Why I Don't Teach 'You-Tube' Yoga for Children

Let's me start with saying that yoga on You-Tube can be a great resource, and there is a place for that kind of yoga for children.

It's super helpful at home, when you want your children to be doing more than watching a screen! It's amazing in the classroom as a support for your PE and Wellness curriculum. It's good because it introduces children to yoga poses and of course gets children moving.

However, in general, the style of children's yoga on You-Tube is 'fun yoga'.

What do I mean by that? Well, it's a class designed so that children have fun, so it's really engaging and imaginative, it has stories. Children really do enjoy these classes.

In these classes, there happens to be some yoga poses involved, or added in along the story. There may or may not be a breathing exercise. The meditation is often left out.

Have you ever heard in adults yoga that if the only focus is on the asana(the poses) then you've missed the point of yoga altogether?

Guess what? It's the same in kids yoga!

The asana or the physical postures you learn in yoga are just 1 of 8 steps of limbs of a yoga practice. In adults yoga, you learn about, breathing, meditation, relaxation, connection as well as a whole host of other important skills.

In my opinion, we do children a disservice by not teaching them all of yoga, just as you would in an adults class.

How many of you would have loved to learn how to relax your mind and body at a younger age?

How many of you would have benefitted from learning about the breath, and how to use it in everyday situations?

Yoga, when taught as a whole practice, gives the student(adult or teen or child) skills and tools to be able to deal with the stresses of everyday life. It teaches you how to self-regulate and to calm your whole system down. It allows you to better connect with yourself, to trust yourself and thereby connect better with others.

You just can't get this fullness of yoga from You-Tube. Why? Because the focus of most classes on You-Tube is at best the asana and at worst just fun. If any breath work or meditation is shown then it's only for a moment or two.

So, it's impossible to get a child into that deep state of relaxation and meditation. That's where the magic happens! And it's the part they all need the most.

I teach classes that are specifically designed to help children physically, mentally and emotionally. I even work on their social skills.

I use a whole range of techniques; exercises that stretch and strengthen, mindfulness and meditation, breath work, personal development exercises, partner and group activities.

The class I teach are dynamic, engaging and fun for all age groups.

Children leave my classes feeling, calm and focused. They also leave with tools that the can practice and use at home everyday.

I don't need to teach children how to have fun, they already know!

I teach them yoga, and we have fun doing it.