HOW YOGA CAN HELP YOUNG CHILDREN WITH SELF SOOTHING

I often see toddlers and preschool participants have vast improvement in their self soothing skills once they attend yoga sessions in my yoga and therapy studio in Holmdel New Jersey. Parents often come to yoga in hopes that they can chill out and and chill their toddlers out. Well yoga can do just that. Yoga has calming effects on children because they learn certain poses and techniques at an early age to resort to when they feel their emotions and senses are being overwhelmed. Haven’t we so often felt like we are losing it? Children face the same emotional challenges as we do, however they are not always able to pinpoint the emotion and label it, and even more so deal with it. This results in childhood outbursts, disorderly behavior and even misdiagnosed ADHD, and conduct disorder. I know I feel anger so I label it, but how can a small child label anger when they don’t even know what the word means? One of the first things I do as a kids yoga teacher is have children label the emotions they feel. Knowing what you are feeling is the first step in self soothing. Having a pose to get into when the child feels sad is a great way to pinpoint a problem and solve it. So if you catch your kid counting and breathing, you know they are practicing their mindful yoga techniques.