At this age, your practice should be highly \u201cvisual\u201d. For instance, since most postures represent animals, you could use a few accessories to recreate a trip to the zoo, farm, or pet shop. Make sure you are only holding the postures for a few seconds. <\/p>\n
Here are some ideas for making your practice more visual for your toddler: try a yoga card<\/a> game; use a storybook with pictures of animals (as you are reading the story, stop on each page and enter into that animal\u2019s pose); or make animal masks<\/a> (you then become the animal, and imitate its movements and sounds). Play some soft background music and add relaxing postures such as Child, Bear, or Cloud (Shavasana) towards the end of the session. For this relaxation part of your session, work on stimulating the senses; for instance, you can massage your child\u2019s feet or hands, run a feather over her skin, or use a soft scarf to gently caress his face and body. Some nature sounds or a Tibetan bowl will help end your practice on a calm note. <\/p>\n Ages 5 – 8 <\/strong>\u2013 suggested class length: 30 – 45 minutes<\/p>\n At this age, children have fertile imaginations and very high energy levels. Prepare for a highly-active session, and keep in mind that children in this age range can be easily distracted. Focus on imagination and curiosity: go on imaginary \u201cjourneys\u201d where you meet animals in their natural habitat. <\/p>\n This time, however, introduce a few interesting facts about each animal (a quick Google search will help). You can also use a stuffed animal as the hero of an invented story; along the way, this character meets many other animals, which transform into their respective postures. You can also introduce a simple version of the sun salutation, which your child can slowly learn to perform on her\/his own. Help your child stay focused during the postures by counting, singing, making animal noises, trying different speeds (fast, slow, slow-motion), or \u201cacting out\u201d the postures as though they were characters in your story.<\/p>\n Until age 8, focus on ensuring your child is breathing properly in every posture and continues to visualize the short story you will have chosen in advance. This story should reflect your personal values or those of yoga (non-violence, non-covetousness, respect for truth, contentment, and joyous effort). <\/p>\n Ages 9 – 12<\/strong> \u2013 suggested class length: 45 – 60 minutes<\/p>\n For this age range, you can offer a balanced session with standing postures, back and forward bends, and twists. Encourage your child to hold each posture a little longer and explain the benefits of each one. Use music, dual poses, acro yoga, and sun salutations, share positive affirmations, and take the opportunity to \u201cphilosophize\u201d. To close the session, use Pranayama techniques such as Bee Breath. Just make sure your child is comfortable and is following directions properly! For teens, you can draw inspiration from adult classes while adding some Pilates movements for a \u201ctraining session\u201d feel. Ask them to work one muscle group at a time (thighs-abs-glutes is always a winning combination!) Set a goal! Ask your teens to play their own music for added motivation, and focus on relaxation at the start (as a meditation for greater focus) and end of each session. Offer more advanced sequences and postures (both individual and dual) and don\u2019t forget to provide plenty of encouragement to help your teen feel more confident and engaged. To close your practice, feel free to play a pre-recorded meditation chosen from a free app called Insight Timer. <\/p>\n Most of all, remember to have fun!<\/p>\n To contact me: yogavalesca@gmail.com<\/a> Have you ever tried doing yoga at home with your child? Was the experience disappointing? Don\u2019t give up! In this article, I\u2019ll share a few tips on helping your child…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1742,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogatribes.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1745"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogatribes.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogatribes.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogatribes.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogatribes.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1745"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/yogatribes.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1748,"href":"https:\/\/yogatribes.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1745\/revisions\/1748"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogatribes.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogatribes.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogatribes.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogatribes.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAge 12 and over \u2013 suggested class length: 45 – 60 minutes<\/p>\n![\"Valesca](\"https:\/\/yogatribes.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/valesca.jpeg\")
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\nhttps:\/\/apprendreagrandir.ca\/<\/a>
\nMe, at a glance: a journalist by training, a Brazilian by birth and adopted Quebecer, mother to two lovely jewels, the spouse of a pretty great guy, and a yoga instructor for children. Dig a little deeper, and you\u2019ll discover that I\u2019m passionate about the welfare of children (they\u2019re the future of our planet!) and am a real people person. I love to learn, I love nature, music, the arts\u2026 in short, I love life and everything that\u2019s authentic. I look forward to sharing yoga practice with you and\/or your children!! Certified by Yoga Alliance and the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration francophone de yoga.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"