The Benefits of Yoga for You and Your Child

by Katherine Maloney, DPT

Yoga has gained a lot of attention in the last few years and it’s easy to see why. There are so many benefits to doing yoga, for your body and your mind. Yoga can be good for you, your kids, and the whole family together! Plus it’s never too young to start, with Parent and Me Yoga classes for even the youngest of babies. But how does yoga actually help you? And how can you incorporate it at home?

Yoga is great for adults and kids physical wellbeing. Yoga moves your body in ways that can challenge your core and muscles, stretch your muscles, and even work your cardiovascular system. For adults, yoga is a good adjunct to other forms of exercise including running and weight lifting. Yoga can help improve your balance and keep those key core muscles engaged. For kids, yoga can help promote normal gross motor development, improve and regulate the GI system, improve breathing, and improve many sensory systems. Yoga helps kids learn where they are in space and their limits of stability (aka work that balance!). 

Mental health can also be positively affected by yoga practice. Yoga is proven to decrease anxiety and stress, increase mindfulness, and help bring calm and a feeling of being centered. We sometimes forget how stressed our kids can get, even babies! Yoga is a great way to help them figure out ways to calm themselves and to be more mindful. And it goes without saying that parents are often stressed and overwhelmed. The focus on breath and the smooth movements can help bring our nervous systems back into the “rest and digest” zone instead of the “fight or flight” zone that we often live in when stressed out. This in turn helps our physical health (breathing, digestion, sleep, etc). 

When done with others, whether it’s in a class or just at home with family, yoga can also benefit our social well being. Being connected with others again benefits our mental and physical health. Going to a parent and me yoga class or kid’s yoga class can also connect you with people who may have similar stressors and concerns as you, giving you an opportunity to walk through problems or concerns with someone else. 

But how can you incorporate yoga at home if you don’t want to join a studio? Youtube has tons of good yoga videos for all different levels. There are also plenty of apps that are all about yoga. And honestly you can just play around with different poses and flows at home, it doesn’t have to be perfect! Just remember to go at your own pace and to not push into pain!

This week for our developmental playgroup we will be doing a parent and me yoga class. If you are looking for a more kid friendly yoga class for your older ones stay tuned because we are bringing a yoga play group to KidPT soon!