Yoga is a discipline that blends meditation and exercise. It focuses on breathing and balancing the physical and spiritual self and is beneficial for a number of ailments including stress, insomnia and digestion. While yoga is typically associated with alleviating the busy life of adults, it can also be helpful for children.

It eases transitions through different states, from hyperactive to calm for example, which can be a challenge for younger children, according to Kate Hudson, owner of Little Lotus Yoga for Kids Teacher Training in Montreal. She says that yoga helps children to work on their focus, concentration, imagination and creativity. Yoga teaches children how to calm down and how to deal with stressful situations. As yoga poses are related to nature, it also connects children to plants and animals because they recreate all of these things.

Marilou Côté, owner of Bouddha Blanc in Laval ―a company dedicated to yoga for children― says that yoga helps them with movement and cognitive skills.

Gaëlle Cosnuau, owner of Yoga Pour Tous in St-Eustache, agrees and adds that yoga helps children’s confidence, posture, self-esteem and socialization. She says that for extroverts, yoga helps them to calm down whereas for introverts, it helps them to break out of their shell. ‘‘There are tremendous benefits in yoga for children,’’ she says.

While the benefits may be similar, yoga for kids is not the same as yoga for adults. It has to be adapted to children since their bodies are developing and because they are, by nature, very playful.

There are no risks associated with yoga for children but it’s important to stay away from rigidity. It stems from a simpler approach in order to adapt to their motor skills. Hudson says that while yoga for adults is about finding the perfect angle for a posture, this approach is not recommended for kids. Adjustments are to proscribe. ‘‘It’s not healthy to say ‘it should be done this way’’’ says Hudson. She also warns against headstands or complicated poses.

Everything that has to do with difficult breathing techniques, such as kapalabhati breath, is to ban. ‘‘We can’t force breathing because they are in development,’’ says Cosnuau. She also says that two-people postures should not be done with children since they can push each other and fall to a greater risk.

While there are some precautions to be taken, there is also a lot of fun to be had. Yoga for children should feel like a game. There is also a need to show everything and to use play, stories and nursery rhymes

‘‘Children are natural yogis because they live in the moment ―whatever is happening in the moment, they are really present in it― they don’t think about other things,’’ says Hudson. ‘‘They take so much joy out of very simple things,’’ she says.

For parents who are interested in doing yoga with their kids at home, Hudson recommends using YouTube videos as a starting point. She recommends Cosmic Kids Yoga videos, which are available for free on YouTube and provide great stories.

The local library or bookstore is also a great resource because there are many yoga books available that are exclusively for children.

More specifically, Hudson recommends practicing simple breathing exercises such as blowing fingers to take a deep breath. She says that even incorporating little things, like balancing poses on one leg, improves with focus.

For the morning, Cosnuau recommends dynamic routines to create joy, such as sun salutations. For bedtime, she suggests some breathing to calm down. She also recommends doing yoga as a family, because children learn by imitation, so the best thing is for the parents to practice. Case in point, her children do.