poses that seem funny or challenging to them.

A disciplined, balanced, and composed child on the mat will bring this attitude into their daily life and normal routines. What better activity could we introduce our children to? You would be hard-pressed to find something that trains your child’s body, mind, and soul.

So, get a fun yoga mat for kids and start teaching them yoga poses — you won’t regret it!