Yoga for Kids by Kira Willey
Core Values
Mar 28, 2008After my run the other day, I was on the living room floor doing situps, crunches, and anything else I could think of to pursue the ever-elusive-after-two-kids flat belly. My daughter came in and said, "Why are you doing that, mom?" I gave her a spiel about good body alignment and preventing lower back strain, and at the very end mentioned the flat belly. (I mean, it's our overall health and well-being that's important, not how we look in a baby tee, right?)
Kids don't need to worry about getting six-pack abs, but when they start to grow rapidly, they often have a bit of an ungainly period where it seems like their limbs have taken on lives of their own. (My brother, now 6' 7," grew six inches in one summer and had absolutely no control over his body; he knocked things off the counter with alarming regularity.) Working on core strength at this young age can help tremendously with developing motor coordination, preventing injury, and establishing good overall body alignment.
While a huge number of yoga poses help develop abdominal strength, the ones below really focus in on the area. Give them a try a couple of times a week with your child, one round of each pose. If you're on your own, try each pose three times, three to four times a week--after all, swimsuit season is right around the corner.
(Important safety tips: in Rock n' Roll, make sure you and your child are on a soft mat or rug for rolling back and forth. In Hovering Butterfly, keep a hand on your child's back in case she falls backward, or put a couple of pillows behind her.)
CROUCHING LIZARD:
Begin in Lizard Pose (also known as Plank pose, or the top of a pushup). Make your belly super strong, and see if you can come down to rest on your forearms and palms, while keeping your belly and legs off the floor. Count to 5, quickly! Slowly come down to rest on your stomach, take a rest, and try it again.
ROCK N' ROLL:
Sit with your knees hugged in to your chest, your body in a tight little ball. Make your belly strong, and see if you can rock n' roll all the way backward and then back up, so you return to sitting in one continuous motion. Try to keep your body in that tight little ball as much as you can, and do four complete down-and-ups.
HOVERING BUTTERFLY:
Begin in Butterfly Pose (sitting with bottoms of feet together, feet pulled in as close to the body as is comfortable). Sit up tall and pull your belly in. Hold on to your toes, lean back just slightly, and see if you can lift your feet off the floor and balance. Decide what color butterfly you are, and see how long you can hover!
Source (Rock n' Roll pose): YogaKids: Educating the Whole Child Through Yoga, by Marsha Wenig
