Should I Get My Children Into Yoga?

Part of growing up means taking a spill every now and then, but as kids develop, they many encounter various issues that require a bit more intervention. There’s nothing wrong with taking the reactive approach to care for your child’s physical health. After all, according to this Atlanta chiropractor, “chiropractic is universally recognized throughout the medical community as one of the safest forms of treatment available for neurological and musculoskeletal conditions.

Unlike other forms of traditional medicine, chiropractic care prevents you from having to consider invasive surgery, nor does it require you to use prescription medication. Chiropractic adjustments are completely painless and are proven to be effective for providing immediate relief when it comes to chronic pain.” Of course, even with that as a backup, there’s nothing wrong with being proactive either. Getting into yoga early not only helps your children with their development and growth, but has other, less tangible benefits. Take a look.

Physical Yoga Benefits

Many people still associate yoga with its spiritual roots, but you don’t have to take that approach to reap benefits, and the same applies to bringing your children into the fold. In many cases, to avoid any sort of controversy or concern, many modern yoga teachers remove a lot of the religious context. For example, rather than bringing religion into it, they focus on the physical benefits, and change the traditional Hindu names for poses into general ones, like cat, bridge, or table.

Speaking of those physical benefits, yoga is great because it promotes physical strength through flexibility as well as exertion. Even a child who gets regular outdoor playtime generally only uses their muscles in certain ways (running around, climbing on a playground, etc.) Yoga opens them up to a whole new way of using their bodies. Each pose and the position you take allows them to use their bodies in different ways. You may be able to turn this into an educational moment about different parts of the body!

On top of building strength, yoga helps children refine balance and coordination. This is one of the core tenets of yoga, with many poses require standing on one foot. Coordination is not only closely tied to balance, but also to dexterity in general. This is important, especially at younger ages. Many yoga teachers who specialize with working with kids also include finger yoga and similar techniques in order to improve fine and gross motor coordination.

When it comes to the physical side of things, one of the best things about yoga is the fact that it lets you work out a lot of different parts with minimal risk to injury compared to sports or lifting weights. This also means that even kids who are out of shape can get on the path to fitness easily.

Other Yoga Benefits

As any teacher will tell you, getting involved in activities out of school is as important socially as it can be physically. Christina Enneking, the founder of Heart Happy Yoga, explains that “it helps to provide building blocks for the future. It is our responsibility to develop our children’s sense of wonder and to give them a strong sense of self so they know where they belong in this world and can contribute to making their community a better place.” How does this take place? Well, when a child masters a pose, there is a boost of self-esteem. In addition, though this may seem a bit esoteric for some, yoga is about mental calming as well as physical benefits. For children who may be overly active or dealing with other issues, this can help relieve the pressures they go through every day. Studies have shown that yoga can be particularly useful for those with autism and ADHD as well.

For adults, yoga is taken as a chance to center one’s self while getting the physical benefits. For kids, they may not see it the same way, but it is a chance to be active in a whole new way, which is great for those rainy days. In addition, if they plan on pursuing athletics later on, this is a great way to get essential flexibility. Whether you plan on using videos at home or going to a yoga studio, yoga for kids has a low barrier to entry and plenty to offer. Try getting started today!