How Yoga Can Help Your Kid
New poses
It is important for a child to listen to the instructions that the yoga practitioner teaches them. Simple yoga poses that are taught to children include the Forward Bend (Uttasana), Mountain Pose (Tadasana), Triangle Pose (Trikonsana), and Tree Pose (Vrikshasana). While listening to verbal instructions, kids try to respond to the instructions and imitate the pose by moving their bodies.
Stories
It is important to make sure that the children are having fun while practicing yoga, so kids’ yoga practitioners utilise varied strategies to involve them in the class. A common strategy teachers apply is to incorporate a story into the session. The story could either aid in teaching a pose, philosophy or yoga technique, thereby holding the kids’ attention and teaching them something new. Kids get occupied with lively stories and don’t realise that they are unknowingly practicing their listening skills. Once the story is familiar, yoga practitioners may use ways to engage children by asking them to re-enact it with their body or to repeat the story using their own words, this method also aids in building and improving listening skills. This way the children have more fun with yoga.
Self-reflection
One of the most important kinds of listening that kids are exposed to is listening to themselves while practicing yoga. Acquiring this skill should not be ignored as many kids go through life without listening to their inner voices and learning to think by themselves. Ignoring self reflection could ultimately lead to bad decision making and trouble at home and at school. Meditation, an important skill in yoga, teaches children to introspect and listen to the mind and body. Meditation helps them recognize negative energy and thoughts and helps get rid of them.
Music and games
Kids’ yoga class can include all kinds of music. Listening keenly to the music helps them listen to the beat and pulse of the tune and it is another way to help them improve their listening skills. Listening games are another activity that can be incorporated into the class and can make it more interactive and fun. Children can listen to a partner and follow their instructions, listen to music and stop when it stops, or listen to sounds without sight.
References
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