Welcome to the 2nd part of our Yoga poses for kids. If you’re reading this, your kids must have coped well with the beginner yoga poses we’ve mentioned in Part 1.
First of all, let me say Congratulations on introducing a healthy habit into your children’s routine. If they follow Yoga correctly, it will help them all their lives.
Secondly, congratulate your kids on Soulsaga’s behalf for giving Yoga a chance.
For those who’re new to this series, go through this article first.
In this article, let’s go through 9 other yoga poses suitable for increasing the kid’s flexibility and stability. Don’t forget the precautions we’ve discussed in the first article.
Yoga for Kids
1). Lotus Pose (Padmasana)
Let’s start with a simple but very effective pose. Even though it is a basic pose, this is not for beginners. That’s why we didn’t introduce this Pose in Part 1 of this series.
Once we’ve practiced enough flexing, we can do the Lotus pose.
How to do
- Sit on the floor. Relax your mind and body
- Keep your spine straight and in-line with your neck and head.
- Grab your right ankle, lift, and place it on your left thigh. Keep it close to your left hip.
- Now grab your left ankle and put it on your right thigh. Keep it close to your right hip.
- Reduce the space you occupy on the floor by shrinking your circumference.
- Place your hands on the respective knees and do the Gyan mudra.
- Breathe in and out. Maintain this posture for 30-40 seconds.
- Slowly release the legs and go to your initial position.
Benefits
- Increases the blood circulation around your pelvis area.
- Eases your mind off before you begin your yoga session.
- Stretches the whole body.
2). Big Toe Yoga Pose for Kids (Padangusthasana)
This is an easy yoga pose for kids to do. It brings calmness to our minds.
Kids may feel uncomfortable to keep their knees straight due to the rigid hamstrings during the initial trials. But after practice, the stretch would be fine.
How to do
- Stand straight and relax your body. Keep your legs hip-width apart.
- Keep your hands on your sides.
- Your legs should be erect. Do not bend your knees.
- Tighten your thighs to maintain a straight posture.
- Exhale and bend your upper body. Your head and spine should be in line. Do not move them at a different pace.
- Remember to keep your knees straight.
- Grab your Big toe and the 2nd toe by your Index and middle fingers. This gives you the grip you need.
- Inhale and raise your upper body in line with your head. Do not come all the way. Hold on to the toe fingers.
- Exhale and lower your body.
- Repeat the raising and lowering 2-3 times. After the 3rd time, hold on to the posture for 15-20 seconds. Come to your original position.
Benefits
- Stretches the hamstrings, calves, and thighs. You’d feel the heat in your thighs while doing this Pose.
- Calms your brain by increasing blood circulation.
- Enhance the digestion process.
3). Camel Pose (Ustrasana)
This pose stretches your whole upper body and improves your flexibility.
How to do
- Kneel on the ground. Use a mat to avoid any injuries.
- Place your hands on your hips.
- Your upper body should be a straight line. Keep your shoulders in line with your knees.
- Inhale and bend backward. Move your arms and hold onto your legs.
- Once you’ve got a grip, exhale and straighten your arms.
- Adjust your upper body accordingly.
- Arch your neck backward till it is comfortable. Do not bend it too much.
- Be in this posture for 30-40 seconds and come back to the original position.
Benefits
- It opens the upper body and strengthens your back and shoulders.
- More flexibility to your spine.
4). Bow Yoga Pose for Kids (Dhanurasana)
After leaning over the computer screen all day, kids would feel much better after this Bow pose.
How to do
- Lie on your stomach facing the ground. Relax your body.
- Maintain a hip-width distance between your feet. Keep your hands on the side.
- Raise your head a little and keep your chin on the mat.
- Exhale and raise your knees. If you struggle to do it, bend your knees, and raise the legs.
- Pull your legs towards your upper body. You’d feel the heat in your lower back.
- Now move your hands backward and hold your ankles.
- Once you’ve got a grip, inhale and raise your upper body backward.
- If you don’t feel comfortable holding your ankles, try to lift your upper body as high as you can.
- Tighten your grip on the ankles and pull them together to open your frontal body.
- Now you must be balancing on your pelvis.
- Hold this posture for 15-20 seconds and come back to the original position.
Benefits
- It opens up your upper body.
- Increases flexibility and stretches the whole body.
- Balancing on our pelvis increases our core strength.
