“Education is not about feeding our kids with useful information. It is to make them beautiful citizens of our planet.” Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Yoga being a wholistic science of wellbeing which works at the physical, mental, physiological, psychological, emotional and spiritual levels is a great practice for kids so they expand their minds and horizons and are more able to handle stressful and challenging situations.
Yogic practices help to enhance strength, flexibility and balance for physical benefits. Their concentration and sense of calmness improves with the breathwork and meditation practices. Kids just learn to develop more awareness of nature and the world around them.
Due to an excessive use of gadgets and remaining glued to the virtual world everyone, including kids is loosing that connection with nature. Yoga helps to tune inwards yet be more aware of the world around.
Yoga being an ancient science, several thousand years old the yogis derived the asanas or postures by being close to plants, animals and nature.
When children imitate the movements of animals and other sounds of nature they get the chance to look within another being and visualize taking on its qualities. When they take on the form of a lion [simhasana] for example, they experience the power and mannerisms of the lion and hence learn to differentiate between when to be aggressive and when to retreat.
The beauty of the practice lies in its simplicity and ease. It can literally be practiced anywhere and the postures, breathwork and concentration help to regulate how children act or react to situations which leads to a constant self discovery.
More on this topic next week.
Namaste!
Neelanjana Bharadwaj