When you think of the typical person who does yoga, you might have a particular image form in your head. Chances are, that image is not of a child. However, as odd as it my sounds, yoga can actually be extremely helpful for children. If you have a child and you want to improve their level of well-being and fitness, you might want to consider having them do yoga regularly. As beneficial as yoga is for adults, it’s possible that it’s even better for children. Here’s a few of the benefits that children reap from doing yoga regularly.
Increased Focus
One of the things that children’s yoga introduces to the early mind is a way to hone their focus. Children are not known for being able to focus easily, but yoga is one extremely effective way to combat that. The deep breathing exercise involved force a child to look inward, and the way that yoga involves both physical and mental exertion in conjunction mean that the child isn’t able to let their mind wander. Learning how to focus, especially in an era surrounded by touch screens, is an extremely valuable skill that less and less kids are learning.
Builds Strength and Flexibility
This is obviously a benefit for anyone who does yoga, but the physical benefits of doing yoga as a child are even stronger specifically because the child is still developing. Opening up and developing flexibility as an adult is a rigid, creaky process that requires reversing years of habits, but kids haven’t set into that form, and come pretty flexible already. By having them do exercises that reinforce those movements will ensure that they stay limber as they get older. Yoga doesn’t just build flexibility, though; it also builds muscle, and that sort of non-rigorous strength training is the perfect way to help your child develop healthily without pushing them into any exercises they might not be ready for.
Instills Balance
Balance might not be something that we think about as very important, but that’s because it’s something that most adults take for granted. When you’re a kid, however, you don’t have nearly as much learned practice when it comes to even the simplest movements, and as an adult, it’s quite likely that your balance isn’t quite as good as you might think. Getting kids doing yoga young will not only help them develop good balance, it will maintain that balance into adulthood.
