Well, the word yoga means union...
When we dream, we see different people, animals, trees, buildings, cars, yoga mats and other objects. But who and what are all of these people and things in your dream? Are they really other people and other things?
No, they are all you. Your own amazing mind manifests all of these things.
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It is the same here in our waking reality… We are not as far from each other as we may think.
For example, look at someone or something now. Where do you see them?
Are they inside of you or outside of you?
Are they inside of you or outside of you?
We are used to thinking of them as being outside of us, but if we look a bit closer we might discover that we are woven much closer than we think. You do see them inside of you… all perception is within. We actually have no clue what is outside.
Everything we see, touch, smell, hear and feel is our own internal perception of what we are experiencing outwardly.
The more we can imbibe this feeling, the more connected we all feel to everything and everyone. We feel alive and happy!
This is the explanation for adults; the adults that are interested in hearing it. However, even for most adults it will be sufficient to just say that yoga is good for you!
But how do you explain yoga to children?
This depends partly on how old they are:
This depends partly on how old they are:
- In yoga, there is a pose for everything in the world, whether it is an animal, a tree, or an airplane, and we can do it with our body.
- Thousands of years ago, the ancient yogis lived in the forest, the mountains, and the caves of India. They observed their environment and saw how the animals and nature moved in perfect harmony. They imitated the movements of the animals, the trees, the mountains, and even the movements of the stars, and created a wonderful technique that is called yoga.
- Yoga is a way to exercise our bodies, our breath and our minds all at the same time. Yoga makes us feel great!
- Yoga is a very ancient science that helps us to develop flexibility and strength in our bodies, and happiness and peace in our minds.
- Yoga is a practice and philosophy that teaches that happiness is our natural state. When the body and the mind are out of balance, we do not feel this happiness. With the help of yoga poses, breathing exercises, and focusing within, we bring back this harmony to our body and mind and come back to this natural state of happiness.
Effectiveness Studies – The Tangible Benefits of Yoga for Children
For those of you who may like to expand upon personal experience and are interested in exploring studies which provide an evidence base for your practice, there is a wide body of research which offers sound support for the many benefits of children’s yoga. Having a firm understanding of the scientific evidence can be useful for informing parents or institutions you may work for.
Here are some excerpts from research articles which you may wish to read in greater depth:
Jain et al’s (1991, p.230) study of the effectiveness of yoga training for children with asthma reported:
“Yoga training for children with asthma resulted in a significant increase in pulmonary function and exercise capacity and a follow-up study over two years showed reduced symptom scores and drug requirements.”
Haffner, Roos, Goldstein, Parzer and Resch (2006, p.258) explored the effectiveness of yoga training for managing ADHA in children and found:
“The effect of a yoga intervention in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was compared to conventional motor exercises. The yoga intervention achieved medium to high effect sizes on all measures; test scores on an attention task and parent ratings of ADHD symptoms. The yoga training was particularly effective for children undergoing pharmacotherapy.”
Telles and Naveen’s (1997, p.265) randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of yoga breathing exercises on school performance in children found:
“Yoga breathing techniques including right nostril breathing, left nostril breathing, alternate nostril breathing, or breath awareness was tested in a group of school children for ten days. All four groups showed a significant average increase of 84% in spatial cognitive task test scores over control, but not in verbal task scores.”
Rajesh, Jayachandran, Mohandas and Radhakrishnan’s (2006, p.259) pilot study examining the effects of a Yoga meditation protocol on the management of epilepsy found:
“A yoga and meditation program for 20 minutes twice daily (mornings and evenings) at home with supervised sessions weekly for three months was investigated in patients with drug-resistant chronic epilepsy. Participants achieved a substantial reduction in seizure frequency and those who continued the program beyond three and six months experienced the greatest reductions in seizure frequency. Some became seizure free.”
