Kids Yoga Stress Management Sessions for Children

Kids Yoga: Stress Management Sessions for Children
By Paul Jerard

Let’s think about it: Being a kid these days is not what it used to be. If you grew up watching “Leave it to Beaver,” you cannot really relate to the current peer pressure, multi-tasking, sub-par education programs, and daily distractions that our children and grandchildren accept as part of daily life.

Family structure is not what it used to be either. Many children live in single parent households. This has become a painful fact of life for children to accept growing up without both of their parents. The family unit has changed and parents need practical solutions a lot more than criticism or a lecture.

Peer pressure in school is much more than just drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol. Children are harassed by their peers, over every issue, including the clothes they wear. These days, children are pressured into pretending they are rich or joining a gang. This causes children more stress, at an early age, than they need.

So, what is a caring parent to do? Kids Yoga is one answer. Yoga classes for children offer a positive refuge from life outside the Yoga studio. Just by stretching muscles, deep breathing, laughing, getting proper exercise, learning how to relax, meditating, and playing “Yoga games,” a child can be a kid again.

Kids Yoga allows a child to deal with daily stress. Each time a child enters a Yoga class for kids, he or she can “close the door” on negative feelings that stress overload brings. Children who attend Yoga classes have one common thread: Their parents care about their well being.

It is not easy for children to socialize with other “good kids,” at a time when physical education, recess, children’s programs, manners, and social skills are being placed “on the back burner.” Yet the structure of a Yoga class allows children to bond, socialize, learn, and improve their lives, with new life skills.

Yoga classes are usually non-competitive, but a parent can easily observe just to make sure. Competition is everywhere, but there is no need for it in Yoga or any form of Mind and Body health maintenance.

Lastly, Yoga has many benefits for both genders. Yoga is good for both boys and girls to learn. The physical skills and knowledge will carry over into other hobbies and sports. Most of today’s elite athletes learn Yoga for cross training purposes. An athlete, who is flexible, strong, and calm under fire, is a formidable opponent. This is the reason why so many of the world’s professional sports teams cross train their players and teach them Yoga.

© Copyright 2006 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, Massachusetts. http://www.riyoga.com He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. To receive a Free e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Jerard
http://EzineArticles.com/?Kids-Yoga:-Stress-Management-Sessions-for-Children&id=285846

Yoga for kids: kids yoga mats

yoga for kids: yoga instructor

Article Source: www.articlesnatch.com

Teaching Kids Yoga

Teaching Hatha Yoga - Bhastrika, Kapalbhati and the Fainting Game

Recently, a conversation arose about the dangers of prolonged and forceful Pranayama (Yogic breathing techniques). A friend, and colleague, was discussing pushing the limits of Bhastrika and Kapalbhati to the point of neuron damage, within the brain.







It is true that some Yoga teachers and students are unaware of the dangers of prolonged Bhastrika and Kapalbhati. These two Pranayama techniques are classified as hyper-ventilation. If this means nothing, the short example below will open your awareness to the potential hazards.





When I was a child growing up in the United States, my family moved around the country quite a bit. It was not uncommon for children to play fainting or "passing out" games by practicing hyper-ventilation for prolonged periods of time, until they fainted, which is proven to result in neuron damage within the brain.





Children do foolish things. Luckily, we tired of those games and moved on to less dangerous games. Bhastrika and Kapalbhati are therapeutic when performed in moderation; however, there is a "dark side" of forcing these intense methods beyond the maximum limits.





The dark side is to get brain damage from overdoing something that appears harmless. So, what are the limits of Bhastrika and Kapalbhati? In the case of Bhastrika and Kapalbhati, there is a 10 minute maximum time limit, per day, and per technique, for advanced practitioners, of these two forms of Pranayama.





For healthy beginners, it is better to break up their Bhastrika and Kapalbhati practice into one or two minute segments - with the understanding that 10 minutes total is the absolute limit.





However, some Yoga teachers will tell healthy beginners to stop at five minutes; just to be sure they are not tempted to push their natural limits. If a student begins to feel light headed, he, or she, should take a rest. This is not a contest.





For most beginners, we start at one minute, and no more. Later, we gradually build up the time to 3 or 4 minute segments. It is safer to add one minute segments, with a rest in between the segments. For seniors, in good health, we start at 30 seconds and no more. Later, we gradually build up to one minute, only.





Apparently, the ancient Yogis made a few mistakes along the way, and lost a few practitioners, as a result of overdoing it. I personally love Bhastrika and Kapalbhati, but much like the ocean, these two forms of Pranayama deserve respect.





To make it crystal clear: The path of moderation, which is also known as the "Middle Way," is the safest of all the paths. In Yoga, and in life, there should never be extremes, even when our egos are tempted to push the maximum limits.





Copyright 2008 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center in, Attleboro, MA. To receive Free Yoga videos, Podcasts, e-Books, reports, and articles about Yoga, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/member-offer.html

yoga for kids: kids yoga mat

yoga for kids: yoga for asthma

Article Source: www.articlesnatch.com