Are our kids getting the exercise they need, especially considering the current COVID situation in place right now?

Staying indoors and being absorbed in work and chores makes it hard for adults to stay fit and healthy and for them to be able to dedicate some time to that. 

The same goes for kids, too!

When kids are indoor all the time they tend to turn to gadgets such as televisions, computers, mobile phones, and video game consoles to pass their time. 

This might keep them occupied, but it’s essentially making them couch potatoes. So, as parents, how can you ensure that your kid gets the exercise they need right from the comfort of your homes?

Yoga! 

Yoga has been proven to be beneficial and has been practised for centuries. Did you know that yoga can be extremely beneficial for kids, too? 

Yoga will help your kids stay fit in the body as well as the mind, will help with improving their immunity levels, and, of course, regular exercise will tire them out in a good way!

Yoga being introduced at an early age has shown a lot of benefits such as reduced stress levels, improved self-esteem, a sense of body awareness, inner fulfilment and relaxation! 

Not to mention, doing yoga poses with your kid is a great bonding activity and is a fun and rewarding way to spend time with your kid!

Yoga for children is a little different from yoga for adults, and that’s exactly what we’re going to be covering in today’s article.

Challenges You Might Face While Teaching Yoga Poses To Your Kids:

As with teaching any new activity to children, one of the major challenges you might face with teaching your kids yoga would possibly be keeping your children interested and engaged in learning the activity, as they tend to have a fleeting attention span.

Make sure that you explain the benefits of doing yoga to them, to help them understand the reason they should be doing it. 

As mentioned before, some of these benefits would be flexibility, mindful peace, and improved health and focus. 

Make yoga a fun activity that you do with your kids so they would want to do it, and would actually look forward to it!

A Few Things To Remember As You’re Teaching Your Kid Different Yoga Poses:

It’s important to not be too rigid or forceful on your child regarding yoga. While it’s important to guide your child, if he/she has their own take on a yoga posture or yoga asana, and has to scale it down to their needs to be able to perform it, by all means, let them! 

Make this a two-way street where you and your child learn from each other, have fun, and bond!

Yoga poses for kids need to be explained and demonstrated in a way that actively engages their imagination. Make a story out of each pose you teach them, and relate the poses to various animals that would pose that way! 

This would keep them excited and they will be able to perform as well as remember the yoga postures much more easily.

So, without further ado, let’s look at some really good yoga poses for kids that you can use!

15 Super Fun Yoga Poses For Kids 

1. Lotus Pose or Padmasana

While starting off any yoga practise, start with your kid in a comfortable seated position, preferably with legs crossed and arms on the lap, with their palms facing upwards. Practice some deep breathing with eyes closed for a few minutes.

Then, you can start the yoga poses for kids, all the while asking your child to be mindful of their breathing. It’s important to do a yoga practice slowly and hold each pose for a while. Progress from the easy yoga postures to the more difficult ones.

2. Boat Pose or Navasana

For this yoga pose, make your child sit down with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Now, they need to slowly lift their feet off the ground and position it in such a way that it’s parallel to the floor. This is the half-boat yoga pose for kids. 

Make sure their back is upright at all times. 

Slowly lift the leg to a 45-degree angle with arms stretched out. Again, ensure the back is upright. This pose helps improve balance and posture.

3. Downward-Facing Dog or Adho Muka Svadhasana

Start with your kid going down on all fours, with palms under the shoulders and knees under the hips. Then, ask your child to lift up their knees of the floor, taking their hips to the ceiling slowly. They may need to bring their feet closer inside to do this. 

4. Lunge Pose or Banarasana

From the downward dog, your child needs to take their right leg and put it on the outside of the right palm. Then, they must flatten their back keep their left leg straight, and look up in front of them. Repeat the same pose with the left leg after returning to the downward-facing dog between the two poses.

Make sure you’re giving your child enough rest between poses whenever they need it! They can either rest in the lotus pose, or in the child’s pose which is explained later on in the article.

5. Tree Pose or Vrikshana

Stand tall and mighty like a tree! In this yoga pose, your child stands upright with hands on the side, by taking in a deep breath. Then slowly exhale while bending the right knee, and placing the foot on the side of the left leg. 

Then, while inhaling they need to place their hands together (in the form of namaste) near their heart. Next, slowly exhale while extending their hands above their head. 

This pose builds focus and balance while strengthening the core and legs!

