Can a child do yoga? (Part 1)

By virtue of my experience as yoga teacher, I can confidently say that yoga can be taught to the children of any age. Svaathma rama the great exponent of yoga, in this text Hata Yoga Pradipika proclaims that yoga can be practiced by Bala-Yuva-Vrudha-Ativrudha i.e. children, youth. Even old people can do yoga.

If you watch consciously the development of a child into an adult, you realize that man, even as a child, is not unfamiliar to yogic practices. The child begins to be aware of its bodily movements by lying on its back, lifting the legs up and playing with it very naturally. It very much resembles Eka-padottanasana and Dwi-padottanasana. After some days, the child turns on its stomach and starts lifting the head, (Bhujangasana), legs (Shalabhasana) etc. This way, the child naturally does all spinal movements, simple stretches and some pressure variation principles.

Thus, a child's body has a natural flexibility with a good range of movements at the joints, soft muscles, very active organs and very sensitive nerves. The child's endocrine glands are actively developing. The spine which carries the network of nerves to the parts of the body is very flexible.

The child's mind is naturally attentive to the things that interest him. Yoga as an art of human integral science can play a very vital roles in developing these qualities and in ensuring that they do not decline with age.

Children of standards I and II belonging the age group of 5 + 6 are full of energy and tend to express their energy through brisk activities. They will never appreciate the static aspects of Yogasanas. So it is not desirable to introduce any static yogic postures to that age group. They can be prepared for yogic practices by introducing various activities which help them develop:

- Natural flexibility which is already there in them

- Various bodily co-ordination,

- Their capacity to visualize things; and

- Their capacity to experience various movements.

Here, I would like to explain how, for example, Vrikasana can be taught to the kids, in a creative way.

Example: Visualizing a tree. Tell the child to imagine that the child is a tree standing erect on the ground. Then start spreading out the hands on either side and imagine them as branches and fingers as leaves.

- The tree is standing very erect with its roots very firmly fixed deep into the earth. Nothing can shake it or uproot it. It is very stable.

- Again imagine that a strong wind is blowing. The tree cannot face the wind so it is slowly bending with its branches and leaves.

- Gradually the wind ceases to blow hard. Then the tree is once again coming back to its normal posture. The branches do not bend any longer.

- The wind is blowing in an irregular way, the tree is moving in all directions unsteadily and violently. Oh it is the height of unsteadiness yet, the roots are holding the tree, etc.

This way, we can help a child to experience:

- Balance

- Stability

- Unsteadiness

- Absolute stillness

- Musical movements of various parts of the body.

Thus, many yogic practices can be modified as joyful play, and can be taught to derive the desirable effects without directly introducing static yogic practices or the related principles.

Children in standards III to V are a bit grown up, both physically and psychologically. We will see how to approach them in next issue.