There is So Much More To Yoga ...

Tree pose. Triangle pose. Headstand.

This is typically what comes to mind when one thinks of yoga: the poses, or asanas. Yoga is often times thought of as simply a physical exercise we practice for a good workout and better fitness. While it is true that yoga will provide your body with a great workout, it is meant to do so much more! The true purpose of yoga is to evolve into a better, happier, loving person who can realize and maximize their self potential. We do this by discovering our inner goodness and the inner goodness of others, realizing and accepting our connection to all things and all people, and by participating in a complete yoga practice, not just one part of it.

There is so much more to yoga then standing on your head and chanting Om. It is more than a physical practice, it is a lifestyle. A long time ago in India, a man named Patanjali wrote a large text called the Yoga Sutras, which explains everything there is to know about yoga including how to practice yoga, the multitude of benefits we can experience from yoga, and how to live our life the yoga way. Patanjali separated yoga into 8 different parts, known as the eightfold path. This is often depicted as an 8 limbed tree, like the oak tree painted on the wall of our studio, each limb representing a different part of yoga. When practiced separately, each part will have its own benefits. However, the practice of yoga is not complete without the incorporation of all 8 components. Read on to discover how the eightfold path can not only help children to grow physically, but how it can help them to develop well rounded beliefs and values.

Patanjali’s Eightfold Path.. in a kid friendly way!

• Yamas – These are values, or personal attitudes we can teach children. The yamas correspond with the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Some examples: Not causing harm to any other living thing or to our environment. No hitting or biting our classmates, no stepping on ants or worms! Always telling the truth no matter how hard it is. Not taking things that don’t belong to us no matter how badly we want them! Recognizing the difference between things we want and things we need. This is an important one to instill in children from a young age. Do I really need that talking Hannah Montana doll or do I just really, really want it?
• Niyamas – These are healthy and important habits such as freshness & cleanliness, not just for our bodies but for our bedrooms, the food we eat, our planet, and our minds!
  Putting a non-greedy attitude into practice: learning to be happy with things we have and not wanting a lot of toys to clutter up our rooms, our minds, and our lives.
  Self discipline: working on homework every night, practicing for a dance or music recital, cutting out bad foods from our diet like Oreos or soda!
• Asanas – These are the poses that we all associate with yoga. Asanas are great for children! They help to tone muscles and increase strength, they give children an outlet for their energy, they increase flexibility, and they help with body awareness and acceptance! The benefits are endless! And so are the poses! Downward facing dogs, upward facing dogs, planks, bows, warriors, triangles, camels… the list goes on and on!
• Pranayama –ahhhhhh the breath. Breathe in… breathe out. Sure we all know how to do this, but through practice, children can not only increase their lung capacity, but they learn how to control their breath and how to use it to their advantage when they need it to increase energy or to calm themselves down. They also find it quite enjoyable to breathe like bunnies, lions, snakes & dragons!
• Pratyahara – Calming our senses is not always an easy thing to master! It isn’t easy for children to block out the sounds of cars outside or a ringing phone when they have homework to do! It isn’t easy for them to turn down the taste of a yummy sugary birthday cake when their taste buds are screaming for it – even though they just ate two pieces! Our senses bombard us every second of the day with a flood of information that can seem very overwhelming, but by learning to calm their senses, children can block out certain signals their brains are sending them, and focus on the task at hand.
• Dharana – Concentration & calming the mind. Pratyahara and Dharana go hand in hand. By learning to calm your senses, you will begin to relax and steady your mind. Children rarely want to sit still and focus on one thing or one task. Overwhelmed by outside stimulations, their minds are running wild! But we can teach children how to go inside their minds, calm their thoughts, and concentrate. I find that balance poses are great ways to teach children focus and concentration. I also have a game I use called the quiet bell game, where children walk around with a small bell without letting the bell ring. This requires quietness, concentration, focus, and a very calm still mind.
• Dhyana – Meditation. Once we are able to calm our senses (pratyahara) and calm our mind (dharana) we achieve a state of meditation (dhyana). This is a challenging one for both kids and adults alike! It is difficult to shut out all outside interference and focus so deeply that we feel at one with the subject of our meditation. This is an especially difficult concept to teach to children. I have found that through chanting (anything from Ommmm… to Moooooooo!), coloring of mandalas, or repetition of a word or phrase (mantras) children can learn to focus so intently that they achieve a state of meditation
• Samadhi – This is the last limb of the path. It is a sense of enlightenment, of discovering who you are as a person, recognizing all that is good within yourself, and all that is good within everyone else. This is achieved when all of the other 7 paths have been walked, when the limbs have been climbed. When you have discovered how to be good to others and to yourself, how to control your breath, your body, your senses and your mind, you achieve Samadhi.

While this state of enlightenment may sound like something that is achieved only after many years and many experiences, there is no reason why we cannot start our children on the journey to enlightenment right from toddlerhood!

By teaching children from an early age all of the different aspects of a yoga lifestyle we not only help to enhance and encourage their physical development, but also their cognitive & emotional development as well. While yoga will help children increase their muscle tone and flexibility, it will also help them to develop a sense of love and acceptance for themselves and for others.

At Powerflow Kids we teach children awareness, acceptance, and love for themselves and for others. This is done through the eightfold path. Every part is as important as the others, and every part is incorporated into my classes in some way, whether it is through a discussion, reading a book, doing an activity, or playing a game. The next time you pick up your child from class, ask them about what they did and what they learned, what games they played or songs they sang. You’re sure to find the eightfold path in their answer.