Yoga is often a serious meditative practice for adults, but it is valuable to have the whole family involved, says Amber DiPietro, a NASM certified trainer and E-RYT 500 yoga teacher. Especially recently, there is a lot to gain from yoga, both children and parents alike.
“Yoga has a wealth of benefits, whether you’re practicing solo or as a family,” she says. “It can reduce stress and anxiety, improve focus and concentration, lower blood pressure, benefit sleep, increase energy, and improve muscle strength and flexibility.”
Benefits of yoga for kids
Research shows that yoga (both children and teens) can boost self-esteem, memory and mood.
Benefits for kids
All of these benefits have been shown to improve quality of life, overall health and stress management. Other studies even reduce the symptoms of attention deficit disorder, such as carelessness and hyperactivity.
Benefits for teens
Teens can also enjoy these benefits. A study on yoga for high school children found that participants showed reduced anger, depression, and fatigue after just one class.
Benefits for parents
For parents and caregivers, doing yoga together gives people the opportunity to have quality time for everyone to connect with, says DiPietro. You may even get to know each other a little better.
“You can see how your child learns and lasts, and your child sees the power of a healthy lifestyle,” she says. “Simply practicing breathing exercises and finding synchrony can create stronger bonds.”
Best Yoga Poses for Kids
A great introduction to yoga for the whole family is a short level 1 class in Bodi’s Yoga52 program. These offer excellent yoga poses for beginners and allow you to choose the period that suits everyone’s schedule. For example, you can break down a 30-minute class into two parts, which allows you to practice for 15 minutes at a time. This will help you establish consistency and enter into a yoga habit together.
If you want to play a few poses yourself, here are a few poses that are suitable for beginners.
1. Children’s pose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohdmbnojnc4
- Start on fours, starting with your hands just below your shoulders and wider hips in your knees. Put your big toes together.
- Exhale and sink your hips towards your heels. Place your stomach between your thighs and forehead.
- Stretch your arms forward (to extend your palm down, back down), or along the sides (uplift your palms and extend between your shoulders).
- Breathes a few times up to a few minutes.
2. Cat-Cow Stretch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa4zms5m7xa
Inhalation: Cow Pose
- Place your knees under your hips and your hands under your shoulders and go down on all fours. Flat your back, look towards the floor and lengthen your neck.
- As you inhale, arch your back and lift your tailbone and chest towards the ceiling, dropping your belly towards the mat.
- Keep your shoulders away from your ears, spread your shoulder blades over your back, and keep your head along your torso.
Exhale: Cat Pose
- From the cow pose, lie down on your back, exhaling, pushing your tailbone in and curling your chin towards your chest.
- Keep your shoulders and knees in place.
- You’ll be sucked into the cow’s pose.
- Repeat this flow up to 10 times or long as needed.
3. Downward-facing dog
- Place your knees directly down your hips and your shoulders with your wrist a few inches forward, starting with on-fours. Point your fingers forward and spread them out.
- Exhale, push your toes in, push your hands, straighten your arms and legs, and lift your hips towards the ceiling. Keep your hands shoulder-width apart and your feet hip-width apart.
- Rotate your shoulders outwards to prevent them from running. Keep your arms straight and attract biceps to prevent your elbows from locking out. Turn your toes and arrange your ears on your arms.
- Hold the pose for 1 minute.
How to practice your family
Whether you’re as a family, as a parent kid combo, or watching your older child or teenager do some solo yoga practice, you’ll want to continue adding poses as you become more comfortable with yoga.
“When you’re ready to prepare for the challenge, you might want to try out some high-level yoga 52 classes,” says Yoga 52 trainer Brent Lahoon. “It’s fun to explore the various options, even if you and your child can’t do all the poses and sequences,” he says.
Additionally, you can also fine-tune your poses or invent your own poses based on basic yoga poses. Being creative as a family is another way to make yoga for kids a fun activity for everyone.
“I’ll spread the wings a little,” says Lahoon. “Make sure you maintain a level of enthusiasm and fun. A little challenge will help you do it and keep it fresh.”