Michalsen et al. (2005, p.261) investigated the effects of an Iyengar yoga program on perceived stress and psychological outcomes in distressed women and found:
“An Iyengar yoga program twice a week for three months resulted in significant improvements in perceived stress, anxiety, well-being, vigor, fatigue and depression. Physical well-being also increased and those suffering from headache or back pain reported pain relief. Salivary cortisol also decreased significantly after participation in a yoga class.”
Jensen and Kenny (2004, p.262) conducted a study which examined the effects of yoga on ADHD symptoms on inpatient children and found:
“A small trial of yoga for boys with ADHD reported results, partly because the study was under-powered, however that yoga may still have merit as a complementary treatment for boys with ADHD already stabilized on medication.”
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A follow-up study by Hariprasad, Arasappa, Varambally, Srinath and Gangadhar (2013, p. 383) extended these finding to the following:
“The main findings are reductions in the ADHD scores as measured by ADHD-RS IV and CPRS in the group of children at discharge. In the follow-up months, they practiced yoga irregularly and scores on these scales had worsened.”
“The important finding of this study is that the yoga module can be taught to symptomatic inpatients with ADHD and these children were able to learn the yoga procedures. This is demonstrated by the assessment of yoga performance showing that there were improvements on all four domains of the yoga performance during the hospital stay. The finding also indicates that as they reduced/stopped the yoga practice, the symptoms worsened. This may suggest a therapeutic benefit from yoga.”
Razza, Bergen-Cico and Raymond (2015, p. 372) conducted a study evaluating the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based yoga intervention in promoting self-regulation among preschool children and found:
“Results from the direct assessments indicated significant effects of the intervention across all three indices of self-regulation. There was also some evidence that the children who were most at risk of self-regulation dysfunction benefited the most from the intervention.”
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“…our findings highlight the benefits of a mindful yoga intervention for young children’s self-regulation. In particular, children in the intervention classroom showed advantages in both measures of both EC and EF at the end of the school year compared to their peers in the control classroom. Thus, the current study adds to a small, but growing, body of research that supports the use of mindfulness-based practice with young children.”
The Australia and United Kingdom Yoga Practitioner Survey (Penman, 2006) found that Yoga helps in the following areas:
- Better able to handle stress
- Better able to handle negative thoughts
- Positive change in back pain
- Boost in energy levels
- Improvement in strength and stamina
- Improved body awareness
- Greater flexibility in spine and joints
- Improvement in overall body tension
- Improved breathing
- Improved balance
- Improved sleep pattern
- Better ability to handle emotions
- Positive shift in mood
- Better ability to deal with conflict
- Higher levels of serenity
- More patient and open with others
- More tolerant towards others
- Greater feelings of compassion for others
- Positive improvement in communication skills
- Better family relationships
- Better social relationships
- Better experiences in the workplace
- Better able to change unhealthy lifestyle habits
- Greater clarity of purpose
- Feel more confident
- Have more courage
- Feel more creative and intuitive
The following list outlines some of the benefits of school-based yoga and meditation practices that address the whole child, thus maximizing the development of academic, social and emotional competence in addition to benefits for teachers and classroom climate:
- Provides students with healthy ways to express, balance, and regulate their emotions and behavior (Bergen-Cico et al., 2015; Daly et al., 2015; Razza et al., 2013).
- Promotes a more relaxed, comfortable state of being - the perfect state for teaching and learning (Dai et al., 2015).
- Has a positive impact on students’ academic performance (Butzer et al., 2015;Kauts & Sharma, 2009).
- Brings students into the present moment – the most basic requirement for learning (Eastman-Mueller et al., 2013).
- Encourages community and connectedness within the classroom (Conboy et al., 2013; Finnan, 2015).
- Provides opportunities for beneficial motor breaks throughout the day (Fox, 1999; Sibley & Etnier, 2003).
- Eases anxiety and tension (such as pre-test or performance jitters) (Frank et al., 2014; Noggle et al., 2012).
- Reduces anger, depression, and fatigue (Felver et al., 2015).
- Cultivates balanced psychological and physiological responses to stress, such as improved stress management (Miller et al., 2014), reduced problematic stress responses (Feagans Gould et al., 2012; Mendelson et al., 2010), and decreased cortisol concentrations (Butzer et al., 2015).
