6 Easy Yoga Poses for Kids and its Benefits

The age-old and ageless practice of yoga has never failed to benefit anyone who has practiced it diligently. This only goes on to prove that children are no exception to this rule either. In fact, a child who has been performing yoga asanas (postures) and mudras (hand gestures) right from the time of their birth is only bound to experience the several benefits of the practice. When yoga comes so naturally to children, why not push them a little further to go deeper into the science that promises physical and mental calm and overall well-being? This is why this post talks about simple yoga poses for kids that they can do on their own.

Why Should Kids Practice Yoga?

While regular practice of yoga benefits everybody, children or adults alike, kids in particular stand to gain a lot of advantage from it. This is because a child’s body and mind both are more adaptive to new changes and experiences than those of adults. This is why when they practice yoga regularly over a period of time, it tends to open up a whole new world for them which includes some of the following:

• A sense of physical calm, particularly in case of restless children
• A sense of mental and emotional calm in case of anxious children
• Lower stress in terms of study pressure, family problems, parental/peer pressure, and the like
• Improved physical strength and internal immunity
• Improved attention and concentration to a particular activity
• With all these advantages to avail of, a child’s personality is only likely to bloom.

Easy Yoga Poses for Kids

In case you’re introducing the practice of yoga to your child for the first time, it’s a good idea to begin with some fairly simple poses that they can comfortably carry out as per their age. This is why we’ve carefully shortlisted some very simple yoga poses for kids that your child can start with. Some of these asanas are also animal yoga poses for kids, meaning that the posture resembles a particular animal. This makes it fun for children to remember the yoga pose name as well as enact it with eagerness.

6 Simple Yoga Poses for Kids with its Benefits 

Here are the top 6 yoga asanas that your child would love to do every morning with or without you! Each of the yoga poses has its benefits listed alongside for your reference.

1. Easy Sitting Pose

• It is also known as Sukhasana, sukh meaning comfort and asana meaning posture. This comfortable posture suits children of every age group, even toddlers. This is the first and the most basic yoga pose that you can start your child with. Even though sitting in Sukhasana (cross-legged) comes so naturally to everyone, including children, very few know the immense benefits of this posture.

Benefits of the pose:

• Brings more body flexibility, particularly of the hips and legs area
• Encourages correct sitting posture
• Helps relax the body completely
• Lowers stress in the body, thereby reducing tiredness and fatigue
• Improves focus

2.Child Pose :

This posture is called so for a reason. It resembles the position of a child relaxing during sleep. If you notice keenly, you’d find most babies and toddlers sleeping in this posture often. This is because they find it extremely relaxing.

To do this pose, make the child sit on the knees. Their heels would be touching their hips. This posture is also known as vajrasana. Now ask them to stretch their arms out front as far as possible and feel the stretch as they do so. Now, they can bring back the arms to the sides of the body and lay them there as you relax in the position completely.

Benefits of the pose:

• Helps release stress and tension from the body
• Works as a great soothing technique for kids
• Increases flexibility and core strength of lower body – hips, legs and ankles, in particular
• Helps calm down an overactive, upset, or stressed child

3.Cobra Pose:

• This is one animal pose that your child would simply love indulging in. In fact, you can encourage them to actually hiss like a cobra each time they get into the posture, to keep the momentum going.

It’s fairly simple to do as well. Make the child lie down on a yoga mat, with the stomach facing down and touching the mat. Let their palms rest alongside their chest. Make sure the toes point outward. Now ask the child to lift up the upper part of their body taking the support of their hands. The neck can go as back as comfortably as possible, nearly resembling a hissing cobra.

Benefits of the pose:

• Helps promote blood circulation throughout the body
• Helps improve creativity skills in the child
• Helps lend strength to the muscles in the chest, abdomen, arms, and back, improving flexibility
• Helps correct overall body posture

4.Butterfly Pose:

• This is yet another favorite yoga pose for most kids because it allows them to fly away like a butterfly! You can increase the fun for your child by imagining a short story of a butterfly flying away from its home to different flowers in search of nectar.

See the broad smile on their face as they sit there legs folded, toes touching one another, and flapping their wings (thighs) strongly. Encourage them to flap harder to fly higher like a butterfly!

Benefits of the pose:

• Helps reduce stress and tiredness
• Works great at improving digestion
• Also helps reduce headaches in children due to dress

5.Tree Pose :

• From animals, we move on to trees. Tree pose is loved by kids of all ages and you can also ask your child to try out a few different variations of the pose. To get into the tree pose, ask the child to place one foot over the other leg and fold your hands as you do so. Now ask them to hold the arms with hands folded, over the head. Try that the child is able to retain body balance as they make an effort to stay in that pose for a little while longer.

Benefits of the pose:

• Helps teach body balance
• Helps improve correct body posture
• Helps provide sensory input to the body

6. Corpse Pose

This is again the easiest of all the various yoga poses for kids. It involves simply lying down in quiet on your back, body straight, with focus on relaxing the body completely.

Benefits of the pose:

• Helps improve focus at work
• Helps boost creativity
• Helps support overall relaxation and calm in the body
• Helps reduce stress, tension, and anxiety in the body and mind