What is children’s yoga, when can children do yoga?

Hello again, my name is Gunce Dere, I am a children’s yoga instructor. After many articles that I have shared here, my favorite topic is that I wanted it to be the topic of the first article of the new year.

What is kids yoga?

A topic that is very popular, highly recommended even on the list of those who have not yet experienced it, is children’s yoga. So what is it? Is it an evolution of adult yoga, a relaxation method for children, meditation or play? What exactly is this children’s yoga?

First, there is no short answer to this. That’s why I like that I can’t define children’s yoga. Because no game, no lesson, no science, no science … This is a broad teaching that serves them all, and not one of them. Children’s yoga is a community yoga where children can use their existing imagination, strengthen it and open up space to express themselves and their feelings. Contrary to popular belief, it is “togetherness” in which we work with the emotions and minds of our children, which is much more holistic than just physical posture or movement. The advantage of this union is that our children acquire awareness at an early age by having fun. This is a rich area where we gain body awareness through asanas (yoga postures) and mental and emotional awareness through breathing and meditation exercises. Don’t you think it’s amazing that you can do this from the age of two?

“How are you, sir? How are the children doing in class? How many times a week are required? Where do we start?” one of the most common questions I get asked… Then let’s talk about how children’s yoga classes go, in a little more detail.

We use a lot of stories and games in children’s yoga. In stories and games, we enter into the awareness I just mentioned. For example, we go on a trip to the forest. We dream of trees; colours, sizes, scents of flowers and fruits… Strengthening our imagination, we practice the tree pose in yoga to feel the power of a gigantic, strong tree with deep roots. Then we get acquainted with animals, take as an example their beautiful features and apply them. Our breath, the energy fuel of our body, is enhanced sometimes by the smell of a flower, sometimes by the buzz of a bee. When studying bees in pairs, we remember that we are not alone, but together we are stronger. To rest our weary body, we lie in the shade of a tree, remembering our history and our feelings. We thank ourselves; We thank our body, our breath for being healthy, for our courage to try every new piece of information throughout this story. We thank our friends, family, teachers with unconditional love.

In older age groups, we work more intensely with emotions due to situations like exam stress. We learn to control our body and emotions through breathing when we are anxious and anxious. For a changing body, we build our self-love, self-respect, and self-respect at an early age instead of comparing ourselves. Keeping in mind that this age group is also for children, we add a lot of games. We support changes in the body with physical activity.

These meetings, which I think you find fun while reading, are more than a necessity for children, it is a collaboration that they resort to. In general, I recommend starting with a meeting once a week. So it is much more useful for them, without forcing them, without turning them into lessons or rules.

when to start My advice on this is that you should first experience yoga classes for kids with available examples. You can check out my Minikyogees YouTube channel to see sample lessons and then you can contact us for a lesson together. If you’re going to try the lesson with parents and kids, my advice here is to first focus on having fun with your kids. Children’s yoga classes are not result-oriented. But each lesson in itself teaches children something. It can be very diverse, for example, an affirmation, awareness of an emotion, the acquisition of a habit, a change in attitude.

You can view my past articles on the benefits of children’s yoga.

If you haven’t tried yet or have taken a break, now is the time… If you want to do something good for your kids, what you can say good luck with the energy of the new year is to have yoga always in their lives. As coaches, we will continue to be guides along the way. Please be a mediator for your children, nephews, brothers and sisters and introduce them to yoga…

You may be interested in: Children’s yoga for recognizing and transforming emotions