Copyright 2018 by Katherine Priore Ghannam
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Illustrations Tatiana Emelyanova, 2018
ISBN: Print 978-1-93975-489-9
eBook 978-1-93975-490-5
For Olive and Zahra, my light and joy.
To Riyad, for the comic relief and cosmic support in this great parenting adventure.
I magine 33 quiet and serene nine-year olds (with a few wiggles here and there) resting their bodies and taking deep breaths together in the middle of a busy school day. When asked to describe how they feel afterward, one child waves his hand furiously and proudly proclaims, I feel like a newborn baby! His classmates nod and wave their hands in agreement. Yogaa practice of unifying movement with breath and awarenessholds the incredible potential to make us feel new again. For the developing child, this is a powerful and empowering experience.
Yoga and mindfulness provide a source of strength and stability in my work with children, both as an educator and mother to two loving and wildly creativeand just plain wildtoddlers. Not only do these practices relieve stress and encourage a compassionate attitude, they also help children and adults alike slow down and discover their feelings, uncovering their unique assets. We all benefit when we know what makes us tick.
My belief in the power of yoga for children led me to start Headstand, a nonprofit organization that helps integrate yoga and mindfulness programming in K12 schools. Since its inception in 2008, Headstand has served over 12 thousand students in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, and Houston. Headstands program combines yoga, mindfulness practices, and physical activity to teach the skills students need to process feelings, manage stress, develop a sense of self and compassion for others, and support academic achievement. Headstands online series for K12 teachers and administrators reaches educators around the globe.
Similar yoga and mindfulness programs for children are flourishing in the United States and abroad. A National Institutes of Health (NIH) study in 2016 found that over 940 schools in the United States alone have implemented a formal yoga program for students. Thousands of classroom teachers are trained to teach mindfulness and yoga to students throughout their day. There are yoga classes and even entire studios that cater to children, integrating games, music, and playful activities. P.E. teachers and coaches often provide yoga and mindfulness routines to improve focus and flexibility.
Yoga encourages children to tap into the vast reservoir of possibility within, which can help them meet their own personal challenges with compassion. Yoga guides children to discover the potential for positive change that exists in all of us.
In a world where we are constantly flooded with information, its critical to find ways to unplug and connect with our loved ones. As parents and caregivers, we need to provide healthy tools for children to tune out the distractions of everyday life and tune in to their thoughts and feelings. Yogas physical and emotional benefits for children (and adults!) are profound. These benefits include:
Holistic mind-body connection
Self-acceptance
Increased confidence
Reduced stress
Improved concentration and focus
Increased care for others/empathy
Decreased negative affect or emotions
Decreased anxiety in general (and test anxiety in particular)
Increased sense of calmness and relaxation
Yoga is a way to engage everyone in the family with movement-based play or quiet, calming activities. Yoga provides a simple, easy-to-access, and cost-effective way to help children build physical and emotional awareness. In its most basic form, yoga invites us to pause and take a deep breath, a most valuable tool for parents, caregivers, and children alike.
Yoga and mindfulness routines for kids and parents provide a fun and meaningful way to spend time together at home, in the park, or even on an airplane. Whether youre roaming around the house pretending to be a lion or creating a whole-family partner pose, the yoga activities in this book are sure to engage little ones and deepen family connections.
