Whether your child has faced little stress yet or has endured too much already, yoga and mindfulness teach
stress management techniques that can be applied for a lifetime. Not only can practicing yoga help people of
all ages cope with their experiences, it can even make them resilient when facing future stressful situations.
The research shows that both chronic stress and trauma dramatically affect brain function and neurological
development. In highly stressful or threatening situations, the sympathetic nervous system (fight, flight, or
freeze) takes over. The amygdala grows and the hippocampus shrinks, causing people to be emotionally
reactive. Anxiety and fear are helpful when we need to move out of the way of an oncoming bus, remember
not to touch a hot stove, or stay away from dangerous places. But when fear and anxiety take over, quality of
life suffers. Yoga and meditation can help people switch over to the parasympathetic nervous system, or
relaxation response where the hippocampus has been shown to grow in long-term yoga and meditation
practitioners. This helps them to remain in the present, instead of dwelling on the past or anticipating the
future.
Give your child the precious gift of learning how to manage emotions and make connections in a non-
competitive environment, while getting lots of physical activity and enjoyment. We offer kids yoga classes,
Summer Yoga Camps, and private yoga and/or mindfulness sessions for kids and families. We can also create a
class where there is a demand.
Benefits of Yoga and Mindfulness for Children
- Increases self-esteem
- Improves behavior, less discipline problems
- Increases physical and mental awareness
- Provides opportunities for discovery and fun
- Improves motor development on both sides of the body (balance, strength, & flexibility)
- Builds mental resilience
- Relieves stress, anxiety, and anger
- Improves self-control
- Teaches emotional coping skills
Check out the Research
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
Meditation and yoga practice are associated with smaller right amygdala volume: the Rotterdam study by Rinske A. Gotink, Meike W. Vernooij, M. Arfan Ikram, Wiro J. Niessen, Gabriel P. Krestin, Albert Hofman, Henning Tiemeier, and M. G. Myriam Hunink https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs11682-018-9826-z.pdf
iRest Meditation Research on stress, anxiety, chronic pain, trauma https://www.irest.org/irest-research
The Center for Mind Body Research https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-mind-body-research/research/
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health https://nccih.nih.gov/research/results
A certified schoolteacher and registered yoga instructor for children and adults, Angie Swearingian has been happily teaching yoga and mindfulness to children and families in Peoria, IL for 8 years. In 2017, she became a professional development provider for PreK-high school educators, specializing in yoga and mindfulness techniques to meet social emotional learning (SEL) standards. After a 17-year teaching career at Peoria Public Schools, Angie now travels to schools to train staff and to teach students, as well as hosts public yoga classes for kids and families and leads teacher trainings. To make yoga even more accessible to our youth, she created the first 95-Hour Children’s Yoga Teacher Training Program in the Peoria area in 2019. In addition to a Master of Arts degree in education and leadership, Angie is a 200-hour experienced registered yoga teacher, 95-hour registered children’s yoga teacher, and a Level 1 iRest® Meditation Teacher.
Get more tips for mindful living by following us on Facebook www.facebook.com/yogalearningadventures. Learn more about upcoming Kids Yoga Classes & Camps, trainings for educators, Children’s Yoga Teacher Training, and more by visiting www.yogalearningadventures.com.
