Yoga helps adults reduce stress, improve their fitness levels, manage chronic health problems and lose weight, reports MayoClinic.com. Children who practice yoga should experience some of the same benefits. When approached in a light-hearted, playful way, yoga can help children tap into their imaginations and express themselves.
Sun Salutation
The sun salutation is a flowing series of poses that is used in many yoga classes to warm up the body. A variation on this sequence for children takes them through just the first few moves and helps children become comfortable with movement and is excerpted from the book "The Kid's Yoga Deck: 50 Poses and Games" by Annie Buckley on the Parents Magazine website. Have the child stand tall with the arms alongside her body and the feet together. She should then inhale and raise her arms up to the sky. Her arms then extend toward the sides of the room as she swan dives toward the floor, bending from the hips and exhaling. Inhale and open the arms, reversing the dive and reach back up to the ceiling. Repeat five to 10 times. Have the child imagine the sun rising and setting as she moves.
Animal Poses
Take advantage of kids' natural affinity for animals and incorporate animal poses into a kids' yoga sequence. Start kids in downward facing dog and have them drop their knees to the floor to alternate between cow and cat pose. Allow them to bark, moo and meow as they move through because making sounds helps children release tension and provides another sensational dimension to yoga notes Marsha Wenig, the creator of the YogaKids video and educational curriculum, on the Yoga Journal website. Next, move them into lion where they get to kneel and stick their tongue out to roar like a lion. Have the kids then lean back and arch into camel pose. Bring them up to a stand to "fly" in eagle pose and balance in flamingo. For final relaxation, have them imagine they are a bunny sleeping in their den.
ABC's
Help kids learn the alphabet while practicing yoga. Start with "A" and have the kids assume "alligator"--usually called crocodile or chaturanga--move them into boat for "B" and cat for "C." Dog pose is for "D" and hang them in rag doll with an elephant's trunk for "E." Perform frog pose for "F" and gorilla for "G." Move through the whole alphabet this way and be creative with your and the kids' interpretations of poses. Do not become concerned with how the poses flow together, rather let the children naturally move from one pose to the next.
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