- Enhances focus, attention, concentration, comprehension and memory (Case-Smith et al., 2010; Ehud et al., 2010; Pradhan & Nagendra, 2010; Napoli et al., 2005; Manjunath & Telles, 2004; Quach et al., 2015).
- Provides opportunities for reflection, patience and insight, thereby reducing impulsivity, hostility, and reactivity (Fishbein et al., 2015; Frank et al, 2014;Parker et al., 2014).
- Supports social and emotional learning (Gueldner & Feuerborn, 2015).
- Enhances flexibility, strength, and physical well-being (Chen & Pauwels, 2014;Verma et al., 2014).
- Improves mind/body awareness and self-awareness (Conboy et al., 2013;Ramadoss & Bose, 2010).
- Enhances executive function (i.e., processes required to select, organize, and properly initiate goal-directed actions) by combining the cognitive and neurological benefits of physical activity (Best, 2010; Diamond & Lee, 2011;Fumoto et al., 2010; Ratey, 2013) with breathing exercises and mental focus techniques.
- Enhances resilience and coping frequency, thereby helping students adapt and cope with negative life events (Khalsa et al., 2012;White, 2012).
- Improves confidence and self-esteem (Bhardwaj & Agrawal, 2013; Sethi et al., 2013).
- Encourages respect for oneself and others (Dubey, 2011; Fishbein et al., 2015).
- Improves physiological outcomes such as respiratory muscle strength (D’Souza & Avadhany, 2014), heart rate variability (Bothe et al., 2014), and stress reactivity (Fishbein et al., 2015).
- Creates a calm, harmonious classroom (Butzer et al., 2015).
- Has beneficial effects on outcomes for classroom teachers, including increases in calmness, mindfulness, well-being, and positive mood, improvements in classroom management, physical symptoms, blood pressure, and cortisol awakening response, and decreases in mind and body stress (Harris et al., 2016; Jennings et al., 2013; Kemeny et al., 2012; Nosaka & Okamura, 2015), thereby supporting a positive classroom climate, teacher effectiveness and student outcomes (Roeser et al., 2012).
An enlightening article in YOGA Chicago titled ‘Yoga for Children: Now proven effective’ (Binzen, 2007) summarized the incredibly far reaching finding of the first Symposium on Yoga Therapy and Research (SYTAR):
“SYTAR, the first Symposium on Yoga Therapy and Research, was held in Los Angeles in January to further define the field of yoga therapy, share research results and discuss methods for further inquiry…”
“…My interest in being there was to learn about current research on the benefits of yoga for children. Experience has shown me that yoga is an excellent system for promoting healthy development and can be an incredibly effective means of facilitating wellness in children. It is noninvasive and its “side effects,” including improved self-esteem, emotional equilibrium, more energy and the ability to self-calm, are completely benign if not totally beneficial. Nearly a quarter of the abstracts submitted for the symposium focused on children and adolescents. The very same benefits subjectively seen in my experience have now been measured and reported.”
“…Children who practice yoga may not only be better able to regulate their emotions, manage stress and calm themselves, studies now show that they may also choose better foods to eat and engage in more physical activity than children who do not.
Whether over or underweight, body image issues and poor eating habits plague our children today. Studies shared at SYTAR suggest yoga may help.”
Whether over or underweight, body image issues and poor eating habits plague our children today. Studies shared at SYTAR suggest yoga may help.”
“…One study examined the benefits of yoga for adolescents with eating disorders. These teens attended yoga classes as part of their psychiatric day treatment program. Typically suffering from a lack of self-esteem, nearly 75% reported an increase in well-being. They used the words “relaxed,” “calm,” “energized” and “more awake” to describe how they felt after class. (M.J Fury, MA, RYT, and L.C. Kaley-Isley, PhD, RYT).”
