The new budding Yogis are here! While they may only have a limited command of words, and may not yet be able to walk, our toddlers have no difficulty whatsoever when it comes to rolling and somersaulting. Yes… baby yoga, the latest trend among parents, is attracting a growing number of enthusiasts who enjoy a moment of sharing and bonding with their children!
As with adults, yoga enables babies to relax, to use a number of muscles, to be fully aware of their bodies and to feel good. For these reasons, nurseries and day-care centers have understood the fundamental benefits of this practice and are beginning to offer yoga activities for the very young.
The importance of the first movements
Yoga movements have a beneficial effect on babies’ growth and encourage their natural development. Babies who have the opportunity to explore their body’s movements from an early age demonstrate greater confidence and ease as they begin to learn to sit up, walk and swim. Yoga enables children to better understand and master space, to move with greater freedom and, ultimately, to strengthen their ability to adapt to a new environment and to relate to others.
Relationships with parents
When practiced at home, Yoga for Babies is above all a moment of sharing and exchange with parents, helping to strengthen the bond of attachment. It’s an experience in transmission, learning through play and relaxation, in an ideal, supportive environment. Parents and children have a real opportunity to share a unique moment of complicity.
Our advice
- Adapt movements to suit different ages (breathing, muscles, relaxation…)
- Conditions must be optimal (comfortable clothes, pleasant temperature…).
- Turn yoga into a fun activity (tell a story with the movements, give animal names to the different postures, suggest songs…).
- Each exercise should be performed slowly, without straining the body.
- Reproduce the same postures at the same time as him