5). Cow Pose (Bitilasana)
Kids love cows. Even if we don’t teach them anything about this pose, they’d still do that. That is how they usually play. So, show them how to incorporate a plaything properly in Yoga.
How to do
To do the Cow pose, we should start from the tabletop position.
- Kneel on the ground. Your shoulders and knees should be in a straight line.
- Lean forward and place your hands perpendicular to the ground.
- Do not push the ground with your hand. Just keep it loose, gentle. But don’t bend.
- Your spine should be parallel to the floor. Keep your head and neck in line with your spine.
- Knees should be exactly below your hip. Do not lean in any direction.
- Inhale. Raise your head and lower your back. Your chest should be open in this position, and drop your stomach.
- Hold this posture for one breath. Exhale and return to the tabletop position.
Benefits
- Stretches the whole body.
- Increases your spine flexibility.
- Helps in easy digestion and circulation.
6). Downward Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Shvanasana)
We’d come to this pose on several occasions during a yoga session. That is why the downward-facing dog pose is called the transitional pose.
How to do
- Kneel on the mat. Relax your body. Your upper body should be in line with your knees.
- Lean forward and place your hands perpendicular to the floor.
- Inhale and raise your hips. Move your legs backward. Keep your legs and hands at hip-width apart.
- Raise it until your shoulders and knees are no longer bent. Keep your feet firmly on the floor.
- Maintain this posture for 20-30 seconds.
- Exhale. Come back to the push-up position and return to the tabletop position.
Benefits
- It stretches the arms, shoulders, upper torso, thighs, legs, hamstrings, and neck.
- Increases our blood circulation and keep our mind fresh.
- Increase the core strength.
- Improves our Balance.
7). Lunge Yoga for kids (Banarasana)
Lunge pose can be entered from the Downward Dog facing pose.
How to do
- Inhale and raise your right leg towards the ceiling. Do not bend it.
- Exhale and bring the right leg in line with your hands. Your hip must have lowered during this action. But do not move your left leg.
- Once you’re comfortable in this posture, raise your hip to keep to straighten your spine. Take your hands off the floor to maintain your balance.
- Your whole body’s weight would be leaning on your right leg.
- Maintain this posture for 20-30 seconds.
- Reverse the procedure and go back to the Downward facing dog pose.
- Repeat the steps on your left leg.
Benefits
- Stretches the lower back, thighs, and hamstrings.
- Improves core strength.
- Increase our balancing and flexibility.
- Better blood circulation.
8). Cobra pose yoga for Kids
This is also an exciting pose. Like the Warrior pose we discussed in part 1, the name Cobra would intrigue the kids. They’d naturally be interested in getting to know this pose.
How to do
- Lie on the mat with your head facing the floor. Keep your hands on the side.
- Do not bend your knees. Keep your legs straight. They should be hip-width apart.
- Now move your hands forwards and place your palms closer to your chest.
- Inhale. Push your palms against the floor and raise your shoulder upwards.
- Open your head, neck, and your chest while raising your shoulder.
- Do not raise your lower body at all. It should be firmly touching the ground. Tighten your thighs for a more effective outcome.
- Maintain this posture for 20-30 seconds.
- Exhale and lower your shoulders. Go back to the initial position.
Benefits
- Strengthens our lower body- firm up our thighs.
- Stretches our upper body.
- It is a heart-opening pose.
9). Resting yoga for kids
This is a perfect way to end the Yoga session. It allows the kids to get rest and rejuvenate their bodies. The resting pose also concentrates our state of mind. It helps to keep our psyche neutral without any disturbances.
How to do
- Lay down comfortably on the mat facing upwards.
- Keep your hands on the side with palms facing above.
- Your feet should be hip-width apart and straight.
- Relax your body.
- Close your eyes and breathe slowly.
- But do not fall asleep in this posture. Try to keep your mind off things and focus on your breathing.
- Maintain this posture 10-15 mins.
Benefits
- It gives our body a rest before we move on to the next thing.
- Concentrating on our breathing eases our mind and relaxes our whole body.
Conclusion
I cannot stress this enough. Do Yoga together with your kids. It would encourage them to impress you. They’d be more attentive to your words. When you practice with your kids, sometimes they’d point out a mistake in your posture. You can test their knowledge by pretending you forgot the pose. Ask for their guidance. They’d help you. This would allow them to revise the poses. Along with all these benefits, you get to be in good shape.
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