I was reading about Yoga over the Internet and amazingly, after some Nth clicks, I was brought to a page about parenting yoga in Xiamen. It showed photos of a recent yoga session campaign in China, which endeavored ‘to tap the intelligence potential of the babies.’ I found it very interesting since one of the things Vito likes very much during his playtime with his dad resembles photo#3. It got me curious and was led to several more sites on yoga for kids.

Some points I got from my readings:

1. Babies receive many benefits from yoga, especially from the bond it fosters between parent and child.
2. Babies who move with freedom as well as intentional guidance learn early about relating to gravity and relating to people.
3. The physical contact of a loving adult fosters trust and starts baby on the lifelong journey of learning about relationships—to one’s self, to others, and to the world. This contact can also ease a young child’s nervous system while bolstering his immunity, circulation, and physical growth.
4. When children learn techniques for self-health, relaxation, and inner fulfillment, they can navigate life’s challenges with a little more ease.
5. Yoga with children offers many possibilities to exchange wisdom, share good times, and lay the foundation for a lifelong practice that will continue to deepen.
6. Yoga with baby can serve as a microcosm of our parenting as we experiment with how to be with our babies, read their cues, let go of our agendas, and respond to challenging moments in a safe, loving space.
7. People clean their bodies, but they don’t clean their minds. Paying attention and having quiet time to cleanse the mind needs to be a practice. If our children see us honor this, they will honor it also.

If you too are becoming interested in parenting yoga, read the full articles here: Yoga to Bolster Baby Development, Yoga for Kids, Mindful Parenting on and off the Mat

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 at 8:31 am and is filed under Motherhood. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.