*Advertorial blog from Tatty Bumpkin Wharfedale
It’s not just major traumas which have a long-lasting impact on children. Adverse Childhood Experiences are any traumatic events that can have negative and lasting effects on health and behaviour. Children need a way to manage their emotions, stress and anxiety. Yoga and mindfulness for children is a wonderful, fun way to teach skills for life which help children to understand and deal with emotions and how to self-regulate and calm down, whilst gaining an awareness of the mind and body.
Melissa and Anna are experienced primary school and early years teachers who now run Children Inspired by Yoga across West Yorkshire which consists of a growing team of primary school teachers and yoga instructors who share the same passion, to develop the physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of children by focussing on essential physical and emotional skills. The specialist programme which they deliver is fully aligned to the curriculum, providing crucial skills for learning and life. A recent case study was carried out in collaboration with a local primary school and Active Schools Leeds, evidencing the impact of the programme.
Beginning with a solid foundation encourages children to enjoy exercise and mindful movement as they grow and develop. This supports them with other sports and also creates a healthy mindset and body confidence.
Children are born with an innate flexibility and yoga poses help to extend this gift. Asanas like dog pose aid in developing strength in their growing body. Strength and flexibility allow for far fewer injuries, especially when children are engaged in sport and help to build the muscles required for writing.
Part of the positive changes that teachers have found from using yoga in classes is the improvement they see in concentration. After a yoga session, teachers have seen improvements in attention, focus and even behaviour too. Using yoga as a part of the PE curriculum can help allow children to better focus, which in turn means more learning.
Yoga teaches children that we are all the same inside, despite our outward appearance, race, and religion. We all have bodies that move, hearts that beat, and emotions that feel. Yoga inspires children to be kind, patient, accepting, and empathetic with both themselves and their peers. It explores positive affirmations, mantra, gratitude and promotes teamwork and collaboration.
Practising yoga provides children with an immediate outlet to reduce stress and tension in a safe and nurturing environment. It is a physical exercise that produces happy endorphins. While breathing exercises can slow down the heart rate, relaxation techniques are powerful sources for calming the mind and the body. Yoga teaches non-judgment and non-competition toward oneself and one another. These are all tools that a child can carry into any difficult life situation.
More benefits of yoga for children:
Click on each of the links below to find out more about these benefits.
• Supports mindfulness
• Benefits for children with special educational needs
• Encourages a growth mindset
• Supports reading
• Improves handwriting
• Counters exam stress
• Enables concentration & focus for learning
These are just a few amazing benefits of yoga for children. We hope that your child already joins in with our weekly adventures in their school or nursery. We also love to spend our spare time inspiring children through home one to one and small sessions and children’s parties!
As well as the Children Inspired by Yoga training in Baby Bumpkin (baby yoga), Tatty Bumpkin (children’s yoga), Additional Needs (yoga for SENs) and Advanced Yoga (for older children and families) which is yoga alliance accredited, Anna and Melissa have a Mindfulness for Children Diploma and hold a 200 hour yoga training which means that they can also support teachers and staff members with their much-appreciated staff wellbeing sessions!