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Infusing Yoga into Nature Play

Sara

Yoga and nature go hand in hand. Yoga helps us be more present and mindful and practicing yoga with kids outdoors is an excellent way for them to connect to the natural world. Today, we have Angela of Simple Ayurveda here showing us how anyone can help children enjoy the benefits of yoga and mindfulness outdoors. Incorporating fun poses with storytelling and adventure, children practicing yoga outside use all their senses to establish a link with nature and enjoy feelings of peace and connectedness.

Why practice nature yoga with kids?

Practicing yoga with your child offers a special opportunity to bond through play and provides your undivided attention. With yoga, together, you and your child practice taking moments to pause, breathe and reflect. These techniques teach them how to control reactions and manage stress.

There are so many great benefits to practicing yoga with your children. Studies show that yoga helps to:

All of these benefits are compounded when you add yoga into a natural setting. Being immersed in nature is also good for children’s immune systems and has been shown to reduce stress and build confidence. Nature combined with yoga is doing double duty wonders for you and your children.

So, are you ready to get started?

Keep it simple

Yoga with kids should be simple and fun! The whole purpose of practicing yoga with your children is to build a foundation for mindfulness. As any parent or teacher knows, children can bend and move in ways that seem uncomfortable for adults. They are flexible in ways we are not. You don’t have to worry so much about their alignment or whether they are creating a perfect pose. We’re less focused on form and more focused on the activity in general. The idea is to get them moving in a way that they pay attention to their body and breath. Here are some simple ways to encourage movement with mindfulness.

Tell a story and act it out

Storytelling during yoga is one of my favorite ways to make it spontaneous and fun for the kids. You can tell a favorite fairytale or story your kids love from a book or movie. Or, you can make one up right there on the spot! For example, “Once upon a time, there was a brother and sister walking through the woods. They saw a big rock covered in moss. Let’s do rock pose.” You can make up a pose or use the Yoga Pretzels deck to learn a few poses.

Take five deep breaths in each pose with your little ones. They’ll mimic you at first, so the bigger and more dramatic your breath, the better. Continue with, “All of a sudden the rock started moving and it turned out it was actually a troll rolled into a ball.” Now they can roll around in a pile of leaves. Or maybe they would choose to stomp around like a troll.

Now, ask your child what happens next and let them add to the story. Kids have amazing imaginations and sometimes come up with the best stories. Plus, giving them creative control lets them be a more active participant in the activity.

There are endless possibilities for creating your own yoga story. Try alternating heavy movement (stomping and jumping) with stillness for five deep breaths. As you practice yoga with them more often, you will notice whether they need heavy movement to release energy or if they need stillness to reign themselves in. Use the story to help dictate the actions they need.

Imitate what you see in nature

Another fun way to incorporate yoga into a nature walk is to imitate what you see or to act out what you think might live in the environment. Are you in the mountains? Ask your child to stand tall and strong like a mountain for five breaths. Are you in a desert environment? Have your child imitate a cactus. Ask what animals they might see in that location. For a silly snake, lay on your belly and let your child climb on your back as you slither and hiss.

Encourage your child to look around and see the movement in nature. How does the butterfly move? How do leaves fall? What does a tree look like in the wind? Ask if they can move their body in the same sort of motion. What would it look like to make a rainbow with your body? What would a tornado look like? How about light snow?

Make it fun

Be silly and have fun with yoga. That’s the best way to get your kids to love what they’re doing. Make up fun silly actions for them or imaginative challenges. Is there a unicorn running through the forest? Or perhaps your child said there’s a penguin swimming in the creek. Can you act out the pose and let them be as creative or silly as they choose to be? Maybe the penguin is visiting from his actual home.

Let them lead

Kids love being in charge and telling grown-ups what to do. Let them take the reins every now and then and lead the yoga session. In the beginning, you may have to create the story or offer pose suggestions. As your child becomes familiar with the practice of yoga, allow them to make up the story and teach you the poses. They can lead the breath by telling you to breathe in and breathe out.

Relax

A traditional yoga practice ends with a deep rest called savasana. Parents and caregivers usually have to be a little bit more creative to encourage that final deep relaxation. You could sprawl out in the grass or on a blanket. You could also just take a few moments to relax in silence. Another way to end is to sit with one hand on your heart and one hand on your belly while breathing slowly. Another gentle relaxation is to lay down and imagine you are floating on a soft and supportive cloud. The rest could be related to your story, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s also nice to simply look up at the clouds and watch them pass by.

Final notes

Practicing yoga with your children doesn’t have to be intimidating or rigidly scheduled. It can be done anywhere and anytime. Yoga poses could be sprinkled throughout the day or you could set aside a specific time. My kids usually come in and out of “practicing” yoga. We keep yoga books and the yoga pose deck laying around the house to spark their interest. We also love listening to yoga music.

Back at home after an outdoor practice, you can let them draw an animal or plant from nature or a portrait of themselves in a pose. Don’t hound them about it, but it’s also nice to offer a little inquiry around feelings and movement: What is yoga? How did it feel to act like a giraffe? What was your favorite pose of the day? What was your favorite part of the story? How did you feel when we finished?

My hope is that you use your own intuition to offer mindfulness and movement with your child.

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I’m Angela, mama to two beach babies. I blog and podcast about motherhood, minimalism and incorporating Ayurveda and Yoga into everyday life at Simple Ayurveda.

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