Bring out the yogi in your kids

Devi Asmarani ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 02/03/2010 12:18 PM  |  Body & Soul

Practice for all: A bunch of kids are doing yoga. Courtesy of Tina Maladi

We may not realize it, but children get stressed out just as much as grown ups.

This is because they live in the same hectic world, and have to juggle the demands of school and extra-curricular activities, manage the expectations of their busy parents, and deal with constant stimulation from video games, TVs and computers.

Many have found that yoga is a great antidote for these pressures. By learning techniques to keep healthy — to focus, relax and be in touch with their inner awareness — children are empowered with tools to navigate through life’s challenges.

Yoga at an early age encourages self-esteem and body awareness. It is a noncompetitive physical activity that fosters cooperation and compassion, and is a great gift for your children.

“Children are little beams of light,” Fezia Tyebaly, a Malaysia-based children’s yoga teacher told me during her visit to Jakarta recently.

“They are big souls in little body. Yoga has so many tools to teach them to be aware of their bodies. It helps them help themselves,” she added.

Fezia has been teaching children yoga for six years, and also provides a Kids Yoga Teacher Training program. Her teaching is based on the Radiant Child Yoga program, founded by American yoga teacher Shakta Kaur Khalsa in 1999 (one of the first training programs in the world designed for teaching yoga to children).

Yoga not only enhances children’s flexibility, strength, coordination and body awareness, it also improves concentration and fosters a sense of calmness and relaxation.

You’re probably wondering how to teach a child to stay still in a yoga pose and to sit quietly and meditate? Well, we don’t. Or, at least, we don’t teach yoga to children the same way we do with grown-ups.

Yoga for kids is all about having fun. Children exercise and do poses by playing games, listening to stories and telling their own stories.

Thousands of years ago, the ancient yogis in India developed the asanas (physical postures) modeled on the natural world around them. They used animals, plants and humans for inspiration — the fierceness of a lion; the courage of a warrior; and the grounded stature of a tree. A good teacher will tap into these to create stories to engage children during practice.

Yoga classes for children should be adjusted to meet their needs, and so should be divided into age groups, for example from two to five, five to eight, nine to 12 and 12 to 16 years old.

The younger the children, the more interactive the class structure should be. Games help children focus and concentrate. Stories can be used to keep them engaged and to deliver positive messages that resonate with yogic teachings. Some classes have children do drawings, writing or creating handicrafts.

The asanas are practiced in a playful way and not intended to be performed “perfectly”. However there are certain things to avoid when teaching yoga to children. Fezia says inversion poses that require children to stand upside down on their heads or necks should be avoided, because children’s cervical spine is soft and vulnerable in such poses.

Family fun: Children and adults take a family yoga class. Family yoga classes are a growing trend in other major cities overseas, with some local studios occasionally offering them. JP/Devi Asmarani

Each class normally begins with breathing practice. Children are taught how to breath deeply, while older children are taught certain other techniques.

Towards the end, kids’ yoga classes should include meditation practice to quiet their minds. Fezia says meditation for children normally lasts about one minute and is kept as simple as possible. She suggests using certain tools, such as feathers, to hold their gaze and attention.

A kids’ yoga session should not last a long time, but a class setting would probably take between 50 minutes to one hour. Only about 20 minutes of this class is actual yoga. The rest is normally games and activities such as craft making.

Yoga also has a good impact on children with special needs such as ADHD, autism or dyslexia. Fezia has worked extensively with kids with special needs — many of them on a one-to-one basis — and even teaches courses for their teachers.

“A lot of children with special needs have issues with coordination work, while some children with learning disabilities have problems following instructions,” Fezia said.

“Yoga makes them aware of their bodies and has the personal and social tools to cope with these challenges.”

Make sure to tell an instructor if your child has special needs. More serious problems may need separate classes or a private session.

Many parents ask if they should they be around when their kids are in yoga in a class? The answer is no. Parents in class can be distracting, and often they bring their perfectionist inclinations putting unnecessary pressure on kids during yoga practice.

However, if you want to enjoy a yoga session with your kids, why not do family yoga? A growing trend in other major cities overseas, some local studios occasionally offer family yoga classes, where parents can bond with their children through a yoga session. They can partner up in doing postures or help each other in yoga games.

If you’re a practitioner already and are planning to teach yoga to your own children, always keep in mind that the greatest challenge is to hold their attention long enough. Keep it fun and challenging, but let them express themselves in a way that nurtures their self-fulfillment.

As they perform the various animal and natural asana, engage their minds to deepen their awareness. Encourage them to be creative, to bark when they’re doing the downward dog or hiss when they’re in the cobra pose. Provide a loving, responsive, creative environment for them to uncover their own truth. When they learn from themselves the importance of the respect for all life, they begin to see that everything is interdependent.

And while you’re at it, keep your heart open and let them guide you. With a soft heart you’ll enter their world of wonder and exploration, and you will likely learn as much from them as they do from you.

Namaste.

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