Yoga not only helps children stay active, it can also relieve tension, aid relaxation and improve focus. Many of the poses are easy to perform making them ideal to practice at home.
Why not try these three poses for starters:
The ‘tree pose‘
This pose has countless benefits — it improves balance, strengthens the legs and back, and improves concentration, to name but a few.
To begin, children must stand up straight, palms together in the middle of the body with their arms bent, elbows pointing down. Encourage them to imagine their body as a tree and their arms as branches.
Then they should slowly lift their right foot, keeping their balance, and place it above their left knee. When they can hold their balance, ask them to slowly raise their arms over their heads while keeping their hands together. Et voila!
The ‘candle pose‘
This is one of the most fun poses: children lie on their backs on the floor and lift their legs up straight, raising their hips as well while supporting the lower back with their hands, imitating the shape of the candle.
This pose strengthens muscles, improves circulation and rests the feet.
This one helps to restore calm while also improving circulation, strengthening the ligaments of the knees, lengthening the shoulders and ankles, and energizing the whole body.
‘Child’s’ pose‘
Ask children to kneel down then to slowly stretch their arms forward, reaching out with their hands and resting their head on the ground.
