The recent Google Doodle of yoga teacher B.K.S. lyengar inspired today’s play-of-the-day, some holiday and Christmas yoga for kids. Bending and stretching is good for all of us. With the excitement of the holidays, yoga can help kids regroup and find a calm feeling inside. Try some of these poses for holiday and Christmas yoga for kids—and adults.
Catch a Snowflake: Go down on all fours, kneeling on your knees. (This is the table pose.) Lift your head up, tilt it back, and open your mouth to catch snowflakes on your tongue.
A Holiday Heart: This time of year touches our heart. Lie all the way down on a mat, press down with your hands and lift up your heart (upper body).
The Candy Cane: Your body will almost look like one. Stand on two feet and stretch high over the head with two hands together. Curve the upper body over to the right and take a deep breath. Let it out and come back to the middle. Now curve over to the left, deep breath, and back to the middle.
The Snowball: Curl down, down, into a ball on the floor.
The Star: Stand with your two feet wide apart. Then stretch your arms out to each side. Your body will be like a big X or a star.
The Christmas Tree: This is the tree pose. Put the palms of hands together and stretch over the head to make a star. Stand on one foot and put the other foot on the knee to make a triangle. It’s hard to balance on one foot and easy to fall over. That’s okay because it takes practice to stand on just one foot.
Yoga works on different levels. Physically, it promotes strength, balance, flexibility, coordination, concentration, and body awareness. On a mental level, the movements build important connections in the brain. This creates pathways that are also used for math and language. Social and emotional skills like cooperation, confidence, and self-regulation are enhanced with yoga. Yoga helps increase confidence and decrease stress and anxiety.
Could this holiday and Christmas yoga for kids be part of your child’s day?