Yoga for children
-
- Course level: All Levels
About Course
Introducing yoga into a young child's life can mean that you give your child the start they need to manage emotions, develop cognitive function, balance, focus during school, build confidence, Self-esteem and most importantly, love and kindness for themselves and others. During a Kind Kids session, we begin by sharing a moment of gratitude for the day and all those who are in it. We learn important yet fun breathing methods (pranayama) which set the tone for the rest of the class and week! We learn yoga movements (asanas) which are done with a fun story, to provoke awareness of our body, build flexibility, strength and release physical and emotional tension from the body. various yoga and mindfulness games are played each week focusing on different elements of yoga philosophy, this is sometimes combined with arts and crafts. To end the session we lay down into our savasana, where the children are guided on a meditation which allows them to drift into their own imagination. Description
- Kind Kids, Kind World.
Set your child off to a good start and enrich them with yoga and mindfulness!
In the world we live in, there is a lot going on, from home life to school and children are now getting an even earlier start on social media. This can be overwhelming. Big emotions are difficult for children to navigate with all the additional expectations. This is why here at Kind Kids, the classes have been created to allow children to be kind to themselves and others.
Kindness doesn’t always come naturally. If we are under stress and unable to manage the negative emotions, they can begin to affect us in the long run and also our relationships.
Along with creating a calmer mind, yoga has many physical benefits that contribute to their development. Yoga brings balance, stability, and strength, building healthy bones and mobility. With the yoga asanas (postures), combined with breathing techniques, it builds on their mental strength to focus during class, sleep better and create coherence between the left and right side of the brain (like mini dolphins!). When this balance occurs we are able to be both logical and creative, thus making it easier for us to overcome life’s difficulties. Overall yoga is about creating calm, balance, and harmony into all aspects of life, enabling kids to be kind to themselves, to others, and the planet.
What Will I Learn?
- Here are some of the benefits of yoga for children and for anyone who wishes to start practising;
- Managing emotions- Learning breathing and mindfulness techniques which calm and relax. Gentle movement moves tension held in the body, yoga is proving to have a positive effect on those dealing with anxiety and stress.
- Focus and concentration- Yoga postures involve maintaining balance and focus for periods of time. This builds strength in the body and also the mind, bringing more focus when studying and learning during school time.
- Balance- Postures help with balancing and also bring balance to the mind so that we are able to make clear and healthy life choices.
- Gross motor skills/ cognitive development- Along with the balancing poses, yoga involves twisting and crossing over of the limbs, which send signals to the left and right side of the brain, creating coherence. We also like to play games during our sessions which encourages cognitive development. if your child has a diagnosis of dyslexia and dyspraxia this would be highly recommended.
- Behaviour- When we are feeling stressed, anxious or have various things going on in our lives, this can have an impact on our behaviour. Yoga brings peace of mind and tools to encourage positive behaviour and also learn that it's ok not to be perfect all the time. There is no good or bad, we just need to learn how to express ourselves appropriately.
- Sleep and routine- Yoga encourages better sleep and the routine of getting up and going to bed will be improved. When we practice yoga regularly, we calm the nervous signal response, which tells us it's safe to sleep and relax.
- Body health- practising yoga helps keep the body moving and the muscles stretched to relieve tension and strain. When a child is developing, it is crucial that they maintain good spinal health, this is done through the postures, building core strength. Hypermobility is very common in children and would need the support of yoga to build strength in those areas to avoid injury or overexertion.
- Internal body- breathing and gentle body movement sends signals to our nervous system that it is time to relax. When we relax we are able to sleep, learn and function fully. Our hormones are also releasing endorphins and serotonin to the brain. When our bodies are overstressed, this is fight or flight, releasing cortisol, which over time, if not addressed can have a serious impact on our body.
- State of mind- Learning to be positive, kind and loving to ourselves and others will build self-esteem and improve mental health. Over time if we neglect our emotional wellbeing, bury feelings and thoughts and allow others to treat us badly, then this can create mental illnesses like depression. When we have an understanding of who we are in the world and how to let go of negative or traumatic situations we are able to be more confident, have better relationships with others and ourselves.
Topics for this course
7 Lessons
Yoga introduction
This second of the course is about who is providing the course, what yoga can do your child and the benefits.
Lesson
Morning Yoga
This class will be a routine that you can start to do every morning.
See how it changes how you feel each morning. Do you find everyone is a bit calmer?
Therapeutic yoga
This class will give you a chance to experience a relaxed state of being. Nurturing children that are partially sensitive.
Yoga story
This yoga session is about following along to a yoga story. Great for children that need visualization and some added fun!
mindfulness activity
For this activity, you will need to visit the garden or somewhere in nature first to collect leaves, flowers/petals, rocks and pebbles as we will be making mandalas from nature. If for some reason you wish not to use nature, you can also use cut up paper or dry pantry foods (pasta, dried lentils, beans)
Meditation
All you will need is a quiet space either laying or sitting down. If you wish you can use warm socks, blankets and pillows for extra comfort.
Bed time yoga
This is a yoga sequence that you can use before bedtime and as part of the nightly routine. Along with the video, you also have a checklist as a guide to creating a night-time routine that will help your child improve their sleep and feel more relaxed before bed.
About the instructor
Ever since I was a child I was interested in crystals and fascinated with the unknown. Throughout teenhood, the norm happened where I lost touch with it slightly, trying to fit in with society and my peers. The calling to come back to my true self started getting louder and louder, as life was not in the flow and I was experiencing many challenges. This is always our queue to say, 'this isn't working anymore' and make that leap back into our spiritual practice which brings us back into alignment with our soul/higher self and the purpose of our being.
I began training in Reiki back in 2014, still very much figuring out my existence, again still many different events happening that lead me to realise I was not yet in my full flow or stepping up in a way that I truly deserved. It wasn't until I had an akashic record reading and I asked the question ' am I an alien'. I'm still not sure if that's your usual question to ask, but It was something I knew deep inside that I was not from this world, at least not completely. The main reason for the reading was to delve into why I had eczema and food sensitivity. That day gave me great clarity and the space to open up into a new paradigm, one which I was not only human but I was many beings existing in infinite realities and dimensions. Although Akashic records show lives as though they are of another time, I felt these lives come closer into my reality, ones I needed to heal and ones I have integrated with, causing expansion and greater awareness of my purpose and connection to Source.
When this integration with higher aspects happens, it can involve embodying frequencies from a higher dimensional perspective, light language, which is the expression of the soul and Divine Source light codes revived through the heart which also brings more light into the body, activating dormant DNA.
My purpose now is to assist others through this transformation, being a guide as they take on this awareness of self from the perspective of a multidirectional being. Apart of my journey is to be here for the children that are already awake, that are ready to expand our consciousness to the 5th dimension, this is something we are all in the process and they are extremely sensitive, high vibrational beings that need the support of those that understand them from this perspective.
Cosmic Heart Space gives support for those journeying through this new wave of awakening.
Here you will find services and resources to integrate with your divine source essence.
This is a time for all to awaken to the divine union of source, see the multidimensional being that we are, integrate gifts and deeper cosmic wisdom. How is this all achieved? Through surrendering to our heart space, remembering pure joy and love. Here we can begin to heal the wounded child within and transform into the golden child we truly are.
Infinite blessings
Georgie Dragonfly
17 Courses
856 students