Benefits of Yoga for a child’s Mind, Body and Soul

Life is an Eternal Quest about knowing your body and the food that keeps it healthy. This is exactly what Hetal Chheda believes in – educating people about it in order to stay fit throughout life.

Hetal Chheda is a renowned Nutrition Expert and Lifestyle Coach based in Mumbai; post graduate in Foods and Nutrition with over 10 years of experience in the Nutrition industry. She specializes in Child Nutrition, post pregnancy weight loss, general weight loss, PCOS, 50+ men and women fitness. She helps people implement habits, knowledge, and skills required for healthy body composition. 

On the occasion of the International Yoga Day we would love to share the benefits of Yoga for children. While you are at it don’t forget to see our post on  7 Yoga loving moms to follow on Instagram

Today’s competitive world has put a lot of burden and stress on everyone.  Even children and teenagers are not untouched with it. They are loaded with heavy books to make their future bright. No time for extra-curricular activities and consumption of junk food collectively makes your kid’s lifestyle unhealthy.

One of the best way’s to keep your little one healthy and hearty is yoga. Yoga helps to improve concentration, boost confidence and reduce the level of stress in children. Not just these but there are numerous benefits, let’s look at them:

Here are 6 benefits of Yoga for Children

1. Awareness of the breath

Yoga helps in relaxing the minds of every individual. Stress is naturally reduced and healthy hormones are released. The breath and the mind are interconnected. The breath is calm when the mind is calm. Similarly the breath is agitated, irregular, and labored when the mind is agitated or disturbed in any way. Different Pranayama (Breathing Exercises) that help kids connect to how their bodies are

• Image Source: blog.gaiam.com

2. Strengthening and energizing

Children are born with flexibility and yoga helps them to retain this. . Poses like Warrior One and Two, downward dog, upward dog, and the plank pose, build upper-body strength. The standing poses, especially if you hold them for several long breaths, build strength in your hamstrings, quadriceps, and abs. Poses that strengthen the lower back include upward dog and the chair pose. When done right, nearly all poses build core strength in the deep abdominal muscles.

3. Balancing

When you do yoga asanas with awareness, you will notice that the body tends to adjust itself to balance both sides. The side on which you bend more tends to strengthen the opposite side. That’s how regular yoga practice brings back the balance. When the body is balanced, muscle and muscle activities are also balanced. Something as simple as giving equal importance to both sides of the body, can improve the workings of the internal organs. This can help kids deal with the stress of living in a chaotic world where constant stimulation is a regular part of life.

4. Awareness and focus

In kids’ yoga classes, some poses are fast moving while others are slow paced. This allows children to learn self-control, enhancing their focus and awareness. Moving from Flying Bird Pose (Warrior Three) to balancing in Tree Pose takes great attention—a skill that is essential in most learning environments. Yoga helps create awareness in the body through deep breathing and movement. It gives kids a way to express themselves, build a strong connection between what they hear and what they do. Children that have healthy body awareness are more confident and strong, have better posture, breathe better and have a sense of quiet strength.

5. Relaxed state of body and mind

All yoga classes conclude with a quiet time, also known as Deep Relaxation or Savanasa. Different from napping, this is an all-time favorite for yoginis of all ages. Children relish lying on their backs in quiet, peaceful stillness, sometimes with music and a guided visualization, foot massage, or an herbal eye pillow. Even if just for three minutes, children learn to understand the importance of this peace and can carry it with them into their daily lives.

6. Duality or oneness

Yoga teaches children that we are all the same inside, despite our outward appearance, race, and religion. We all have bodies that function, hearts that love, and feelings that feel. Partner yoga poses allow children to fully understand this concept of oneness/duality (advaita) by working together. Yoga inspires kids to be kind, patient, accepting, and emphatic with themselves and their peers.

Yoga helps children see the beauty and light within themselves, thereby boosting their self-confidence, allowing them to feel more comfortable with their bodies, and helping them get in touch with who they are inside. A child who learns yoga, mindfulness and relaxation will be developing essential skills for a lifetime of health and wellness in mind, body and spirit.

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