Studies have shown that yoga and meditation reduces stress and anxiety, and if started at early age, it allows children to become more open minded, receptive and sensitive adults. Fostering compassion and cooperation instead of oppositions is a great gift we can offer to the children. Children derive enormous benefits from yoga. Physically, it enhances their flexibility, strength, coordination, and body awareness. Concentration and sense of calmness and relaxation improves. Doing yoga , children exercise, play, connect more deeply with the inner self, and develop an intimate relationship with the natural world that surrounds them. Yoga brings the marvellous inner light that all children have to surface.
But, wait a minute? Doesn’t everything above relate to adults too? We strongly believe in the cycle of happy practitioners, happy children, happy parents. We have introduced yoga for children in all our settings some time ago, and now, seeing the benefits of the practice, we decided to take it to the next level, by providing intense yet playful training for our practitioners, so they become designated Tops Yoga Leaders. We strongly believe that by providing our staff with more knowledge and understanding we are empowering our practitioners so they can see benefits of yoga practice for themselves, and improve quality of their lives. Teaching children means continuous learning for ourselves, so by introducing Tops Yoga Leader programme, we strongly believe that we are influencing not just children but adults too.
During the training, practitioners have an opportunity to learn about yoga postures and their names, look into variations and correct body alignment. We spend significant amount of time on the mats, playing and exploring various poses. Practitioners gain basic knowledge and understanding of yoga history and how it should be practised, to respect the tradition. Yoga for children must be engaging, interactive and interesting, so we are spending a lot of time on building up some stories or adapting the ones we all know and love. Yoga teaches us how not to be self conscious, so by making noises, various body shapes or not being able to get into poses, we are making ourselves vulnerable and completely open to the new experience, exactly what we should be teaching children.
