You’ll Remember to Play
Children have an innate sense of
fun. It hasn’t yet been conditioned out of them by society’s need to make
people conform. Your purest intention for your yoga practice is this desire to
simply enjoy yourself.
Self Expressionism
When you have a joy in your heart,
you express it through movement. Children’s bodies naturally move, because
their hearts feel good. Creative movement is the outward expression of positive
emotion. Yoga with a little person reconnects you to the practice as a form of
articulating the joy inside.
Correct Biochemics
What many Yoga teachers miss in
classes, a two year old child will teach you properly if you observe them
carefully. They can teach you that you should always move from your spine.
Moving from the lower spine is considered an advanced principle of yoga. It is
often referred to as a “natural body” instead of what most people have, which is
a “normal body.” Young children do it from birth and gradually lose it over
time.
Fearlessness
When we are in a class full of other
students, we may become self-conscious or worried we’ll fail or look foolish in
front of others. But, children don’t see failure as an option; they simply do
it. And, if they don’t get it the first time, they do it again and again until
they succeed. A toddler doesn’t see any harm in giving something a go. And
practicing yoga with them teaches us that — the letting go of inhibitions and
fears.
Breathing
There are many people practicing
yoga who insist on breathing like Darth Vader in yoga classes. They do ujjayi
breathing so loudly that one may wonder if they get the point at all. The
breath of a child on the other hand is relaxed and gentle and smooth and long.
It’s the simplest yogic pranayama.
The competitive idea to breathe
deepest or loudest would never occur to a child. Their breathing comes from the
autonomic nervous system, which makes their breath very easy and relaxed.
They Take It Off The Mat
By being completely authentic and true to themselves, they remain very intimately
connected to God. That is the essence of Yoga. They are practicing their
spirituality ALL THE TIME! As a parent and a yogic, you get a feeling that you
belong to a long line of people who contributed to the creation of humankind.
You cannot describe what it is to be a parent. It’s magical. And to practice
yoga together with a child is a great gift for yoga teacher. Children are our
greatest teachers.
Namaste
