This week at First Steps our Thursday morning was a yoga and mindfulness special for families. Here, I'll include what the benefits of yoga and mindfulness are for children, as well as loads of pictures and resources for you to use or share, or borrow from the library.
WHAT?
Gentle movement exercise
Nurtures a strong healthy body
A calm contented mind
And inner peace & self-awareness
Lots of the poses (asana) are based on animals which the original yogis thousands of years ago observed and imitated
The breath (pranayama) is a bridge from the body to the mind
The simplest mindfulness is simply to focus on the breath - raising awareness of what is happening right now, in the moment.
WHY?
Strengthening and stretching our muscles
Increasing our circulation
Increasing our energy levels
Producing feel-good hormones called endorphins
AND it’s good for our minds too
Helping us to concentrate, improving attention, and focussing our minds
Calming us
It gives us a toolkit to help us respond to challenging situations wisely rather than blindly.
When we get an unhelpful feeling we can PAUSE - BREATHE (smile) - NOTICE & NAME the FEELING - then use the space created to decide what to do next e.g.
* muscle tense / relax
* hand breathing
* clapping opposite arms
* jumping up & down
* belly breathing with a toy
What next parent / carer resources
Books - the children's library have loads of picture books and stories with a yoga theme - https://norfolk.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/MSGTRN/WPAC/HOME?HOMEPRMS=GENPARAMS It’s free for children to join, there is no charge for late returns and you can borrow loads of books.
Online - https://childhood101.com/yoga-for-kids/
https://www.zerotothree.org/resource/mindfulness-for-parents/
https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga - not technically yoga but the videos do get children moving about
Why is mindfulness a superpower, animation https://youtu.be/w6T02g5hnT4
How to defeat negative thinking, animation - https://youtu.be/_XLY_XXBQWE
Mindfulness & how the brain works - https://youtu.be/CwudXhyZwNU
Or just - lay down outside, look at the clouds, breathe in and out slowly, what can you see
Some lovely children's yoga and mindfulness books -
NAMASTE!
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