As your child(ren) see you practice, they will want to participate in your practice. In children yoga classes I always explain that for safety reasons, we stay on our mats and we only go to someone else`s yoga mat, if we go permission to do that. My yoga mat is only mine, it is my safe place.

Yoga equipment for children

Nowadays, we have wonderful colorful yoga mats and yoga mats made especially for children. It will be their own little world. They need to take responsibility for their own yoga mats, they learn how to roll it out and roll it together. These might seem small things, but these little things lead to a well-established yoga practice where children learn where to find the yoga equipment, so they can also practice yoga any time, they can play with the different instruments (more on that later on) or they can teach yoga to their stuffed animals.

You will see that once they have their own yoga mat, they feel more encouraged to stay on their yoga mats and though they might not stay for an entire 30 minutes, they take their own practice more seriously.

There is a wide range of yoga cards, games and different supporting materials you can buy. In my opinion you don`t need a lot of things, if any, to do yoga with your children, but some of these things might be helpful to get started. Yoga cards made for children can show children that yoga is not only movement, it`s also mindfulness, breathing, activating your senses (with different sounds and smells) and allowing your focus to turn inside.

How to start your yoga practice with your children?

A simple way to start your practice is to talk about how you are feeling. When you close the yoga practice, you can ask this question again and see what has shifted. A few pictures of emotions (happy, sad, tired, excited, etc.) can allow children to get more in touch with their feelings and to grow understanding for their own bodies and emotions. Let your yoga practice guide you back to your heart and to your middle, so your inner balance can radiate through you.