Courageous, strong and self-confident thanks to children's yoga!

Mika the little cat really wants to go to the seaside. Because she has heard that there are shells with real pearls. Her friend, Purzel the dwarf, also dreams of seeing the sea and feeling the wind in his fur. Together they set off on a journey there.

This is the story told by children's yoga instructor Claudia Giacalone on a Saturday morning in the Raum der Achtsamkeit yoga studio in Rupperswil. Eight children between the ages of four and nine sit in a circle on their yoga mats and listen to the fantasy journey. A treasure chest, a dwarf, a candle and lots and lots of shells are nicely grouped in front of them. The children hold these shells to their ears. «I've been to the seaside before,» shouts one child. «Me too,» shouts another.

Being quiet doesn't have to be

Children's yoga is different. No one has to sit still and be quiet here. And yet the children can sense exactly when it is time to rest. After the welcome ritual - a handshake in a circle and a Namaste - everyone sits in a circle. Familiar exercises from previous lessons are played through again. Then a child is allowed to draw a card from the treasure chest.

Today it's the turtle. We talk about what a turtle is and what it looks like. «What does a yoga turtle look like?» asks Claudia Giacalone and demonstrates the yoga asana. The children enthusiastically get into the position, which many adults find difficult. And because a turtle loves to eat, everyone eats a few imaginary lettuce leaves together. They smack their lips loudly.

Children's yoga is playful.

Children's yoga is playful: you can bark at the downward-facing dog, hiss at the cobra and smack your lips at the turtle. After a balancing pose for the back, a second exercise is introduced: the boat. Mika the cat and Purzel the dwarf are already imagining what they could do on the sea. Travelling in a boat, for example. A calm boat - and one in which they have to row hard to stay on course.

Yoga as a school subject?

Children's yoga is booming. Children's and/or teen yoga is on offer in almost every German-speaking city in Switzerland. The trend comes from Germany, among other countries. There, yoga is already a compulsory or at least optional subject at certain schools. This was prompted by a study by the German Child Protection Association, which disturbed parents and teachers alike: a quarter of the children aged seven to nine surveyed stated that they regularly felt stressed, particularly by school. Two thirds of them wished for more relaxation.

But yoga is also finding its way into Swiss schools. In a kindergarten in Zermatt, for example, half an hour a week is reserved for yoga. A secondary school in Biel offers a yoga block week, and yoga is even offered as a J&S course in a municipality in the canton of Aargau. "It is important that children and young people learn that they are more than just machines trimmed for performance, that they can simply be, that they can do something exclusively for themselves without being judged," says the latest issue of Yoga Journal, the magazine of the Swiss Yoga Teachers' Association.

Creating time for being a child

The leader of this children's yoga course also recognises this. «Many children lack the time to be children, to feel, perceive and express themselves,» explains Claudia Giacalone, herself a mother of two sons. Many children also lack flexibility, concentration and calm. She wants to change that - with yoga. Because yoga means being in harmony with yourself. «I find yoga useful for children so that they can calm down and take a break from everyday life,» says one mum.

Watch your breath? That's much easier with a paper boat on your stomach.

Children's yoga also means: energy. The children are enchanted by Claudia Giacalone and can visualise their own animal. Now they jump, crawl and laugh around the room before the children lie down on the floor. The yoga instructor places a paper boat on their stomachs. «When the children lie on their backs and put the boat on their stomachs, they can watch what happens when they breathe consciously,» she explains. The children find this anything but boring - they also appreciate the quiet part of the lesson.

After the final relaxation and the return to everyday life, each child can use a story stone to say how they feel, what they liked and what they didn't like - if they want to. A handshake and a namaste bring the lesson to a close. «The story was very nice,» says a girl. And a boy's favourite part was «that we also painted».

