Babies are born to do Yoga. The poses are the path to walking. Yoga models baby’s natural growth for brain and body development, and each of baby’s developmental milestones happens to be a Yoga pose!
Developmental Milestones | Yoga Pose |
Birth/Fetal Position | Child's Pose |
Tummy Time | Cobra Pose |
Finding Feet | Happy Baby Pose |
Sitting Up | Butterfly Pose |
Hands and Knees to Crawl | Cow Pose |
Hands and Feet to the Floor | Downward Dog Pose |
Standing Up | Mountain Pose |
Walking/Balance on One Leg | Tree Pose |
Babies build all of these skills in approximately the first 12 to 18 months of life. Yoga stimulates motor development to promote healthy weight gain, strength, and mobility. Affected internal systems include: respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and perhaps the most important, baby’s nervous system, which encourages the ability to self-soothe over time.
For parents, Yoga can help manage fears and regulate emotions, enabling baby to feel safe, connected and calm. Everyone wins when baby sleeps well and parents feel confident they can meet their baby’s needs. Yoga nurtures the bond between parents and their baby and lays a healthy foundation for movement and mindfulness for life.
Women do Yoga. Moms do Yoga.
Many women who practice Yoga attend Prenatal and Postnatal classes. Both have been found to help prepare the body and brain for birth and motherhood. It’s not a stretch that moms do Yoga with their growing children.
- 37 million Americans are now practicing yoga. Yogis tend to be women: 82%, and young: 63% percent between 18 and 44 years old. 40% are “Millennials.”
- Yogis are moms: Between ages 25-29, 50% have children. After age 30, approximately 70% have children. — 37% of Americans under the age of 18 years old have tried Yoga.
Yoga has much to offer for any age. The practices we teach at It’s Yoga Kids® develop healthy habits for happy successful kids and their parents from cradle to grave.
Parents often say, "my kid loves Yoga” and we believe it! Yoga positively influences children of all ages. Students can be their personal best by building individual skills that create healthy bonded families and safe caring communities.
Students from all walks of life, including under-privileged youth to the highest performing student-athletes and young performing-artists, benefit from Yoga. Here are some benefits of kids Yoga in alphabetical order. We’ll bet you can come up with even more!
- Active
- Balanced
- Courageous
- Disciplined
- Encouraged
- Focused
- Grounded
- Healthy
- Imaginative
- Jovial
- Kind
- Leader
- Mindful
- Nourished
- Optimistic
- Peaceful
- Quiet
- Routine
- Strong
- Team Player
- Upstanding
- Valued
- Wonderful
- Xenodochial (friendly ☺)
- Youthful
- Zealous
…and SUPER FUN!
Growing up is difficult! Our driven culture with academic, social and performance pressures paired with the impact of digital multi-media consumption creates the most intense conditions parents and educators have ever faced. Kids are struggling to manage their energy often with extreme highs and lows. Many families are suffering - feeling over-scheduled, stressed-out and disconnected.
Problems emerge early with conditions such as:
• Low muscle tone
• Developmental delays
• Impulse control
• Sensory integration imbalances
• Sleep disorders
and too often lead to diagnoses of:
• Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Childhood obesity
• Anxiety
• Addiction
• Depression
Yoga is proven to help with all these conditions. It’s Yoga Kids® is working to make Yoga even more accessible with IYK® Everywhere for home, school and sports.
In two to ten minutes a day, no matter where you are - from cradle to grave, Yoga is always there for you. It’s a practice for life.
I found Yoga when I was 25 years old. I wish I had found it earlier. After 25 years of practicing and teaching, the mind and body benefits of Yoga have become parallel. Strength, flexibility and balance (satisfaction, yet continually striving) are what bring me back to Yoga. Yes, it stretches my body, but perhaps even more, it stretches my brain, experiencing the contrast between movement and stillness that comes with the practice.
It makes me feel strong and curious, exploring my edges, feeling them, and stopping to breathe through them. Sometimes losing it, falling, even crying, and the frustration of it! Challenging myself to focus and commit, adapt and persevere. Discovering the combination of effort and ease. Feeling proud and productive. Trusting myself. Forgiving myself. Accepting and releasing whatever I may be holding on to too tightly. Loving myself for where I am and often envisioning where I want to go. Finding freedom and flow energetically.
It’s not an exercise for me; it’s a metaphor for life. It informs my awareness, my attitude, my approach, and my actions. I love its depth, lack of perfection and unending-ness. Simply put, it makes me feel good, even when it’s difficult. I crave that connection for my body, mind, and soul to live life more fully.
I teach Yoga because I want everyone to feel that connection - especially parents and kids. Serving yourself through yoga enables you to contribute to your own performance, health, and happiness. That radiates to your sphere of influence with family, friends, classmates, and co-workers. That positive impact can make the world a better place. I wish for that!
And the beauty is, it starts with you, and it ends with you. You have that power. Everyday. Every moment. It’s a huge responsibility and a fantastic opportunity! I love it.