7 Benefits of Yoga for Kids

Life can be stressful, even for kids! Starting school, learning new and confusing subjects, and meeting new people can be overwhelming. So, what can you do when your child experiences emotional stress? Yoga for kids is one answer. It can make your child feel more relaxed and provide a much-needed escape from their triggers.

In this article, you’ll learn how taking a few minutes a day to dedicate to simple poses can make your child feel focused, confident, and more in control.

7 Benefits of Yoga for Kids

Movement, mindfulness, and play are the ingredients to a healthy yoga routine. Learn other ways yoga can empower your child, build confidence, and encourage resilience.

1. Yoga helps children manage stress and anxiety

Yoga offers a holistic approach to stress relief beyond just stretching. When a child engages in activities that involve deep breathing and calming the mind, they activate the autonomic nervous system, which triggers the relaxation response [*].

Through yoga, children become more attuned to their feelings and learn to respond to them in a healthier way. Aspects of yoga, such as visualization and guided meditation, help children manage overwhelming emotions.

Yoga for anxiety incorporates breathwork and movement to help children stay calm during triggering moments.

2. Yoga builds children’s strength and flexibility

Yoga requires that a child use their own body weight for resistance, which helps develop functional strength and improve flexibility [*]. Children’s bones are still growing, so poses like the Plank or Boat Pose can engage the abdominal and back muscles.

When they are young, children are also more flexible. However, they lose that elasticity as they get older, which yoga can help keep intact. Exercises like the Triangle Pose and Forward Fold can stretch the hamstrings and improve joint health.

3. Yoga improves children’s concentration and memory

While yoga is a physical practice, it also asks children to coordinate their movements and remember poses. When you ask your child to do a yoga pose, you’re asking them to concentrate all their energy into a single task, which helps them anchor their minds. Over time, yoga can improve a child’s executive functioning and mindfulness, thereby enhancing their working memory [*].

Children practicing more advanced yoga poses have the opportunity to exercise their working memory, as they must recall a sequence of steps. Take the Sun Salutation, which is similar to a slowed-down burpee. This pose requires five to six steps that your child must remember.

4. Yoga helps children manage difficult emotions

Younger children often lack the sophisticated vocabulary to express their emotions, which can be frustrating. When they can’t process their emotions, they might hit, scream, or throw tantrums. Yoga gives them an avenue to hit pause and sit with their feelings.

Many yoga poses incorporate mindful breathing, which creates a gap between your child’s feelings and their subsequent actions. It gives them a moment to think about how they want to respond to a stressor.

Through yoga, children can also “map” sensations within the body. For example, if your child is anxious, they may not understand why their bodies become clammy, tingly, and hot, but yoga can help them understand these sensations.

5. Yoga builds children’s confidence and resilience

Your child doesn’t have to be an expert at yoga to “master” it. The point is to give them small, achievable goals that they can work on over time. It shifts your child’s mindset from “I can’t do it,” to “I can’t do it yet.”

Yoga’s non-judgmental environment helps children understand that falling over when trying to achieve a pose isn’t a failure. It’s an opportunity to try again and try new techniques!

Open postures, such as Warrior or Mountain Pose, also improve a child’s physical confidence. When they stand big and strong, they feel big and strong. Vocalizations like Lion’s Breath also push shy children to be louder and take up more space.

6. Yoga teaches children self-discipline

Every parent knows how difficult it can be to ask their child to behave or be quiet when they’re experiencing a burst of energy. On the other hand, yoga makes self-discipline an internal choice. It’s up to your child to decide how hard they want to work to achieve a certain pose.

Many yoga poses involve slow, controlled transitions (for example, transitioning from Warrior I to Warrior II). These slow movements require more discipline than fast ones. When the transition becomes difficult, your child must fight the natural impulse to quit and instead keep going.

7. Yoga helps children tune into their body and mind

Introception is the ability to reflect on what’s happening inside the body. For instance, a racing heart might indicate anxiety, while heaviness in the body might indicate sadness or depression.

Yoga is like a comprehensive body scan, in which children must notice different parts of their bodies and how they respond to certain poses.

Sometimes, yoga poses ask children to imagine their thoughts passing by like clouds or waves. These activities help children become more observant about what’s happening in their minds and bodies.

Making Yoga Fun for Kids

Starting yoga is easy, but staying consistent can be challenging for children who are easily distracted or unmotivated. The key to keeping them interested is making yoga fun. Here are some tips.

• Create a narrative: Inject some excitement into your child’s yoga session by turning your session into a story. For example, you might incorporate poses like Downward Dog, Cat-Cow, or Lion’s Breath into a story about a zoo adventure. Alternatively, you can insert Sun Breaths and Warrior poses into a superhero story. Want to up the excitement? Try turning yoga into a game!
• Use props and music: Add sensory elements to make the session more immersive, but be mindful about what might overstimulate your child. If doing a simple meditation, you can put on white noise or gentle music. You can also use props like stuffed animals, pinwheels, and balloons for certain poses.
• Be age-appropriate: Teach your child only what they can handle. If your child is a toddler, you’ll want to focus on techniques that are appropriate for their age, such as gross motor skills. In this case, you might prioritize simple poses that your child can do quickly. On the other hand, pre-teens between 9 and 12 might be more comfortable with a bigger challenge requiring more steps. Explore our yoga poses for kids and find the ones that suit your children!
• Dedicate a yoga corner: Set up a dedicated space that makes yoga more accessible for your child and family. For example, you might set up an area in the living room to store yoga mats, aromatherapy supplies, and yoga props.
• Do it together: Trying something for the first time can be scary without support. Why not do yoga together? It doesn’t matter if you’re not a master. Children are natural imitators and will be more confident taking your lead, even when you fall! And if you do, laugh it off. Don’t take your mistakes too seriously—it’ll inspire your child to keep going.

The Bottom Line

We know that yoga has big benefits for adults, but it’s also a great way for kids to relax, connect with their bodies, and learn new things. With regular practice, yoga can bring balance to your child’s mind and body.

Introduce more daily healthy habits and self-care routines for your child by exploring our collection of worksheets!

Sources:

1. Shobana R, Maheshkumar K, Venkateswaran ST, Geetha MB, Padmavathi R. “Effect of long-term yoga training on autonomic function among the healthy adults.” Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 2022.
2. Bağkur M, Günay E, Yerlikaya T, Öniz A. “Impact of Yoga Intervention on Physical Fitness Parameters in Preadolescent Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Journal of Basic and Clinical Health Sciences, 2024.
3. Wilkin K, Allen-Baker G, and Thornton C. “The effects of school-based yoga on the executive functioning skills of children between three and seven years of age. A meta-analysis of existing research.” Mental Health and Physical Activity, 2024.