Yoga for Children

Yoga is the ancient methodology of development of the human body and mind in the most perfect way. So yoga is a very good way of life for children. The children can be introduced to yoga as early as eight years of age. This is the stage of childhood where the child is proceeding towards the stage of puberty. Yoga can be extremely beneficial so that proper growth and natural development happens in a most optimum and preferred way. The stage of puberty is marked by many hormonal alterations which result in marked physical and mental changes. The asanas are designed in ways that favour the growth and development of the musculo-skeletal systems in the most adequate way. There is no other system of exercises that matches the yogic asanas in their complete way of giving workout to the entire system, external as well as internal.

There are some asanas like Tadasana, Parvatasanaand Surya Namaskar which favour growth in height and proper development of the musculo-skeletal system. If the kids are encouraged to practice these asanas they are sure to benefit from them. Yoga is completely natural and provides rigorous exercise to the entire system without any unnecessary strain. Yoga for children gives the benefit that the children may be protected from injuries and at the same time they get all the benefits of exercising the system. This is not to suggest that the other outdoor forms of exercises and sports and games are not beneficial. But it is simply suggestive of the fact that yogic asanas can provide good advantages without causing any injuries to the system. Just like the men and women who practice yoga along with other forms of exercises the same principle applies to the kids as well.

The practice of pranayama is not advised to be done before fourteen years of age. This is because the children younger than this age may not be able to grasp the techniques properly and may not be able to regulate the prana as it is required to be done. The basic techniques of pranayama can be taught to the children above fourteen years of age and then they can slowly and progressively proceed to learn more about the pranayama.

The practice of meditation is just not advisable for the kids. This is because the mental development of the children has still not reached the stages where they can look into themselves as is required to be done for the practice of meditation. The practice of yoga nidra can be done by children as small as eight years of age also. The sessions of yoga nidra should be planned keeping the specific requirements of the children in mind. Yoga nidra can be extremely helpful in directing the mind of the kids in the direction of their true potential. Several doubts about the worldly affairs and social, moral and mental and emotional dilemmas can be easily and effectively resolved with the practice of yoga nidra.

The life of children is also becoming more and more complicated in the modern times. This is because of the additional burdens that the modern day life poses on them. There are many factors which have to be kept in mind while dealing with the kids. The most important thing is to keep in mind their level of development. While planning group yoga sessions the kids cannot be generalized because all of them are in a different stage of growth and development and accordingly a program has to be developed for them.

There are many stress factors pertaining to the modern lifestyles for the children. Their childhood is no longer as easy and free as it used to be in the earlier days. The practice of yoga can teach them to explore their true talents and optimise their full potential. The children can learn a lot from the practice of yoga nidra. This is one practice that can help them delve deep within themselves and find out answers that may be nagging at their undeveloped innocent minds. They may be going through certain situations in their social lives which may be adversely affecting their personality development and they may not be able to voice these feelings even to the adults in their lives. Yoga nidra can be a very powerful tool while dealing with such situations. Also dealing with stress is a situation that may be difficult to handle for the kids as they are so innocent that may not be able to understand when they are stressed out.

It is seen that many times the kids simply suppress the stressful situations. They may be either become excessively silent and overtly emotional or they end up being excessively disobedient and indulge in disruptive activities. Either way these are signs of some hidden feelings. Sometimes these may be nothing more than just a simple situation of stress and it can be very effectively dealt with practice of yoga nidra, which gives through relaxation to the mind and body. If certain personality related disorders are developing in the kids then they can also be rectified with the usage of proper resolves during the practice of yoga nidra. For elaborate details see the section of Yoga for Complete Relaxation – Yoga Nidra, especially the article on Yoga Nidra for Children.

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