Yoga

~ Movement combined with play & learning  ~

Yoga at an early age encourages self-esteem and body awareness with a physical activity that’s noncompetitive. Fostering cooperation and compassion is a great gift to give our children. 

The Stories of Yoga 

Lending itself beautifully to a growing child’s imaginative world, yoga increases memory retention, lessens anxiety and creates healthy social skills. Yoga postures incorporate elements of play, balance, holding tension and skill-building, engaging both a child’s imagination and natural voice.

When yogis developed the asanas many thousands of years ago, they still lived close to the natural world and used animals and plants for inspiration—the sting of a scorpion, the grace of a dove, the grounded stance of a tree. When children imitate the movements and sounds of nature, they have a chance to get inside another being and imagine taking on its qualities. By assuming the pose of the lion for example, they experience not only the power and behavior of the lion, but also their own sense of power: when to be aggressive, when to retreat.

The physical asanas of yoga, which evoke countless imagery of animals in nature are a perfect ‘take-off’ point for imaginative storylines; the elements of nature evoked in yoga – ‘stand in your mountain,’ ‘reach for the stars,’ ‘sway like the wind,’ ‘float like the water’ – all spark a child’s natural curiosity and empathy for the natural environment.

The Science of Yoga

Yoga explores anatomy, nutrition, biology, physiology, neuroscience and the wonders of our natural world. The body awareness in yoga provides the perfect classroom for fun lessons on balance, physics, acrobatics, musicology & colour therapy.

Interesting Info: The hormones in muscles, the organs are talking to the brain and bladder (nervous system). All types of yoga have the muscles constantly talking to the brain – which reduces the risk of diabetes/obesity.

The Stillness of Yoga