That was a difficult one for me!

Especially because teaching adult yoga classes, we give so many cues, and I really like to offer hands-on adjustments. This was something I had to let go of in our children’s yoga classes.

Why is it important to let the children self-correct?

Letting children explore and come up with different ways of carrying out a yoga position allows them to respect the differences between our bodies, our capabilities and our own way of expressing ourselves.

Forget the show

Children yoga should be a place for being a true version of ourselves, of bonding and of having fun. The (close to) correct execution of a yoga asana is our long-time goal. This is why we call it a yoga practice and not a yoga show.

During our children yoga classes, children are encouraged to feel free to play with the yoga poses, to push their boundaries and to feel safe to do less. Often children teach each other much better than we adults could ever do. They show and help and they also support each other mentally, explaining to the younger yogis who it also took them much practice to reach a more advanced yoga position.

Walk the talk and dare to fall

Next time you practice with your child, let them do what they are comfortable with. Let them see that you are also fine to fall and get back onto your feet. Let our yoga practice become a true reflection of our souls where we give ourselves the permission to try more, to do less, to try several times and to take extra-long savasanas whenever you need that.

How to support your children during their yoga time?

Encouragement will take the children much further than correction, criticism, comparison. Finding our inner balance will result in outer balance. Our inner strength and endurance will take us back onto the yoga mats every time. Make our yoga mats our happy places.

Allow the children to play, to move, to make mistakes and to know that they are accepted just as they are – if they self-correct and also when they don`t.