What Are the Benefits of Yoga for Children?

I have been teaching yoga and mindfulness to children for 15 years(!!!), and one of the things I love most about this work is that yoga meets children exactly where they are.

For a three-year-old, yoga might look like roaring like a lion, balancing like a tree, stretching like a cat or taking a big breath and blowing out an imaginary birthday candle. They don't know that they are strengthening their core, developing balance, learning to regulate their nervous system or building the connection between their body and brain.

They just know they are having fun.

And that is part of the magic.

Building Strong Bodies From the Beginning

The physical benefits of yoga are especially important during the preschool years, when children are developing body awareness, balance, coordination, strength and gross motor skills.

When a child stands on one foot in Tree Pose, moves from standing down to the floor and back up again, crawls like an animal, reaches across their body or holds themselves up in Downward Dog, there is so much happening beneath the surface.

They are learning where their body is in space. They are strengthening muscles that support posture and stability. They are practicing coordination and balance. They are learning how different parts of their body work together.

Yoga also gives young children an opportunity to slow movement down enough to actually feel their bodies.

Where are my feet?

Can I wiggle my toes?

What happens when I stretch my arms all the way to the sky?

Can I balance on one foot?

What does my body feel like when I am very still?

This awareness creates a foundation that reaches far beyond the yoga mat.

Connecting the Body + Brain

One of my favorite mantras to use in my classes (and one that I use myself everyday) is one I learned from my teacher Michiko J. Rolek. It is:

“When the body lifts, the mind shifts and the Spirit soars!”

If we can remember even just this one thing it makes a world of difference in the way we show up in our lives.

Our bodies and brains are not separate. Change the body and you change the way you feel.

Children experience this intuitively all the time.

Think about an excited preschooler whose entire body is bouncing or an upset child whose shoulders curl inward and whose breathing becomes quick and shallow. Our emotions show up in our bodies long before we have the language to explain them.

Yoga gives children an opportunity to begin noticing this connection.

What does my body feel like right now?

And eventually:

What can I do with my body to help myself feel differently?

That is an incredibly powerful tool to give a child.

Learning to Regulate, Not Eliminate, Emotions

Yoga isn't about teaching children to be calm all the time.

Children aren't supposed to be calm all the time!

Neither are adults.

Emotional regulation is about learning to recognize what is happening inside of us and developing tools that help us move through it.

Through yoga and mindfulness, children begin building a relationship with their inner world. They learn to notice when their bodies feel tight, wiggly, nervous, angry, excited or tired.

And then we give them tools.

Movement.

Stillness.

Breath.

Stretching.

Rest.

Connection.

A child may not be able to say, "My nervous system is activated and I need to regulate myself."

But they can learn:

I can take a breath.

I can move my body.

I can pause.

I can begin again.

These are tools they can carry with them long after class is over.

The Power of the Breath

One of the greatest gifts we can give children is awareness of their breath.

Our breath is always with us.

No equipment required. No special place. Nothing to remember to bring.

When I introduce breathwork to young children, I keep it simple and playful. We might smell an imaginary flower and slowly blow out a candle. We might put our hands on our bellies and feel them rise and fall. We might take a long breath out together.

The goal isn't perfect breathing.

The goal is awareness.

Oh! I have a breath.

My breath changes when I am upset.

I can change my breath on purpose.

And when I change my breath, something inside of me changes too.

That little bit of space between feeling and reacting is where so much growth can happen.

Yoga Is More Than the Poses

When people hear "children's yoga," they often picture adorable little bodies doing yoga poses—and yes, there is plenty of that!

But the poses are only the beginning.

We are teaching children how to inhabit their bodies.

How to listen.

How to notice.

How to breathe.

How to be uncomfortable for a moment and stay with themselves.

How to fall out of Tree Pose and try again.

How to rest without needing to do anything.

How to recognize what is happening inside of them.

And perhaps most importantly, we are teaching them that they already have tools within themselves to help navigate the experience of being human.

At zen momma, our children's yoga and mindfulness programs are rooted in the belief that self-love and self-awareness are practices we can learn to cultivate by turning our attention inward. Whether I am teaching a room full of preschoolers pretending to be jungle animals or older children learning how to use their breath before a stressful moment, the intention underneath the practice is the same:

“Know yourself, love yourself, be yourself.”

We don't have to wait until adulthood to begin teaching these things.

We can begin right now.

One breath, one pose and one little yogi at a time.