Although yoga is often a serious meditative practice for adults, there’s tremendous value in getting the whole family involved, says Amber DiPietro, a NASM-certified trainer and E-RYT 500 yoga teacher. Especially these days, there’s so much to gain from yoga, for kids and parents alike.
“Yoga has an abundance of benefits whether you’re practicing solo or as a family,” she says. “It reduces stress and anxiety, improves focus and concentration, and can also lower blood pressure, benefit sleep, increase energy, and improve muscle strength and flexibility.”
Benefits of Yoga for Kids
Research has indicated that yoga (for kids and teens alike) can boost self-esteem, memory, and mood.
Benefits for kids
All these benefits have been shown to improve their quality of life, overall wellbeing, and stress management. Other research has even connected a consistent yoga practice to mitigating symptoms of attention deficit disorder, including inattentiveness and hyperactivity.
Benefits for teens
Teens can reap these benefits as well. A study on yoga for kids in high school found that after just a single class, participants showed decreases in anger, depression symptoms, and fatigue.
Benefits for parents
For parents or caregivers, doing yoga together creates the opportunity to get some quality time where everyone can connect, DiPietro says. You may even get to know each other a little better.
“You get to see how your child learns and persists, and your child sees the power of a healthy lifestyle,” she notes. “Simply practicing breath exercises and finding synchronicity can build a stronger bond.”
The Best Yoga Poses for Kids
A great introduction to yoga for the whole family is a short Level 1 class on BODi’s Yoga52 program. These offer some excellent yoga poses for beginners, and you can choose the duration that fits into everyone’s schedule. For example, you can break a 30-minute class down into two parts so you practice 15 minutes at a time. That way, you can establish consistency and get into the habit of doing yoga together.
If you want to flow through some poses on your own, here are a few that are good for beginners.
1. Child’s pose
- Start on all fours, with your hands directly below your shoulders and your knees hip width or wider. Bring your big toes together.
- Exhale and sink your hips back toward your heels. Rest your belly between your thighs and your forehead on your mat.
- Extend your arms out in front of you (palms down, to stretch the whole back) or along your sides (palms up, to stretch between the shoulders).
- Stay for a few breaths up to a few minutes.
2. Cat-cow stretch
Inhale: Cow pose
- Get down on all fours, with your knees under your hips and your hands under your shoulders. Keep your back flat, your gaze toward the floor, and your neck long.
- As you inhale, arch your back, lifting your tailbone and chest toward the ceiling while dropping your belly toward the mat.
- Keep your shoulders away from your ears, shoulder blades broad across your back, and your head in line with your torso.
Exhale: Cat pose
- From cow pose, as you exhale, round your back, tuck your tailbone, and curl your chin toward your chest.
- Keep your shoulders and knees in place.
- Inhale into cow pose.
- Repeat this flow for up to 10 breaths, or longer if desired.
3. Downward-facing dog
- Start on all fours, with your knees directly below your hips, and wrists a few inches forward of your shoulders. Point your fingertips forward and spread your fingers wide.
- On an exhale, tuck your toes, press into your hands, straighten your arms and legs, and lift your hips up toward the ceiling. Keep your hands shoulder-width apart and feet hip-width apart.
- Rotate your shoulders outward to avoid scrunching them. Keep your arms straight, and engage your biceps to keep your elbows from locking out. Look back at your toes and keep your ears in line with your arms.
- Hold the pose for one minute.
How to Progress in Your Family Practice
Whether you’re doing yoga as a family, as a parent-kid combo, or seeing your older child or teenager trying some solo yoga practices, it’s likely that as you get more comfortable with yoga, you’ll want to keep adding poses.
“When you’re ready to up the challenge, you may want to try some higher-level Yoga52 classes,” says Brent Laffoon, a Yoga52 trainer. “Even if you and your kids can’t do every pose or sequence, it’s fun to explore different options,” he says.
Plus, you can tweak the poses and even invent some of your own based on basic yoga poses. Being creative as a family is just one more way to make yoga for kids a joyful activity for everyone.
“Spread your wings a little,” says Laffoon. “Make sure you’re keeping up the level of enthusiasm and enjoyment, and putting in a bit of challenge can do that and keep it fresh.”
