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Does Yoga for Kids make your kid smarter?
Read on to find out why you should enroll your kids in a yoga class.
1. Yoga helps kids to deal with life’s stress. When kids “slow down” to participate in the practice of yoga; they learn techniques to help them deal with life’s challenges.
2. Yoga helps children develop creativity. A holistic approach to teaching yoga allows children to experience yoga along with creative activities such as storytelling, expressive movement, art and music.
3. Practicing yoga helps kids learn how to control their emotions. Especially for kids with autism spectrum disorders or other behavioral issues, the calming techniques learned in yoga may help them manage emotional outbursts.
4. Yoga is a non-competitive way to exercise. When children practice yoga, they learn ways to exercise that don’t involve winning or losing. Everybody feels good after doing yoga.
5. Yoga improves self-discipline and self esteem. Children who are learning yoga also learn to master their own behavior. They learn to control themselves, rather than waiting for others to tell them what to do. Breath awareness and the ability to calm down and meditate are important skills that children can use for their whole lives.
6. Yoga may help kids with ADHD to focus. Studies from the University of Heidelberg suggest that yoga, in coordination with other therapies, may help kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Yoga requires concentration. While some kids might not find this easy at first, the more they practice, the easier focusing will become for them.
7. Yoga improves strength and flexibility and prevents sports injuries. Despite appearing to be a low-impact activity, yoga requires greater muscular strength which improves as one becomes more advanced in yoga. Children develop stronger muscular flexibility by practicing yoga and improving strength and overall flexibility help young athletes prevent injury to growing bones and muscles.
8. Yoga develops the skill of midline crossing. It’s something adults take for granted, but any activity that encourages crossing the midline, or the imaginary line at the center of your body, is beneficial for motor skills. Young children who have a hard time telling the difference between right and left will be helped by practicing yoga.
9. Yoga is a fun way to get exercise! Doing playful yoga poses is a great, non-threatening way for kids to get moving. They can pretend to be animals or objects named in the pose, such as a cobra, tiger, or a mountain.
10. Yoga encourages a positive outlook. Yoga is such a calming, restful, and fun activity that it’s hard not to feel good afterwards. Kids who do yoga on a regular basis report feeling happier.
11. Yoga helps kids build patience. It takes patience and time to learn a new physical skill, and as new yoga poses are introduced, your child may not be able to do it all at first. It is important to give the child encouragement and time to acquire the skill.
12. Yoga improves posture and good habits for a lifetime. Children that spend a lot of time seated at desks in school or in front of the computer at home may develop upper body tension and increased spinal pressure. Yoga relieves this and teaches them right breathing and posture.
13. Yoga can help kids with special needs. Yoga has been shown to be helpful and therapeutic for children with Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, and other physically limiting conditions. Each child is different, so be sure to ask your pediatrician for advice before starting yoga for your kid.
14. Yoga can be a great tool to teach science, art and nature. Yoga poses are mostly inspired by nature and many animals from cobra to locust, butterfly to camel. Yoga is a good way to teach science to kids. For example, one can teach lifecycle of butterfly or natural habitats with various yoga poses, which is enjoyed by the kids of all ages.
At SMARTS Club, we specialize in Kids Yoga and would be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding Yoga as it relates to kids. SMARTS Club Yoga programs for kids are developed by Dr Meenakshi Singh who is a trained instructor in Kids Yoga with ten years of related experience.