Why Preschool Yoga?
Life bombards us with endless information, hectic schedules, and stress. Unfortunately, this chaos doesn’t escape our kids. They too, grow up in this same environment. Both a stressful job and figuring out how to share toys with friends during play time look the same on the inside. Stress is stress regardless of your age.
As parents, we want to provide our children with the tools to let them live positive and healthy lives, right? Well, a regular yoga and mindfulness practice can be that tool. It can teach us how to deal with life’s demands in a calm and centered way.
By starting in preschool, we are empowering our children to learn to be resilient at an earlier age. And the earlier we start something, the more opportunities we will have to practice. The research shows this to be true, so the question shouldn’t be why teach our preschoolers yoga? It should be why not!?
1. Physical Benefits of Preschool Yoga
- A regular yoga practice improves physical fitness. It also boosts the immune system and helps muscles and organs to function at optimal levels.
- Yoga cultivates core strength which helps increase balance and flexibility. It can also help maintain and improve a person’s posture.
2. Emotional Benefits of Preschool Yoga
- Practicing yoga and mindfulness helps empower children to manage and regulate their emotions.
- Yoga helps children to be less reactive, and more mindful, in their thoughts, words and actions.
3. Intellectual Benefits of Preschool Yoga
- Yoga and mindfulness are effective ways to promote healthy brain development and function.
- Children who practice mindfulness are better able to focus and concentrate. These traits have been linked to future success in school and beyond.
4. Mental Health Benefits of Preschool Yoga
- Kids who practice yoga have an increased awareness of self and their place in the world. Yoga teaches people to learn how to listen to their bodies and their minds. It also teaches how to learn to trust their inner voice.
- Yoga teaches children to learn how to listen to their bodies and their minds. It also teaches them how to learn to trust their inner voice. This trust makes future obstacles easier to overcome.
- Practicing yoga and mindfulness helps children develop stress reduction strategies. Mindfulness teaches kids to use the breath to calm the mind and body. And by practicing these skills on the mat, kids are more likely to apply these techniques when they step off their mats.
5. Social Benefits of Preschool Yoga
- Yoga/Mindfulness teaches kids about non-judgemental compassion for their present-self. In addition, kids who can show self-compassion are more likely to do the same for others. This increases the likelihood of better conflict resolution. It might even lead to a willingness to understand other viewpoints.
Before you go, checkout some of our previous posts!