Changing a generation, one yoga adventure at a time

"But how does it work, Lee-ann? It's just like MAGIC!!" The words of a 9-year-old yogini from Nottingham (Nov16)

Do you have a young person in your life?

As grown-ups it’s really easy to forget that children can be affected by stress, anxiety and depression during unsettling times like moving home, a squabble with a friend, bullying, a family separation and even from school work. The pressures that our young folk are faced with are probably very different to the ones that you or I had as we were growing up, especially with the advent of social media adding all manner of social and body image issues into the mix.

Increasingly, the government and schools are beginning to recognise that children’s emotional development is just as important as their academic advancement; not all learning eez from a book, Manuel.

Yoga for children is not only fun and great exercise but also enriches and supports their formal education with inter-curricular learning. The yoga lessons I teach are themed and structured to include aspects of mathematics, literacy, science and creative arts. I believe it greatly benefits children to have sessions tailored around class topics to complement and enhance curriculum-based learning. There is no religion attached to yoga, but I do honour all religious celebrations equally, regardless of denomination.

I love leading children’s yoga groups; it keeps my feet on the ground with their amazing humour and fresh eyes to the ideas I introduce them to. I work with children between the ages of 4 and 12 and I am very passionate about the benefits of a yoga practice for all. I believe it equips children with a wide variety of personal and social skills to enable them to deal with school work, social and family situations as well as increasing self-esteem and confidence. Amongst many other benefits, yoga for children can

• promote positive body awareness and self-image

• reduce stress and anxiety

• encourage kindness and respect

• improve concentration & focus

• teach self-calming and relaxation techniques

• boost immune system and physical development

• encourage a healthy, physically fit lifestyle

• improve sleep quality

Children in lots of villages around Nottingham have all recently been on all kinds of adventures with me using their imaginations to take them to exciting places and their bodies to create different shapes to fit in with the stories. I am lucky enough that I know some amazing children's yoga teachers in my local area, all offering their own uniqueness to the classes. 

Young people in the UK have SATS tests in their final year of primary school and some can find it a very challenging time. I am currently working with three local schools and I am holding a special yoga class next week just for these children to have some fun, move their bodies and learn some techniques to help them relax and be comfortable with any worries around the tests in May. I'm really looking forward to it! (If you know someone who might be interested, check out the [Classes & Booking](http://www.allyouyoga.co.uk/classes-booking/) page of my website for more information.)

I’m sure you already know how magical it can feel when you’re in your “Yoga Buzz” and if you have any interactions with children in your family or in your job, consider introducing them to it, too.

I’d love to hear if you share your yoga practice with a young person - comment below to share!**