Yoga, Stretching and Conditioning for Children and Young Athletes
'Give me the boy until he is seven and I will give you the man!'
And,of course... give me the girl until she is seven and I will give you the woman! 🙂
English and French Yoga Classes for Teen Warriors
Laughing Monkey Yoga classes:
- Group: 7-10 yr old
- Group: 11-14 yr old
Many myths surround the topic of strength training for children and young athletes.
Parents are ‘afraid their children will become too muscled and it may stunt their growth.’
The reality is kids aged nine to twelve do not produce enough testosterone or other growth hormones to increase muscle size (Bompa 2009). Most of the strength gains made in young athletes are neural adaptations, such as: increased motor unit activation, recruitment, and firing (Faigenbaum, 2009).
The goal of training the nine to the twelve-year-old age group is to improve their movement patterns. Increased strength with proper movement will prevent muscle imbalances and prevent possible injury. By improving their strength you can enhance their health, fitness and sports performance.
The key is to have kids participate in a well-rounded program that may include playing various sports, physical training and some kind of skill development. Many programs currently offered to promote sport-specific training.
Basic movements such as: squats, pushups, pull-ups, crawling, lateral shuffles and forward/backward running all produce better movement and better strength in young athletes.
Happy Children – Laughing Monkey Yoga
Yoga is like music, it relaxes your mind and body. It strengthens the muscles while building flexibility. The practice of yoga poses in the early teenage years is much more beneficial than the standard gym workouts. Today, around 1.7 million children and teens practice yoga and many schools have also given it a priority as yoga and meditation both are vital in the overall child development. Whether it is related to the mind or body, the overall development always starts from within. Yoga gives a direction to life and maintains a balance between the hectic schedule and a healthy lifestyle. If you are eager to know more benefits of practicing yoga poses then you must delve into the article without delay.
Builds and Enhances Physical Health
The distinct yoga poses help children in improving coordination, balance, strength, and flexibility. Practicing yoga poses daily also helps teens to build a strong connection to body awareness and movement. Certain yoga poses also help in detoxifying the body and improve the immune system as well, which eventually helps children to stay away from diseases.
Reduces Stress and Anxiety
School can be really stressing for children sometimes, especially due to the exam pressure and personal challenges. Yoga aids in maintaining a calm nature, so that children don’t panic in stressful situations, rather they deal with them in a peaceful and thoughtful manner.
Improves Sleep Quality
Yoga not only reduces stress and increases flexibility, but also helps people who suffer from insomnia. This condition is common among teens nowadays due to the increase in stress levels.
Improves Concentration
Apart from all other amazing health benefits of yoga, the biggest one is that it shapes our internal brain functioning in the right way. The breathing exercises in various yoga poses aids in improving concentration to a great extent. According to a recent study, it is a proved fact that practicing yoga daily for 20 minutes enhances the functioning of the brain and helps children focus better on various tasks.
Builds Emotional Strength
Nowadays teenagers have to go through a lot of challenges related to academics or other life situations. Yoga aids teens to have a better understanding of their emotions as it’s crucial to deal with them in a peaceful way to avoid any serious damage to their mind and body. Emotional intelligence is a powerful thing that needs to be learned at an early age to combat teenage challenges. Besides connecting the children with their emotions, yoga also develops self-love and self-acceptance.
Develops Discipline
Discipline is really important to achieve anything in life. It is found that practicing yoga daily increases patience, reduces impulsivity and improves the capability to maintain attention. All these things play a fundamental role in leading a disciplined life.
Final Words
Yoga is not limited to strengthening our body and balancing our emotions, but it also offers a lot of spiritual benefits. The children at an early age may not be able to understand the spiritual tangent of yoga, but as they will grow up into adults, they will be able to leverage them as well. It is vital to make the teenagers understand and experience the benefits of yoga as it will surely help them in various aspects of their lives.
For Adults ( Parents, Grandparents)
Online, live or in person one to one sessions, in Geneva and Messery or via Zoom, at a time that suits you
Personal attention to focus on a tailored plan, or a specific issue.
A great idea if:
- you’re just getting started
- you have an injury/ niggle or complaint
- you want to focus on a particular pose
- Also, if you are a runner and want to have your running gait assessed – and a yoga plan to support your running.
You will be sent a recording of all sessions and come away with a home-practice plan.
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