Try These 10 Kid-Friendly Yoga Poses with Your Little One Today
Yoga is for all ages and stages of life. In fact, research has shown that yoga can play a beneficial role in the development of children – in many ways. And the great news is, you don’t need a yoga teacher training, or a whole lot of experience in yoga, to begin practicing with your kiddos today!
We’ll share with you some simple yoga poses you can practice with your kids, and tips to help you along the way as you begin your practice together.
Yoga is For the Whole Body
But first, let’s dive into some benefits your little one – and you too – can get from practicing yoga.
1. Yoga helps kids reduce stress and anxiety.
Their stress may look different than ours, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still there. Yep, kids experience stress and anxiety, too! It may look like anger outbursts, tantrums, emotional breakdowns, or even withdrawal. Yoga helps kids develop and calm their nervous systems – through breathing, through movement, and through consistency.
2. Yoga helps kids develop emotional regulation.
As kids develop their nervous systems and tune into them more and more through the practice of yoga, they will naturally develop emotional regulation. With consistency, they learn how to recognize distress, and remember they now have the tools to emotionally regulate their emotions.
3. Yoga helps to boost self-esteem and confidence.
Did you know that movement can help kids develop self-esteem and confidence? As they practice poses – and master them – it reinforces to them their own capabilities, their strength, and discipline. Kids gain confidence in recognizing their own independence.
4. Yoga helps increase your child’s self-awareness and body awareness.
Yoga is centered on the emphasis of body awareness and introspection. With each movement, there is breath attached and there is an awareness of your body within space. Through this, kids organically develop their own self-awareness, which no doubt helps them in their later years of development.
5. Yoga encourages and develops mindfulness.
Similar to self-awareness, yoga also encourages mindfulness in kids. Yoga asks that you not only tune in to your own body’s movements and rhythms, but also a mindfulness of the world around you.
6. Yoga enhances your child’s memory and focus.
Yoga enhances memory and focus in a few different ways. For one, when poses are repeatedly called out, it calls on your child’s use of memory to remember the pose. Additionally though, through the repeated practice and discipline of practicing yoga and deep breathing, it also encourages blood flow to the brain and can enhance focus and memory that way as well.
7. Yoga helps to develop flexibility and strength.
Probably one of the more obvious benefits of yoga for kids is the development of flexibility and strength. Did you know that as we age, our muscles and flexibility automatically begins to deteriorate. The younger you begin practicing, the more muscle memory is developed and the easier it is for your child to remain flexible and build flexibility and strength as they age.
8. Yoga teaches discipline and reduces impulsivity.
This may be a misconception but, yoga isn’t easy. Yoga requires discipline and consistency. And as your child maintains that discipline and consistency, this naturally reduces your child’s impulsive tendencies as it also calls for mindfulness and self-awareness.
Start Practicing with Your Kiddos with These 10 Poses
Let’s jump right into the different poses you can begin practicing with your child today! With each pose, we’ll break down how to get into these poses to make it effortless and fun for everyone.
Tree Pose
Start standing tall! Roll your shoulders back. Press your feet into the mat. Then, lift up your right knee. Hold here and balance for a minute! How long can you balance? Then gently place your right foot on your left leg – on the inside of your calf or thigh, just never the knee! Then reach your arms up to the sky, like the branches of a tree! Switch sides whenever you’re ready!
2. Cobra Pose
Begin laying on your belly. Rest your forearms on the mat, under your shoulders. When you’re ready, lift your chest using your forearms. Can you slither your head back and forth and hiss like a cobra?
3. Lizard Pose
Start in plank pose – your hands under your shoulders, lifting your body off the mat, back is flat. Then bring your right leg forward, to the outside of your right hand. You can stay just like that or even lower down to your forearms – like a lizard push-up! Switch sides whenever you’re ready!
4. Butterfly Pose
Begin sitting on your mat. Bring the bottoms of your feet together and lean forward as much as you can! Can you keep your knees close to the mat? Can you keep your back flat?
5. Cat-Cow Pose
Begin on your hands and knees. Inhale nice and deep! As you do, arch your back and lift your gaze to the sky. As you exhale everything out, round your back as much as you can – like a cat! Keep doing this as many times as you want.
6. Mountain Pose
Stand nice and tall! Reach your head up high! Roll your shoulders down your back and close your eyes. Feel your feet pressing into your mat and take a few long, deep breaths. You are a mountain. Standing tall and strong!
7. Locust Pose
Begin laying on your belly. Bring your arms alongside of you. On the count of three, tighten all of your muscles and lift your head, arms, and legs off the ground! Balance on your belly but don’t forget to breathe!
8. Downward Facing Dog
Can you make an upside down ‘V’ with your body? Start on your hands and knees and then push your hips up to the sky! You’re in an upside down V! Now just make sure your fingertips are spread wide. Your belly button is sucking in toward your spine. Your heels are reaching down for the ground! How long do you think you can hold it here?
9. Bridge Pose
Start laying on your back with your feet on the floor. Take a nice deep breath and lift your hips off the mat. Can you hold it here for a few deep breaths? Can you lift your hips a little higher?
10. Child’s Pose
Begin on your knees. Bring your toes together to touch and move your knees toward the outer edges of your mat. Then rest your upper body down to the mat and relax your forehead on the mat. Take nice deep breaths and stay here for as long as it feels good!