A case study on anorexic adolescents found that “focused breathing (pranayama), movement sequences (asana), meditation (dhyana), and alert relaxation (yoga nidra)…reduced starvation-induced stress, safely reintroduced physical activity for a weakened body, minimized fatigue and… corrected distorted self-perceptions.” (Susana A. Galle, PhD, ND, CCN, CCH, and Tomas E. Silber, MD)
Other studies on children and adolescents included at SYTAR looked at anxiety, depression, trauma, mood regulation, sense of well-being, self-esteem and “increased wellness.”
R. Fridholm concluded from a small sample study that a systematic use of breathing exercises, yoga postures and guided relaxation “provided useful strategies for emotional regulation for children with autism spectrum disorders.” Subjective outcomes included “improved focus, strength, flexibility, and balance; improved sense of self-awareness and pride; and improved ability to calm themselves.”
Girls ages 14 to 17 who had suffered traumatic abuse attended a yoga class twice a week and showed “significant decreases in depression, anxiety, dissociation, and intrusive/avoidant symptoms.” It was further reported that “the girls overwhelmingly noted that they felt happier, more relaxed, less stressed, and more at ease in their bodies on the days they practiced yoga than on the days they did not.” (A. Bortz, PsyD, RYT and K. Cradock, LCSW, RYT.
Perhaps one of the more interesting studies, submitted by Molly Kenny, MS-CCC of The Samarya Center in Seattle, Washington, suggested that the physical act of balancing might improve self-esteem in teens. The positive effects of “balance training” on the subjects’ concentration and attention were “immediately observable,” and she proposed that the effects on self-esteem might become more apparent over time.”
“…More and more teachers and other interested adults are sharing yoga with children. Kids have a natural tendency to share what they are learning when they get home, so this is an easy way to get the whole family involved. Parents may be practicing yoga themselves, and kids are always interested in what their parents are up to.”
An article in the The Sydney Morning Herald (Teutsch, July 22, 2007) examined the huge benefits of yoga for kids and the growing trend of incorporating yoga into child care centers in Australia:
“Child-care workers have discovered a new weapon in helping calm a roomful of boisterous tots…”
“…Kylie Peters, director of Simply Kids Yoga, said there had been a lot of interest from child-care centres in her toddler and preschool classes. Her classes at several Sydney child-care centres are taught using imaginative storytelling. Children may pretend to be pirates, mermaids or animals in the jungle as they move through the poses and concentrate on their breathing. “Yoga helps body awareness and alignment, improved focus and built strength”, she said.
“…Deep breathing, and the downward-facing dog yoga position, are becoming part of the curriculum at some Sydney day-care centers that find yoga benefits children's physical co-ordination, makes them stronger and helps concentration…”
“…Kylie Peters, director of Simply Kids Yoga, said there had been a lot of interest from child-care centres in her toddler and preschool classes. Her classes at several Sydney child-care centres are taught using imaginative storytelling. Children may pretend to be pirates, mermaids or animals in the jungle as they move through the poses and concentrate on their breathing. “Yoga helps body awareness and alignment, improved focus and built strength”, she said.
“…Deep breathing, and the downward-facing dog yoga position, are becoming part of the curriculum at some Sydney day-care centers that find yoga benefits children's physical co-ordination, makes them stronger and helps concentration…”
“… Acre Woods Childcare started funding weekly yoga classes for its two- to five-year-olds this year: "The kids love it, and seem to be very receptive to it. They are a lot calmer after the class. They can feel the difference in their bodies; they are also learning skills on how to calm themselves."
“…Belinda Raine, from Gladesville, said her son Joshua, 3, liked to practice his yoga poses at home after his weekly class at Acre Woods Childcare. “It’s good for his flexibility, and the kids seem very calm after it," she said.”
With the intention of providing a helpful resource for schools, program providers, researchers and others interested in the body of evidence supporting yoga and mindfulness for children, adolescents and in schools, Yoga 4 Classrooms and ChildLight Yoga founder, Lisa Flynn, and Bethany Butzer, PhD, have partnered to compile a consistently updated organized reference list of peer-reviewed, published studies and research review articles with links to abstracts and full-text publications when available.
