Baby Yoga: Tips And Exercises
On June 21, the International Day of Yoga is celebrated all over the world, a discipline that is becoming increasingly popular and thrills adults as well as children. The benefits to mental and psychological health are numerous, which is why more and more parents are making the choice to have their children attend baby yoga classes, which are a cure-all for several reasons. Let’s see together what are the advantages and why it is an excellent idea to start from a very young age.
Baby Yoga: When To Start?
The first question to clarify is when to start practicing baby yoga. First of all, we must consider that yoga is a discipline that has different styles, it is not just meditation and it is not even what you see on Instagram, where yoga teachers let themselves be immortalized in poses more like a gymnast than a yogini. This is why it is also very suitable for children, from an early age.
There are courses for mothers and children from the first months of life, which involve both thanks to a mix of music, relaxation, Tibetan bells, massages, and meditation. However, children on their own can start practicing baby yoga from the age of three, at home, or through specific courses organized in yoga centers.
For Whom Baby Yoga Is Recommended
But it is a discipline suitable for everyone, for which no preparation is needed, yoga is particularly useful for regaining psycho-physical well-being and the mind-body connection. In children, it can have very positive effects among those who have neurodivergence, but also for those who simply find it hard to concentrate, stay still, or suffer from anxiety or stress, without a precise diagnosis. If you recognize your child in these descriptions, he could really benefit from practicing baby yoga!
How Baby Yoga Takes Place
But what do you do during a baby yoga session? Given that it is possible to practice yoga with children even at home (there are many very simple and well-made online courses, free), the real lessons are usually a mix of different elements of play, dance, and breathing, all focused on a or more asanas. For example, you can start by telling a story about animals, letting the children perform the reference every time they hear the animal remembered. You can play group or couple games, or listen to music and do some guided relaxation. Baby yoga classes generally last half an hour, to keep the kids’ concentration and fun high.
The Benefits Of Baby Yoga For Children
But what are these benefits? Yoga is now such a publicized product, especially through social media, that it is thought to be used only for two purposes: to stay fit or to meditate. It is not true! The benefits of yoga, depending on the style, are many. Baby yoga does not go into such detail but limits itself to offering children a mix of activities that not only entertain them but also have numerous benefits.
Among these we find:
- exercise, with yoga you consume calories, train and stretch the muscles and keep the whole body healthy
- more concentration, learning to focus on the breath or body sensations when in an asana is useful for school and other activities
- learning benefits, children who practice yoga are more focused and less stressed and perform better
- calm stress and anxiety, thanks to breathing and visualization, which bring the body into a state of peace and tranquility
- development of self-awareness, doing yoga is a way to evaluate one’s progress and to understand the importance of improving oneself and comparing only with oneself and not with others
Baby yoga is an excellent activity for your children to do, because it is fun, suitable for everyone, has no gender, and can also be practiced at home with parents.
It also has many psycho-physical benefits, and children who do yoga are said to get more sleep!
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