Yoga is a fun, non-competitive sport that is suitable for children and adults alike. It’s a wonderful activity that you can engage in with your little one, and it has great benefits for both of you.

I’ve been a fan of yoga for some time now, and now that our eldest is a complete mimic of everything we do, we can have our special mommy and son time together practising yoga.

Benefits of yoga for children are:

• It helps them develop their spacial awareness
• It builds their core muscles
• It’s non competitive
• It builds self esteem
• It increases flexibility
• It teaches them about their bodies, and how to use them
• Its calming
• It helps to build concentration skills
• And, it’s fun!

If you’re going to practise yoga at home, it can be fun to put on a guided meditation CD, so  you can both chill out as you work through your poses. There are even DVDs available for children, that guide them through a yoga routine. Perhaps you could all greet the morning together as a family.

There’s even a neat little DVD that teaches the ABCs through yoga poses. So you can add in some extra learning all while getting fit and having fun.

Yoga is also good for that afternoon crash – where toddlers and children are wound up and need to calm down. Yoga releases the feel good hormones called endorphins, which calm and promote a sense of well-being.

As it’s gaining popularity as a children’s sport, there are lots of communities, businesses and groups being setup world wide, facilitating children’s and family yoga – do a quick google search in your local area.

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