Christa Corsaro Tyson ~ Yoga Instructor & Birth Doula
Serving Rochester, NY and surrounding areas

Children's Yoga Classes

Children's Yoga can be practiced as a private lesson in your home, in your school, playgroup, club or at a birthday party. Children will practice fun yoga poses (asana) and breathing exercises (pranayama) that help promote overall health. Younger children will play "yoga" and develop their creative side through expression in the poses and by imitating animals and nature. Classes geared for older children will be more structured and based on educational themes relevant to their interests.

Strength, Flexibility and Body Awareness:
Children crave movement and sensory/motor stimulus. Yoga helps channel these impulses in a safe and positive way. Children utilize their muscular energy while learning about basic anatomy and alignment. Movements used in yoga help bring sensation to joints that when compressed help bring body awareness. Joint compressions are similar to techniques used in physical therapy for children with low muscle tone. Yoga naturally helps bring flexibility and strength to the body with each pose practiced.

Trust and Confidence:
Partner poses help develop trust and bonding. The children build confidence by communicating with their partner within the poses. They are encouraged to express their comfort levels as their "partner" follows their cues, therefore the children learn to feel comfortable communicating with eachother both verbally and through body language.

Relaxation:
It is important for children to learn tools for relaxation. Yoga helps children learn to utilize their breath or certain postures during times of stress, which in turn can help foster successful coping skills. Deep breathing has a claming effect and children are able to learn to use their breath to self-calm. Practicing breathing also encourages the development of breath support for speech and postural stability. Children with hyperactivity or unstable activity levels respond beautifully to breathwork.

Self-Control and Focus:
There are yoga poses specifically designed to help bring focus to an active mind. For example, stability and balance in tree pose occurs when the child visually focuses on a small object on the floor or wall. Focus naturally occurs in many of the asymmetrical poses that stimulate both the left and right hemispheres of the brain. The children learn many of these poses and can then utilize them when focus is needed.

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