This repository will be updated quarterly, so visit this page often to download the most updated version. Thank you Lisa and Bethany!
Finally, an article published in the Australian Yoga Journal (Fowler, 2010) summarizes perfectly the many hidden benefits of yoga for children:
“Introducing yoga to children at a young age can alleviate stress, introduce an alternative exercise, and fend off some illnesses.
Stress Management for Kids: Most children have cheerful and carefree dispositions as they move from infancy to toddlerhood and enter the school system. Schooling introduces necessary stress into children’s lives through homework, socialization, and being in a school environment for the first time. Some children have no problem with this system, and will dutifully complete their work, and interact with other children without complaint.
If this is not the case, yoga can help the struggling child compartmentalize their minds and teach them how to constructively work through stress. Through a series of movements and breathing exercises, children can learn to focus on the present and not on their past or upcoming struggles. By learning to focus on the present, the child will not feel overwhelmed by the amount of homework due but will focus solely on the job in front of them.
Seeing Yoga as a Sport: As a child grows, their personality develops and becomes clearer. Everyone needs exercise, but not everyone is comfortable with the rough nature of hockey, or fast-paced game of soccer. To keep a child active and away from the comfort of the couch, yoga can be presented as an alternative.
Yoga is challenging for the body and forces the participant to focus on entirely on their body’s reactions. It requires complete focus on calming the breath during a particularly difficult pose and undivided attention. Children would be gaining the ability to focus as well as the physical benefits that comes from practicing yoga, such as flexibility, toned muscles, and healthy muscles.
Yoga is a Natural Medicine: As children grow, their brains finish forming, and they are susceptible to a variety of illnesses. Yoga has a large amount of benefits reaped when practiced regularly.
On the outside, yoga appears to be solely a practice about relaxation and flexibility. Within the body, there are many other results that can be beneficial to growing children. Yogic poses twist the spine, stretch limbs, massage organs, and calm breathing. For children with Down Syndrome and cerebral palsy, yoga helps prevent weight gain and improves motor functions.”
In short: YOGA IS SIMPLY GREAT FOR YOU!!!
Gopala Amir Yaffa
www.rainbowyogatraining.com
www.rainbowyogatraining.com
References
Binzen, M. (2007, March/April). Yoga for children: Now proven effective! Yoga Chicago. Retrieved from: http://yogachicago.com/2014/03/yoga-for-children/
Cohen, L., Warneke, C., Fouladi, R. T., Rodriguez, M. A., & Chaoul-Reich, A. (2004). Psychological adjustment and sleep quality in a randomized trial of the effects of a Tibetan Yoga intervention in patients with lymphoma. American Cancer Association, 100, 2253-2260. doi: 10.1002/cncr.20236
Culos-Reed, S. N., Carlson, L. E., Daroux, L. M., & Hately-Aldous, S. (2006). A pilot study of yoga for breast cancer survivors: physical and psychological benefits. Psycho-Oncology,15, 891–897.
Fowler, Alyssa. (2010). Yoga for Kids: The Many Hidden Benefits of Yoga, Australian Yoga Journal. March 28.
Haffner, J., Roos, J., Goldstein, N., Parzer, P., & Resch, F. (2006). The effectiveness of body-oriented methods of therapy in the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): results of a controlled pilot study. Z Kinder Jugendpsychiatr Psychother, 34, 37-47.
Hariprasad, V. R., Arasappa, R., Varambally, S., Srinath, S., & Gangadhar, B. N. (2013). Feasibility and efficacy of yoga as an add-on intervention in attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder: An exploratory study. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 55, 379–384.
Jain, S. C., Rai, L., Valecha, A., Jha, U. K., Bhatnagar, S. O. D., & Ram, K. (1991). Effect of Yoga Training on Exercise Tolerance in Adolescents with Childhood Asthma. Journal of Asthma, 28, 437-442.
Jensen, P. S., & Kenny, D. T. (2004). The effects of yoga on the attention and behavior of boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Journal of Attentional Disorders, 7, 205–216.
