Simple Yoga for Children
Yoga for children is a fantastic way for children to expend pent-up energy while helping them begin to start practicing mindfulness. These six ‘animal yoga poses’ are great for your children to practice, either with or without your supervision. Not only that but they are an excellent way for you to spend quality time with your children.
Doing just 5-10 minutes of these exercises a day is a wonderful way for children to wake up their bodies or to tune in to their emotions. These exercises are extremely versatile - they can be done at any time of the day depending on your feeing. Some may prefer to do it before bedtime or others the first thing in the morning.
To make the most of these exercises, encourage your child to try to hold each pose for ten seconds and to take deep breaths while doing so. Try to use a mat, a towel or a blanket on the floor to make these poses as comfortable as possible.
Elephant Pose/ Rag Doll Pose
A fantastic way to warm up is to start with the elephant pose/rag doll pose.
Begin, by instructing your child(ren) to stand with their feet shoulder-width apart
Next, invite your child(ren) to bend forward from the waist, keeping their arms outstretched, so they hang in front of them.
Then, instruct your child to hold this pose. To get in to character, tell your child that they can sway their ‘trunk’ back and forth like an elephant - they can even let out their elephant call!
Child(ren) can also fold their arms with their hands on opposite elbows to help them loosen up. Hanging like this and swinging will help to loosen the vertebrae.
Dog Pose
To practice this position, invite your child(ren) to create a triangle position with their bodies
First, ask your child to place their toes on the ground
Next, instruct your child to place their hands flat down on the ground in front of them
The rest of their body remains up in the air, creating a triangle shape
Flamingo Pose
The Flamingo Pose requires some good balancing skills and is bound to result in some laughter!
Begin by inviting your child(ren) to stand up straight
They should bring one foot up to knee level and rest it against the side of their other leg.
Instruct the child(ren) to place their arms together and to hold them in front of their chest
To complete this exercise, encourage your child(ren) to focus on one spot in the room and to count how long they can hold the pose for.
Butterfly Pose
Begin by inviting your child(ren) to sit on the floor and to bend their knees while bringing their feet together (like a yogi)
Then, instruct them to either place their hands on their knees or together in front of them as they hold the pose
You can have your child move their knees up and down to mimic
Cobra Snake Pose
Begin, by instructing your child(ren) to lay face down on the ground
Invite them to bring extend their arms while keeping resting their hands flat on the ground in front of them
Then, instruct them to stretch their upper back by pushing their chest out as much as possible without hurting their lower back.
Swan Pose
The swan pose has a similar starting position as the cobra snake pose.
Invite your child(ren) to form the same position as the cobra but to attempt to bring their legs upwards and point their toes.
As they arch their back, you can encourage your child to try and touch the back of their head with their toes