Hey parent and carers!
Have you ever come home from a yoga class, feeling that super yoga haze, and your kids have asked you where you’ve been. You say you’ve been to yoga! And they ask… “Ooh what’s yoga? Show me!”
And you think – “Yes, I would love to show you and for you to feel the benefits of yoga from a young age!…” But you’re not quite sure where to start?
Yogabeez’s super star kids yoga teacher, Bryony, shared with us her top tips for sharing yoga with your kids!
- Let them be kids
As adults, we have tense areas and areas that need to be strengthened, old injuries we want to protect, and so alignment is really, really important. Alignment *is* important for kids too, but arguably, encouraging them to feel the connection with their body, how it feels and how it moves is *more* important. We are encouraging a lifelong love of yoga and an awareness of their bodies. We never correct children in their poses, rather we let them find their pose in their own time. We are not trying to get them to attain perfect postures … it’s more about what they are learning about their bodies and the space around them.
- Take your sweet time
Parents and carers will know that kids’ perception of time is so, so different to an adults. You might find that you’re keen to move them on to the next pose, to try something new, to flow, to stay within a sequence… but allow them to take their sweet time and enjoy it, let any pressures of time fizzle away as you yoga with your kids at their pace.
- Be the example
Let your kids see you breathing, see you taking your time and see you connecting with your body. Let your kids see you adapting the poses based on your energy levels and intention in the moment; so they can see and understand that yoga poses aren’t something to be successful at, or competitive with, but instead are an opportunity to connect with the body and to improve wellbeing.
- Narrate what’s happening
You might like to say what you’re thinking, feeling and doing. Something like, I can feel that this way of doing the pose is making me feel tired today, so I’m going to change it so I don’t feel too tired, would you like to try this with me?
- Allow for, and encourage, resting time
Whether it’s a short game of sleeping logs, or ‘let’s be as still as a stone while we count backwards from 10’, as much as you can, encourage some stillness in your informal yoga ‘class’.
Have you practiced yoga with your kids?
We’d love to hear your thoughts and tips… just pop them in the comments below.