How to practise yoga with your child at home:

1. Suchen Sie sich einen schönen Platz, den Sie und Ihr Kind immer wieder für die Yogastunden nutzen.
2. Schaffen Sie sich ein Ritual, mit dem Sie und Ihr Kind immer anfangen: zum Beispiel ein Glöckchen klingeln.
3. Erwarten Sie von Ihrem Kind nicht, dass es Yoga übt wie ein Erwachsener. Yogaübungen wirken bei einem Kind viel schneller und das Kind weiss oft selbst, was es braucht.
4. Lassen Sie Ihr Kind die Asana (Körperstellung) aussuchen, zum Beispiel aus einem Buch, oder lesen Sie eine Yogageschichte vor, die Asanas beinhaltet.
5. Korrigieren Sie nicht an Ihrem Kind herum, denn im Yoga gibt es kein Richtig oder Falsch.
6. Yoga mit Ihrem Kind sollte am Anfang nicht länger als zehn Minuten dauern.
7. Seien Sie nicht enttäuscht, wenn Ihr Kind nach fünf Minuten aufhören möchte. Freuen Sie sich stattdessen, dass es fünf Minuten Yoga gemacht hat.
8. Unruhige Kinder, denen Stillsitzen zu langweilig wird, werden neugierig und aktiv, wenn etwas Spannendes passiert. Nehmen Sie zum Beispiel einen Strohhalm und pusten ein Wattebällchen von einer Raumseite zur anderen.
9. Die Endentspannung mit Kindern dauert oftmals nicht länger als zwei Minuten. Auch hier können die Kinder mit offenen Augen lauschen. Die Entspannung tut auch so ihre Wirkung.

4 questions for Ursula Salbert, yoga teacher and trainer for children's yoga

Mrs Salbert, why is yoga good for children?

Because the children learn to perceive themselves holistically in the most diverse forms of movement and in the most diverse rest periods. This makes the children more competent in movement, more balanced and happier. The children's yoga content expands knowledge about the forms and functions of the body and its parts as well as the experience of movement abilities and limits, but also the knowledge of why we breathe and the experience of the connections between movement, stillness, breathing and sensitivities. Communicating about moods, feelings and sensory perceptions is also important. We learn that all children are different.

What can't yoga do?

Yoga cannot work immediately like taking a medicine or following the motto: do a yoga exercise and you will experience the effect straight away. Practising yoga takes motivation, time and experience from many different variations, impulses and repetitions. Practising yoga always has a holistic effect on the body's own self-regulation systems. Yoga therapy specialists point this out time and again. A hyperactive child will not become calmer in the blink of an eye through yoga, but in small steps it will experience that it can change many things itself.

Are there any restrictions?

As children are still growing, yoga practice should not overtax them. For example, children should not practise holding their breath or breathing according to standardised, predetermined rhythms. Long, strength-intensive, static postures that push the joints to their limits and passive static stretches harbour a high risk of injury and should not be practised. Sick children should not do any physical exercises, relaxation exercises are okay. Children with mental health problems should only practise yoga with a well-trained therapist who specialises in this area. This also applies to children with severe disabilities. If in doubt, a doctor's opinion should always be sought.

What do we as parents need to look out for when choosing a children's yoga course?

Parents should know that yoga teachers can choose different specialisations and content. It is very important to take a close look. The best way to do this is to have a personal discussion, so that parents receive comprehensive information about training, teaching experience, yoga traditions, orientations, content and goals of the providers and can make a conscious decision in favour of one or the other offer. It is important for the children to have the opportunity to get to know different yoga teachers and their programmes in taster sessions. This gives them the freedom to decide where they want to go.

Read more:

• Was stresst unsere Kinder und wie helfen wir Ihnen? Ob sie einer Geburtstagsparty entgegenfiebern oder Angst haben, eine Prüfung nicht zu bestehen – Stress gehört zum Leben von Kindern.
• Wie viel Schlaf braucht Ihr Kind? Der Kindergarteneintritt macht sogar die muntersten Kinder müde. 5 Tipps, wie ihr Kind zu genügend Schlaf kommt.