An introduction

It is never too early for a person to start Yoga and Meditation. Sadly, worry and anxiety can set in with people at a young age. With pressure to do well at school, to fit in, to meet their own and other’s expectations– the list goes on – the minds of young people are constantly under pressure. If left unsupported, this pressure can potentially become detrimental to their mental health as they grow up. Young people often don’t understand their stress and find it hard to articulate the feelings they experience. The introduction of Yoga and Meditation to children at a young age can give them the tools to deal with stress and anxiety, as well as developing coping strategies that will support them throughout their lives. By helping young people to understand their minds, and as a result other people, early we could be saving them from decades of agony.

Generally, young people deal with stress through the amygdala, the centre of the brain responsible for our fight and flight mechanism. The practice of yoga and meditation introduces new ways of dealing with stressors, switching on the parasympathetic nervous system to move the practitioner away from the fight or flight response. Offering young people support in understanding their stressors and emotions opens a door to shape them a more positive future.

CHILDRENS YOGA

Unlike traditional sports that teach young people to be competitive, Yoga is the exact opposite of this. With emphasis being placed upon on not competing with anyone, least of all yourself. In Yoga there is recognition that on some days you might be better at certain things than on other days and not to stress if this is the case but instead, accept it. Both Yoga and Meditation focus on the acceptance of what is, rather than expecting a practitioner to continually strive for something better. The more a person can accept what is, the less likely they are to have self-critical thoughts that cause a drop in self-esteem.

Yoga works on both the body and mind – improving strength, flexibility and balance. It also incorporates breathwork which is the best thing for regulating a body in difficult, stressful times. Slowing down our breath and breathing more deeply can have an almost instant effect on getting rid of tension and stress. If that weren’t enough, studies have shown that practicing yoga also provides benefits such as improving academic performance, attention span and social interaction. As well as reducing levels of stress and anxiety, the practice offers tools that help navigate daily life.

Although I use the same asanas (poses) as I do for adults, the sessions for young people are adapted to make them more fun and to give a focus on things that will maintain the children’s interest. The classes have different sections, including a welcome; a warm-up; asanas, a game and Savasana (the final relaxation pose). All classes have a theme, for example birds, the jungle or the seaside. And crucially Savasana is changed from corpse pose to canoe or star pose, depending on the theme of the class. For children aged 4 to 8 I reduce the length of the class to 30 minutes and for those age 9 to 12 it is 40 minutes. Classes are kept small, I take a maximum of 8, to ensure that each participant gets the amount of attention they need. The classes take the form of a 5-week course and I recommend booking onto this. There may be the possibility of doing a drop-in session if the course is not fully subscribed but as the group is small there would be no guarantee of availability.

I welcome all children to my classes, which I like to think are a lot of fun and something new for them to try if they haven’t done Yoga before.

As well as group classes I offer 1 to 1 or 1 to 2 training either in person at your home, at my hub, at a suitable venue within a 15-mile radius of Bognor Regis OR via Zoom.

CHILDRENS MEDITATION

One important aspect of meditation is teaching a person to be mindful and stay in the present moment, rather than constantly looking to the past or future. In Meditation, as in Yoga, we practice acceptance of what is. Meditation also helps a person understand where their thoughts and emotions come from and how to deal with the unhelpful ones as they arise. Through meditation young people can manage their thoughts, feelings and emotions, which helps reduce their levels of stress, worry and anxiety. When working through gratitude type meditations young people increase their levels of compassion and reduce selfishness, helping them to maintain better relationships with those around them. Studies have also shown that Mediation can help students achieve better grades when they are taking exams. It has been shown that the act of meditating can switch on the relaxation response which once again can help the practitioner reduce their levels of stress and anxiety – a tool that is invaluable for young people as they grow.

It can be quite a challenge to ask young people to place their focus on a single object for a particular length of time as you would an adult, so in meditation for young people, I adapt and place the main emphasis onto guided meditations. That said, I do include some short meditations with focus on a particular element of the body or another object, for instance a sultana. In our sessions we use language that young people can easily understand and identify with. We keep the sessions short, between 20 and 40 minutes depending on the age group and incorporate breathing exercises, mantras and mudras into the class to give a varying focus and engage the children’s interest.

I offer face to face or Zoom group sessions and individual sessions on a 1 to 1, a 1 to 2 or a family group basis, all these last around 30 minutes. I also work on the assumption that a parent will be in attendance for the Zoom sessions and no charge is made if they choose to participate.

About Happy Yogis

Yoga & Meditation for people from age 4 upwards

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