5 Evidence-Based Benefits of Yoga for Kids
Many of us know that there are plenty of benefits of yoga for kids. But… what does the research say? Inquiring minds want to know! Here are 5 evidence-based benefits of yoga for kids.
Yoga improves motor skills.
One of the benefits of yoga for kids is improvements in motor skills. Research indicates that children who participated in a 12-week yoga program demonstrated significant and positive changes in overall motor abilities scores in balance, strength, and flexibility (Folleto et al, 2016).
Yoga improves behavior and self-regulation.
A study on preschoolers who participated in a mindful yoga program indicated that the children showed significant effects of the mindful yoga intervention on all three indices of self-regulation. In addition, some evidence showed that the children who were most at risk of self-regulation dysfunction benefited the most from the mindful yoga intervention (Razza et al, 2015).
The same study that showed improvements in motor skills in order children, also indicated positive changes in behavior following the 12-week yoga program (Folleto et al, 2016).
Yoga helps the mental health of children.
Additional benefits of yoga for kids, is that it can help the mental health of children. Participating in 10 minutes of daily yoga in the classroom, resulted in a significant impact on the anxiety levels of children in kindergarten through 3rd grade (Rosenburg, 2018)
Yoga can help with the severity of symptoms in children with autism
A recent study indicated that yoga poses (24 sessions over 8 weeks) had a significant effect on sociability, cognitive/awareness, and health/physical behavior in children with autism (Sotoodeh et al, 2017).
Yoga helps with attention span and memory.
Practicing yoga requires focus and attention. Research indicates that pre-adolescent students received the benefits of yoga for kids following a 5 day a week, 12 month yoga program. The students who participated showed better performance in visual attention, selective attention, and verbal memory/auditory attention compared to the students who did not participate (Nilsoge et al, 2016).
Yoga resource to help kids in the classroom
Are you looking for resources to include yoga in the classroom at your school? Perhaps you need new yoga resources to spark your imagination, provide ideas, and save you time?
Yoga in the Classroom will help you powerfully teach yoga in the classroom with this wide variety of digital downloads including books, cards, and posters! You’ll have the confidence and new ideas to hit the ground running!
Created by a yoga instructor with a Masters of International Education, the vast and carefully curated
References:
Folleto, J. C., Pereira, K. R., & Valentini, N. C. (2016). The effects of yoga practice in school physical education on children’s motor abilities and social behavior. International journal of yoga, 9(2), 156.
Razza, Rachel A., Dessa Bergen-Cico, and Kimberly Raymond. “Enhancing preschoolers’ self-regulation via mindful yoga.” Journal of Child and Family Studies 24.2 (2015): 372-385.
Rosenberg, M. (2018). Reducing Anxiety in Elementary School Children by Implementing Yoga. Retrieved from the web on 8/15/18 at http://scholarworks.uark.edu/nursuht/66/
Sotoodeh, M. S., Arabameri, E., Panahibakhsh, M., Kheiroddin, F., Mirdoozandeh, H., & Ghanizadeh, A. (2017). Effectiveness of yoga training program on the severity of autism. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 28, 47-53.