At school or at home, yoga offers children the opportunity to move in a new way.
“It’s a good way to get moving. It helps with flexibility. It helps with strength, but it also helps with mindfulness,” said Dr. Gina Robinson, a pediatrician at Cleveland Clinic Children’s.
One study found second and third graders enrolled in a ten week yoga class had less stress, more confidence, better attention spans, and more social interaction. They also performed better academically.
Robinson said practicing yoga encourages mindfulness and teaches kids tactics like deep breathing. This allows them to be in the moment and tune out the distractions of cellphones and other devices.
Deep breathing can also be used outside of yoga to help kids manage difficult emotions from stress to anxiety.
There are many physical benefits, too.
“Core strength, of course, which helps with your posture. Balance and coordination,” Robinson said. “A lot of kids are active in different sports, so it really is important to not just do the sport that you’re specializing in but do other activities that will help your performance in your chosen or your favorite sport.”
If you want your child to try yoga, it’s important to lead by example.
“We are the best example for our children,” Robinson said. “So, when we want our kids to participate in things, we want them to try new things, a lot of times it helps if we do it with them.”
Ready to give it a go? The Cleveland Clinic has 17 poses and exercises to help you get started. Click here.