6. Cat-Cow Pose or Bitilasana

Here, the child has to come back to all fours, with palms under the shoulders and knees under the hips. For the cat pose, they will have to arch their back inwards and look straight ahead of them while taking a deep breath in. For the cow pose, they will have to round their back, do a deep exhale and turn their head inwards, facing their thighs.

7. Bridge Pose or Sethu Bandhasana

For this pose, the child needs to start off by lying on their back with their hands by the side and their palms facing downwards. They then need to bend their knees and keep their feet touching the ground. 

After this, they must lift their hips up in a way that their hips, knees and chest are in the same diagonal line. They can hold this pose for a few seconds, go back down, and then bring their hips up again. Make sure they’re focusing on their breathing and taking deep, slow breaths.

8. Cobra Pose or Bhujangasana

This is one of the best yoga asanas for kids as your child will definitely be able to do it and it improves flexibility and elevates mood. 

For this pose, your child will have to lie flat on their stomach and keep their palms facing down near their shoulders, with their toes curled outwards. 

They then have to push down on their palms and lift their head, shoulders and some of their chest up until their elbows are either slightly bent or straight, depending on their comfort level. They should look straight and focus on their breathing.

9. Hero Pose or Virasana

For this pose, your child must sit with their knees together and heels under the bum, with the lower legs under their hips. 

Their toes should be pointed away from their bodies, and they must sit straight with their shoulders rolled back. Their palms can rest lightly on their lap and they should focus on their breathing.

10. Butterfly Pose or Patangasana

For this yoga posture, your child must sit up straight and bring the soles of their feet together. They can either hold the soles with their hands, or they can keep their palms touching at heart centre. They can then focus on their breathing.

11. Chair Pose or Utkatasana

For this children’s yoga pose, the child should stand upright with shoulders rolled down and back straight, and should look straight ahead. And then, they should lift both their arms up with fingers pointing to the sky. 

Ask them to keep their feet together and slowly bend their knees as much as they can, kind of like their sitting on a chair. They can hold this pose for as long as possible and focus on their breathing.

12. Shark Pose 

For this pose, the child must begin by laying flat on his/her stomach. Then, they must take both their hands and join them behind their lower back, and slowly lift their head, shoulders, chest and lower legs off the ground, keeping their thighs and tummy on the floor. 

This pose will be on the more difficult side, but they can hold it for as long as possible and focus on their breathing. They can also drop down fully, take a break, and lift back up if needed.

13. Happy Baby Pose or Ananda Balasana

When we’re talking about kids’ yoga poses, this is a pose that we couldn’t leave out! Kids and adults both love this yoga posture a lot. 

For this pose, the child must lie on their back and hug their knees to their chest. They can then let their knees become a little wider as they reach for the soles of their feet and hold them with their hands. 

Then, they can rock from side to side and just focus on relaxation. This can be done towards the end of any yoga practice.

14. Child’s Pose or Balasana

This is an excellent pose when we’re talking about kids yoga. For this pose, ask your kid to sit on their knees and slowly bring their chest to their thighs and their forehead to the floor. They can then extend their arms forward and stretch them out while lengthening the spine. 

This is a great pose for relaxing the body’s muscles as well as the mind and is an especially great yoga asana for kids.

15. Bow Pose or Dhanurasana

A great stretching activity for kids which strengthens the entire front of the body and also aids in digestions and relieving stress/anxiety. 

Here, your child needs to lie down on their stomach with hands on the sides, palms facing upwards. Slowly, they need to bend their knees, lift their chest and hold the ankles with their hands. 

Hold this pose for 3-4 breathing cycles! 

Benefits Of Yoga For Kids

Yoga has a lot of benefits, especially when it is introduced at a younger age. 

When we’re talking about the importance of yoga for students, it poses benefits in various different mental as well as physical ways. 

Let’s look at some benefits of yoga poses for kids:

• Improved self-esteem and a well-established self-concept
• Increased body awareness and acceptance as well as gratitude for the body
• Reduction of stress from the busy and rapidly changing lifestyle that accompanies growth during childhood
• Increased connectivity to people and nature accompanies by  a sense of mental peace and calm
• Improved mind-body connection
• Increased focus and concentration
• Increased physical flexibility, strength, and balance
• Improved coordination
• Better health overall

We hope you found this article on the different yoga poses for kids, the importance of yoga for children, and the benefits of kids yoga useful! We hope you find these poses and all this information on incorporating yoga into your kids’ lives beneficial.

Stay home, stay healthy, and stay safe!