Michalsen, A., Jeitler, M., Brunnhuber, S., Lüdtke, R., Büssing, A., Musial, F., Dobos, G., Kessler, C. (2012). Iyengar yoga for distressed women: A 3-armed randomized controlled trial. Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012, 408727. doi: 10.1155/2012/408727
Rajesh, B., Jayachandran, D., Mohandas, G., & Radhakrishnan, K. (2006). A pilot study of a yoga meditation protocol for patients with medically refractory epilepsy. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine,12, 367–71.
Razza, R. A., Bergen-Cico, D., & Raymond, K. (2015). Enhancing preschoolers’ self-regulation via mindful yoga. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24, 372-385. doi: 10.1007/s10826-013-9847-6
Telles, S., & Naveen, K. V. (1997). Yoga for rehabilitation: An overview. Indian J Med Sci, 51, 123-7.
Teutsch, D. (2007, July 22). New twist in children's welfare stretches to pirates and mermaids. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/new-twist-in-childrens-welfare-stretches-to-pirates-and-mermaids/2007/07/21/1184560101177.html
Binzen, M. (2007, March/April). Yoga for children: Now proven effective! Yoga Chicago. Retrieved from: http://yogachicago.com/2014/03/yoga-for-children/
Cohen, L., Warneke, C., Fouladi, R. T., Rodriguez, M. A., & Chaoul-Reich, A. (2004). Psychological adjustment and sleep quality in a randomized trial of the effects of a Tibetan Yoga intervention in patients with lymphoma. American Cancer Association, 100, 2253-2260. doi: 10.1002/cncr.20236
Culos-Reed, S. N., Carlson, L. E., Daroux, L. M., & Hately-Aldous, S. (2006). A pilot study of yoga for breast cancer survivors: physical and psychological benefits. Psycho-Oncology,15, 891–897.
Fowler, Alyssa. (2010). Yoga for Kids: The Many Hidden Benefits of Yoga, Australian Yoga Journal. March 28.
Haffner, J., Roos, J., Goldstein, N., Parzer, P., & Resch, F. (2006). The effectiveness of body-oriented methods of therapy in the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): results of a controlled pilot study. Z Kinder Jugendpsychiatr Psychother, 34, 37-47.
Hariprasad, V. R., Arasappa, R., Varambally, S., Srinath, S., & Gangadhar, B. N. (2013). Feasibility and efficacy of yoga as an add-on intervention in attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder: An exploratory study. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 55, 379–384.
Jain, S. C., Rai, L., Valecha, A., Jha, U. K., Bhatnagar, S. O. D., & Ram, K. (1991). Effect of Yoga Training on Exercise Tolerance in Adolescents with Childhood Asthma. Journal of Asthma, 28, 437-442.
Jensen, P. S., & Kenny, D. T. (2004). The effects of yoga on the attention and behavior of boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Journal of Attentional Disorders, 7, 205–216.
Michalsen, A., Jeitler, M., Brunnhuber, S., Lüdtke, R., Büssing, A., Musial, F., Dobos, G., Kessler, C. (2012). Iyengar yoga for distressed women: A 3-armed randomized controlled trial. Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012, 408727. doi: 10.1155/2012/408727
Rajesh, B., Jayachandran, D., Mohandas, G., & Radhakrishnan, K. (2006). A pilot study of a yoga meditation protocol for patients with medically refractory epilepsy. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine,12, 367–71.
Razza, R. A., Bergen-Cico, D., & Raymond, K. (2015). Enhancing preschoolers’ self-regulation via mindful yoga. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24, 372-385. doi: 10.1007/s10826-013-9847-6
Telles, S., & Naveen, K. V. (1997). Yoga for rehabilitation: An overview. Indian J Med Sci, 51, 123-7.
Teutsch, D. (2007, July 22). New twist in children's welfare stretches to pirates and mermaids. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/new-twist-in-childrens-welfare-stretches-to-pirates-and-mermaids/2007/07/21/1184560101177.html