Yoga is simple enough that your child can do it.
Here’s some suggestions for your kid at any age.
Yoga For All: A How-To Yoga Guide for Kids
Playtime
Namaste All Day: Kids Yoga
By now, we’re all pretty familiar about the perks of yoga. It promotes our overall health and well-being, reduces stress, and helps us “find our center.” The practice has been trending in the past decade and schools have even implemented it to help guide children’s focus and self-regulation.
Research has shown positive outcomes from regular yoga practice, including:
- Increased attention, decreased hyperactivity, and faster task completion in 5-year-olds who completed yoga 2x/week
- Mental and emotional benefits in children ages 5-18 years, including decreased anxiety, boosted concentration and memory, improved confidence and self-esteem, and improved academic performance
- Brain scans revealing reduced activation of the amygdala (the part of the brain responsible for emotions and arousal levels) in 6th graders
- Improvements in attention as well as decreased oppositional behaviors, restlessness, and impulsivity following 20 sessions of yoga with boys diagnosed with ADHD
- Improvements in imitation and play with peers in children with ASD following 10 months of yoga 5 days/week
Sounds good on paper, but yoga with kids can be intimidating. “Am I doing this right? Can kids even do these poses?”
It’s not just a bunch of poses and breathing. Although that notion is partially true, there’s more to it. The goal of yoga is to grow self-awareness, connecting the mind and the body to the present moment. It’s because of this broadness that makes participation in its practice easy.
Continue readingScreen Time Revisited
We are definitely aware that too much screen time is bad for our kids. We’re familiar with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations and attempt to follow them, sort of. But if your kid has ever complained about being bored, or if you are in a busy place and your kid is inconsolable, you know that the tablet, smartphone, or TV screen is your trusty go-to remedy.
And then 2020 happened. TV, movies, games, and remote learning were our saving grace from quarantine. Now that our society is re-establishing a new norm, what does this mean for children regarding screen time? Has anything changed?
Continue readingA More Hands-On Approach
Screen time is just an arm’s reach away and let’s face it, kids are more likely to lounge around face-down in their tablet rather than engage with the objects around them. To be fair, we’ve all had our fair share of staring at a screen this past year.
Although technology is changing how we function from day to day, it’s still important that your child gets hands-on interaction with their environment. Not only does it build their fine motor skills, but it also shapes how they engage with people and their surroundings.
Continue readingParents and Play
“Mommy, will you play with me?”
This is a frequent request from my 4-year-old and unfortunately, the answer lately has been “no.” There’s a variety of reasons as to why, from being busy with work stuff, or house stuff, to just everyday fatigue.
Yes, I feel guilty and I do try, but it does not come easy. Which brings up the question, “After a certain age, do parents have to play with their child?”
Continue reading
Child(ish) Advice 