How to Introduce Kids to Yoga and Mindfulness

I have a guest post by Monetta Wilson. Monetta is a yoga alliance registered experienced yoga teacher (E-RYT 200) and continuing education provider (YACEP). She owns and operates Sayana Yoga in St Lucia. She also teaches at several resorts in St Lucia, gyms and privately in clients’ homes. Monetta is the proud winner of the 2015 Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the St Lucia Chamber of Commerce. She recently released her first children’s book Yoga with Aunty Mo in August. You can find her blog at yogawithmo.com/blog.

Children can benefit immensely from learning yoga and mindfulness at an early age. Around the world many yoga studios offer classes for infants and children and mindfulness is introduced into the curriculum at an early age. While yoga and mindfulness are becoming increasingly popular, children’s yoga classes are not always available. In the absence of local yoga classes for children it is still possible to introduce children to yoga and mindfulness as part of a healthy lifestyle.

The easiest way to introduce children to yoga is to practice yourself. Children will always try to imitate the adults in their lives. Babies will wander onto your mat and practice poses with you without any prompting. As they grow older they will start playing yoga with their toys and friends. They will ask you more questions than you can answer. If you have yoga books they will try to do all the poses that they see in there. When my god daughter was 2 years old she tried to do every pose in Yoga the Iyengar Way. It was a teachable moment where I could talk about safety and asking a grown up before trying new poses.

If you are not a certified yoga teacher you may not know how to ensure that your child is safely exposed to yoga without risk of unfortunate injuries. There are many resources available to parents, educators and caregivers who would like to introduce children to yoga. There are many books, blogs and other tools out there. It might even seem a little overwhelming. When choosing material to teach yoga to kids it is important to look at who wrote or created this material. Are they certified yoga teachers? Have they been trained to work with kids. These are the two most important points. There are many things that need to be considered when modifying yoga for children. You want to make sure you learn from someone who is qualified in teaching yoga and working with children who also has experience working with kids.

My book yoga with aunty Mo is a perfect starting point for teaching yoga to kids. I wanted to create something that was simple and easy to use. It includes poses that everyone would safely execute without any training. You can read it to the infant and they can follow along with the actions. Older children will love reading this book on their own. The book is bright and colorful and features the children from my village on the island of St Lucia. These children have practiced yoga with me for the past several years and are really excited to share their love of yoga with the rest of the world. The routine featured in the book is a simple routine that helps children find calm and relaxation. Parents and teachers can also follow along and enjoy the benefits of the book. With my book Yoga with Aunty Mo I hope children will learn the joy of yoga and grow up to have healthy lifestyles full of movement and mindfulness. Yoga with Aunty Mo is available to purchase on Amazon in Kindle or paperback format. It is enrolled in kindle matchbook pricing. If you purchase the print version the Kindle version only costs $1.99 for a savings of $5. Until December 31st, 2018 15% of proceeds from the sale of this book will go towards the Endometriosis Foundation of America.

Today I begin my virtual book tour to promote Yoga with Aunty Mo to as many people as possible. For the next 10 days blogs and social media accounts around the internet will be featuring this book. Everyday you will have a chance to enter the giveaway and win one several prizes.

• You get 5 entries if you leave a comment on virtual book tour the blog post on my website.
• You get 5 entries if you leave a review on Amazon.
• You get 5 entries if you tweet a message.
• You get 5 entries if follow me on Twitter.
• You get 1 entry if you visit Yoga with Mo on Facebook.

Prizes include:

• 1 pair of leggings from Arthletic Wear
• 1 Yoga with Mo Shirt
• 1 Skype yoga session with me

On December 22nd we will head over to my facebook page for a Facebook live party where I will announce the winners of the giveaway.

Go to http://www.yogawithmo.com/vbt for a complete list of locations for the book tour. Head over to [insert here] tomorrow for the next installment of the book tour. You can buy the book on Amazon here and enter the giveaway below or go to
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/23ef771b2/
a Rafflecopter giveaway