Warm Up with the Benefits of Kids Yoga

Kids yoga. What is it?  At Appleseed, we play yoga through storytelling, and we inspire movement from seed to tree.  It's about planting, cultivating, nourishing and growing, and it's what we do. 

Why choose kids yoga for your child over other movement-based activities?  The benefits of kids yoga are seemingly endless.  In a world where it seems like we're spinning out of control, Appleseed Yoga cultivates a deep awareness and acceptance of the present moment, and inspires mindful, imaginative movement with our children. 

You already know the classic benefits of yoga: stress relief, body awareness, greater mindfulness, fortification of all the bodily systems, and non-competitive activity, amoung others. Kids yoga can take those benefits and grow further. Here are a few additional benefits of kids yoga that you should be aware of. 

1. Connection to the earth and people

In our classes, your kids imagine snowshoeing through the Arctic, standing tall like a redwood, and running like a cheetah.  We nurture the feelings the changing seasons bring, eat like a kangaroo in the outback, and hold hands with our loved ones.  We connect to the earth and nature, and also with our families and friends in class.  But more than this, we recognize our dependence on nature and our commonality with all the people in our world - our collective family.

2. Educational yet imaginative play

Can you actually go to the North Pole?  How many bones does a giraffe's neck have?  How long can a dolphin hold its breath?  We talk, learn, and share all about our wacky world in kids yoga.  We seek to make sense of life and enrich our experience of it.  Truth and yet a wild imagination play large roles in our classes...you may find us learning about the tundras with one knee up like a flamingo in Greenland!

3. Learn to relax 

Relaxation is an art. At Appleseed Yoga we start it young!  In a world where it feels like we are constantly moving at a feverish pace, learning to relax is more important than ever.  Yoga is one of the only places where your children (and yourself) can purposefully cultivate this learned skill.  Kids these days are under enormous pressures at school and home. Let's give them some practical skills to ease the tension.

4. Cultivate emotional health

Kids yoga addresses the whole child, including their emotional body.  When we come to our mats, we take time for ourselves to work on acceptance and awareness of who we are and what's going on with us in the moment.  At our kids yoga classes, you can know your child is accepted for just who he or she is.  They are free to be themselves, bolstering their self-confidence and self-image, and building their emotional resilience.

Come join us for kids yoga (ages 4-8) every Wednesday from 4-4:45 at the Ralph Thornton Centre, we'd love to see you there!

For the love of our families,

Megan 

The Benefits of Family Yoga - Part #2

A few months back I posted about some of the many benefits of Family Yoga.  The list continues, so read on to learn more about how Family Yoga is good for you and your brood!   

 6. Family Yoga shows children that parents are not perfect.  Up to a certain age, children believe their parents are super-human!  They seem to never run out of time, money or resources, and this can create high expectations for parents to fulfill.  There are always poses a parent finds difficult and those a child find's difficult.  This reality check brings a humanizing quality to the parents, releasing them of expectations from the child. 

7.  Family Yoga teaches families how to relax together.  Most parents want their children to learn ways to relax and be more at peace!  What a better way to learn these skills then doing it as a family!  Yoga is wonderful for discharging energy and also engaging the rest and digest response, releasing those loving, calming hormones. 

8.  Family Yoga provides an opportunity for positive feedback among family members.  Since every person and every body can do yoga, there are always opportunities for encouragement in family yoga class!  We always encourage positive feedback for each family member in class, no matter what shape a body holds.  Yoga is about holding space for a wide breadth of experiences, from the tiniest yogi to the most experienced.

9.  Family Yoga inspires creativity as a family.  When we play yoga, we exchange roles and role-play a lot, and this contributes to increased creativity among family members.  We like to mix it up and take a dune buggy ride across the Sahara right after baking a pizza in Tuscany!  Often, this creativity translates over into moments outside of class!

10.  Family Yoga creates a sense of connection.  Each family yoga class doesn't just consist of poses alone.  Yoga is about creating wholistic community, so wether we like it or not we are sharing ourselves emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, and more when we share a family yoga class.  We share this within our own family and with the families in class with us!  This happens verbally through our class introductions, and physically as we touch others in group poses, and in our ending relaxation.  In class we learn from others and garner a sense of connection to life, truly knowing that we are all connected and going through life together.  This is in large part the essence of family yoga.

I look forward to sharing all these benefits of family yoga and more as we participate in class together!  If you can think of any other benefits of Family Yoga, please share, I'd love to hear them!

For the Love of our Families,

Megan