Yoga Enhances Physical Flexibility
Yoga promotes physical strength because at TeddyKidz kids learn to use all of their muscles in new ways. Whether a pose is done standing, sitting, or lying down, each one can challenge various muscle groups while helping a child become aware of his body and how it efficiently functions.
Yoga Refines Balance and Coordination
At TeddyKidz we understand that Balance is a key element of yoga. Balancing poses were created to promote mental and physical poise, as mental clarity and stability emerge from the effort of trying the poses. Even if a child has difficulty standing on one foot, she learns mental and physical balance if she can stay calm when she falls and when she gets up to try again. As children learn to improve their physical balance, they will be filled with a sense of accomplishment. Coordination is also closely tied to balance and promotes overall dexterity. Some yoga teachers and occupational therapists use finger yoga and other specialized techniques to help children with gross and fine motor coordination.
Yoga Develops Focus and Concentration
The act of practicing poses encourages children to clear their mind and focus on the effort. As a result of this single focus to achieve a particular pose or stay balanced, yoga helps children to focus and concentrate in school and get better grades, several studies note.
Yoga Boosts Self-Esteem and Confidence
Yoga helps to instill confidence and to bring learning to children on an experiential level, It helps to provide building blocks for the future. It is our responsibility as a TeddyKidz PlayGroup to develop our children's sense of wonder and to give them a strong sense of self so they know where they belong in this world and can contribute to making their community a better place. Yoga teaches them to persevere, be patient, and work toward their goals. A yoga teacher can only offer guidance; it is the child who has to work to succeed. Therefore, when a child masters a pose, it gives him confidence and self-esteem. Enneking often describes kids' yoga as "prehabilitation," a proactive action to ward off instability or sickness; yoga also provides tools for practicing compassion, mindfulness, generosity, focus, strength, and flexibility.
Yoga Strengthens the Mind-Body Connection
Yoga helps kids achieve a sound mind in a sound body by exercising the physical body and calming the mental spirit. At TeddyKidz we want our children to act and behave with mindfulness and with compassion, to be brave, to know love and happiness, and to find inner peace," De Collibus says. Since the modern world moves very, very fast for children, it's not long before they feel all kinds of pressure (personal, parental, social) to keep up with everyone around them.
Yoga functions as a release valve that alleviates pressure and as a foundation to nurture and develop a resilient and resourceful body, mind, and spirit," she says
Yoga for Better Breathing
Most of us take shallow breaths and don't give much thought to how we breathe. At TeddyKidz we teach our children Yoga breathing exercises, called pranayama, focus the attention on the breath and teach us how to take deeper breaths, which benefits the entire body. Certain types of breath can also help clear the nasal passages (helpful for people with allergies) and even calm the central nervous system, which has both physical and mental benefits.