Teach Your Child Yoga: Here Are 4 Reasons to Practice Yoga With Your Kid! by Melissa Hurt

If you’re a parent of an active child and want to practice yoga, don’t think it’s impossible with your child near you. Here are four benefits to practicing yoga with your child:

• You model how you take care of yourself.

• You increase your focus on mindfulness to commit to your alignment and breath when your child talks to you (or climbs on you). Stay safe. Don't allow climbing while balancing or on unstable knees.

• You can teach favorite poses and do them together.

• You can involve your child if you practice with an online streaming service and ask him or her to see if you look like the pose on the screen. Your child learns how to pay attention and discern the shapes of the body and how it moves.

I have been practicing with my 5-year-old since she was a baby. She knows how to initiate deep breathing when she needs to calm down. Over time, I became able to take her to yoga class and set up her mat with coloring books and crayons. She goes between doing yoga, laying on me and coloring. She knows studio etiquette (leave the others alone, no talking) and understands self-care. The “snuggle Savasana” pose is the best!

Try it! Please comment below on how it works for you!

Savasana, or corpse/dead body, yoga pose