But My Child Won't Relax!

I have an incredible story to share with you.

I have a 5 year old yoga student who is extraordinary at relaxation.  It’s remarkable.  She relaxes more easily than most adults I know!  She doesn’t flinch, and lets me do all the work to uncover her feet for massage, while leaving her legs and body incredibly limp.  In each class, about 5 minutes before savasana, she quietly asks: “is relaxation soon?!”  It’s her favourite.  I had never seen this in a young student before, until our first class together.

And do you know what her parents said when I mentioned this?  They looked at me with shock and wonder: “What? Are you sure?  She takes forever to fall asleep each night!  We actually have to give her melatonin!”

Believe it or not, children are very capable of relaxing and even love it!  And you also may be surprised by how your child responds to a yoga class.  The way I see it, there isn’t much to lose.  We look forward to exploring relaxation and many other life-giving practices with your child at Appleseed!

Want to learn more?  Check out the many other Benefits of Kids Yoga.

For the Love of Our Families,

Megan Snider 

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

The Benefits of Toddler Yoga Part #2

As I shared in my last blog post, the benefits of Toddler Yoga are vast.  Check out the rest of the list below!

• Reduced Stress - Studies show that children today encounter 25% more stress than their grandparents did as children (Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Toddlers and Preschoolers, pg.11).  In a culture that is constantly on the move, now more than ever we need to instill in our children the importance of relaxation.  One benefit of this is improved focusing and concentration skills, which leads to better learning.  Relaxing effectively will help to make the stressors our children carry more tolerable, thereby leading to greater overall health.  
   
• Improved Gross and Fine Motor Development - Many poses in a typical toddler yoga class contribute greatly to developing your child's gross and fine motor skills.  Using various yoga props and repetitive practice of these poses from week to week ensures your child will be set up to succeed in their development.  
   
• The Beginnings of a Healthy Lifestyle - Holistically healthy toddlers will become holistically healthy children!  Starting a healthy lifestyle for your toddler is a gift they can take with them into the rest of their life.  The body has a strong memory, and the movements we make and repeat stay with us on a cellular level as we grow.  
   
• Strengthened Bonds Between Parent and Child - As Helen Garabedian writes, the word yoga means 'union', and in the case of Toddler Yoga, we have an opportunity to unite in a profound way with our child!  Being fully present with your child in a toddler yoga class is a unique treat where there are no toys or distractions.  It is a safe space to observe and learn about and from your toddler, during the most transformative and important years of her life.
   
• Longer Retention of Their Innate Bodily Awareness - As Liz Lark puts it, "Young bodies have not yet been inhibited or restricted by everyday conditioning, so they naturally move much more freely."  Yoga will enable your toddler to retain and preserve their innate bodily awareness so they can move more freely throughout their life.

There you have it, the numerous benefits of Toddler Yoga completed.

Next Friday November 10th Appleseed is introducing a new weekly Toddler Yoga class to the schedule at 11am!  

We hope to see you and your toddler there,

Megan

*This list is largely compiled from Helen Garabedian's Book, Itsy Bitsy Yoga.  The comments are mine.