Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

How old were you when you started practicing yoga? If you began as an adult, you know how transformational yoga can be in all aspects of your life. Maybe you stepped onto the mat when you were a child, and if you did––lucky you! Yoga offers a myriad of benefits for your mind, body, and spirit, and for many of us is what helps keep us balanced in our lives. During 2020, many children are home instead of in school and need all the gifts yoga has to offer more than ever. Just as yoga helps develop strength, flexibility, balance, and equanimity for adults, it also offers vital tools for children to live healthier happier lives. One of the primary ways yoga helps children is by encouraging self-love and self-acceptance. Yoga teaches kids more about their own bodies and minds. One of yoga’s messages is to remind us we are all different, yet perfect as we are. If children understand that whatever shape or size they are is acceptable, they may avoid body image pressures that inundate us. If children can learn to love themselves from a young age, they are better equipped to handle all the negative messages society can present to them.

Even though we spend the vast majority of our childhood learning in formal education settings, there are so many useful life lessons and skills that our schools fail to teach us. Education might be effective in teaching us book smarts, but should go beyond classrooms and homework in teaching our youth how to live a fulfilling, meaningful, and happy life. We’re now beginning to see that growing into a healthy, happy, well-adjusted adult doesn’t just happen. It takes work and we should give our kids the tools and opportunities to learn how to accomplish this goal. Yoga can help us find this as adults, but research increasingly shows that it's helpful for children, who begin yoga and meditation at a young age. Yoga is about much more than the poses (asanas) and physical benefits. This ancient Indian art helps us truly connect with our bodies, our inner world and the web of life that we are all a part of. It's mental and emotional benefits are profound and can be useful in the ups and downs of day to day life. It’s non-competitive and can be practiced by people of all ages and fitness levels and it imparts values like inclusivity, union and compassion, as opposed to always trying to be the best.