Yoga for Kids

In my family, my children and I all have a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Until I discovered yoga and trigger point therapy, I suffered from many chronic pain conditions including sciatica, a frozen shoulder, neck pain, scoliosis, a pronated foot, kyphosis, numerous repetitive stress injuries and more. Through diet changes, physical therapy, yoga and trigger point therapy, I was able to cure, or at least alleviate, many of these problems.

I've been bound and determined to not have my kids go through the same chronic pain conditions that I did as a child. As such, I watch their diets, help them with trigger point therapy and try to have them do yoga each day. Listed below are some of the tips I've found helpful in getting my kids into a regular yoga routine.

1. When my children were very little, I basically had to go through yoga routines with then one on one each day. My kids just never had the mental discipline until they reached about 7 or 8 years old to do a yoga routine on their own.

2. If your kids don't have any physical limitations that require a specialized routine, there are many well reviewed books and videos on yoga for children from Amazon that you can buy that are designed specifically for kids. We liked the book, aptly titled, Yoga for Children. (Also see my section on selected Yoga Videos for Kids.)

3. While the generic books and videos are very useful, there are times when my children have needed specialized routines for particular issues such as tight arm and chest muscles from too much Nintendo, tight leg muscles from playing soccer, or neck pain from too much school work.

At these times, I sort through my library of yoga books for them and make up a specialized routine I think will help to correct these problems. Then I walk it through with them a few times and see how they feel. As of this writing, my younger son has been having neck pain and has signs of mild lordosis (sway back) and kyphosis (rounded shoulders), so I've made up a routine with postures designed to target these specific problems.

For his recent problems, we have had to go through several iterations of routines before we developed the right set of poses in just the right sequence. But after a few tries, we now have a routine for my son that leaves his neck feeling much better and, day by day, seems to be correcting his lordosis and kyphosis.

4. Once we have a yoga routine that works, I make up a chart on the computer with a checklist of the poses they need to do. My children then have to check off each pose as they finish it. Then when they are done they have to turn in the completed list to me.

5. We have a point system we use to determine their allowance at the end of the week, so when they turn in their checked off yoga chart each day, they can add 20 points to their weekly point chart. If they want to earn extra points, they can always do another yoga session.

6. We've noticed that our kids get very tight muscles from playing video games like Xbox and Nintendo. We still let them play, but we limit how much time they can spend on the games and we make then balance out their video game time with yoga or stretching sessions.

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Yoga for Kids

Tips on Getting Your Kids Interested in a Daily Yoga Routine