5 FUN YOGA POSES FOR KIDS

VIWE NDONGENI-NTLEBI

WHILE yoga is well-known for improving strength, concentration and relaxation, experts say it can also help children socialise better at home and school.

For children, there are enormous benefits to doing yoga. Physically, it enhances their flexibility, strength, co-ordination, and body awareness. In addition, their concentration and sense of calmness and relaxation improve.

Socially it allows them to interact with other kids in a relaxed and different environment to school and home.

Suzie Manson, a senior yoga teacher of Yoga 4 Kids, says there is an increase in the number of children suffering from sensory dysfunction, ADD/ADHD, learning difficulties, dyspraxia, dyslexia, low and high muscle tone and autism, to name a few.

Manson said children are becoming more and more conscious, with media-provoked body issues surfacing far earlier than we’d care to admit, and depression and anxiety becoming prevalent.

“Yoga therapy and mindfulness and well-being practices can help our children to counter these stressors, as they create the download or process time necessary to put their sensory world intoperspective,” said Manson.

OWL POSE

Start by sitting upright on your haunches. Put your palms together, bending your back to close your wings. Make your eyes wide and slowly move your head from side to side. Benefits: Strengthens legs and improves balance and focus.

Adding that it goes without saying that when children learn techniques for relaxation and inner fulfilment, they can more easily navigate life’s challenges. Cami Barausse, a kids yoga instructor at Yogibears, said kids yoga aids in establishing and growing confidence in children through the realisation of their abilities as well as their limitations. She said by learning to accept and appreciate both their mind and body and through a consistent, conscious and mindful approach, children are able to improve at anything they set their minds to. This improvement breeds confidence. “Self-confidence grows when we break through barriers we might previously have not thought possible. Yoga is the practice of connecting the mind with the body whereby we don’t only overcome our physical constraints but our mental ones too,” said Barausse Manson says children of all ages can do yoga. Babies can start as early as six weeks, to encourage body awareness and bonding with mom.

DOWNWARD DOG POSE

Get on all fours and breathe in. As you breathe out, lift your ‘tail’ (hips) towards the sky, straightening your arms and legs to create a triangle shape with your body. Hold the pose as long as you like, taking deep breaths. Benefits: Strengthens the upper arms and aligns the spine.

CAT OR COW POSE

Get on all fours with your hands directly under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Your palms are pushed into the floor and your fingers are wide. Keep your feet parallel behind you. Breathe in and point your nose up to the sky, making a deep arch with your back and meowing like a cat. Tuck in your tummy, tuck in your chin and moo like a cow. Repeat as often as you like. Benefits: Calming, increases spine flexibility and releases tension in the back.

“Yoga supports babies in the developmental steps that lead to walking. Yoga is also great for toddlers, provided it’s modified for their quick moving bodies and minds. Older kids can do yoga in a playful way, with more detail added to poses. Tween classes can then involve more depth and cover topics like anatomy and meditation,” she said. Manson suggests these five kid-friendly exercises to try with your child:

TORTOISE POSE

Sit up straight with your legs forming a diamond shape in front of you and the soles of your feet touching. Bend forward and slide your forearms under your shins. Rest your forehead on your feet, and enjoy the relaxing feeling of being safe and alone. Benefits: Stretches the spine, encourages flexibility in the hips and quiets the mind.

TREE POSE

Stand straight with your arms hanging gently at your sides. Shift your weight on to your right leg. Place your left foot against your right calf or inner thigh (never on the knee!). Slowly lift your arms up into prayer position, or high above you like the branches of a tree. Keep your belly strong and your eyes focused ahead of you. Repeat on the other leg. Benefits: This pose stimulates the left and right hemispheres of the brain, it improves focus and balance, and it stretches the upper body.