Children’s Yoga
By Sophie Booth
Yoga Day, celebrated on June 21st, is an ancient practice which promotes relaxation and mindfulness.
For children, Yoga can be a wonderful way to enjoy physical exercise whilst remaining calm and
learning to focus and concentrate. Here are some top tips to introduce children to some of the basic
principles and poses of yoga:
•
•
•
•
You first need to create a calm and relaxing environment.
Chose a time of day when children are more settled and relaxed.
Find a quiet space where children can sit or lie down and move around.
You may also want to play meditation music to help children calm down.
Cobra
• Begin by sitting crossed legged with hands resting on knees.
• Tell the children you are going to practice breathing, encourage
children to take a deep breath in and blow it all out.
• Exaggerate your actions by lifting your shoulders on the inhale
and blowing out loudly for children to copy.
• Begin by selecting a few simple poses for the children to copy –
make sure you model how to do these poses for the children
and say their names.
Waterfall
Downward Dog
Shark
• Encourage children to spend 30 seconds in each pose, practicing breathing and being quiet.
• As children get used the concept you can introduce poses which are more challenging and require
greater control of the body.
• At the end of the session go back to sitting with crossed legs and practice breathing to encourage
relaxation.