How the Eightfold Path Applies to Kids’ Yoga
The Eightfold Path, also known as the “8 Limbs of Yoga”, is a foundational concept for the practice. Sage Patanjali, credited for several Sanskrit works, advanced this path. He is also credited with the codification of The Yoga Sutras.
In this blog, we will talk about some of the translations of these limbs and how these apply to teaching kids’ yoga classes.
Yama
The first path consists of the ethical guidelines known as yamas. It refers to our relationship with ourselves. It also often refers to the restraints we put on ourselves.
There are several yamas:
Ahimsa - This refers to being non-violent and showing compassion in our thoughts, words, and actions towards ourselves and others.
Aparigraha - This refers to taking only whatever is necessary. This only means letting go of something that you don’t need so others can use it.
Asteya - This refers to honesty. It means not to take anything that does not belong to you.
Brahmacharya - This refers to celibacy and abstinence from sensual pleasures as doing so helps free up your energy, allowing you to connect to the divine.
Satya - This refers to being truthful.
Niyama
The second path is the niyamas. These are ethical ruled in regards to our relationships with others. There are several niyamas as well:
Ishvara Pranidhana - This refers to surrender.
Santosha - This refers to modesty and being content.
Saucha - This refers to purity and being clean in our thoughts, words, and actions.
Svadhyaya - This refers to self-study.
Tapas - This refers to our self-discipline and overcoming adversity.
Asana
The third path is asana. This refers to the physical postures. This is the yoga that most Western people know - and poses asanas can provide great fun and imaginative exercise for kids. But as a certified kids’ yoga instructor, you have to understand that asana is not all there is to yoga.
Pranayama
The fourth path is pranayama. This refers to breathwork and management of prana - our life energy. Through breathwork activities, practitioners can connect their breaths with their minds and emotions.
Pratyahara
The fifth path is pratyahara. This refers to withdrawing the senses. Withdrawing from the external world allows ourselves to be more conscious and look inwards.
Dharana
The sixth path is dharana. This refers to our concentration. It helps us focus on a single point, which can either be an object, a mantra, or anything.
Dhyana
The seventh path is dhyana. This refers to meditation. It allows us to reach that mental state where we are aware of our surroundings but we do not focus on them.
Samadhi
The eighth path is samadhi. This refers to the ultimate state of being. This is the state where there exists a connection to all aspects.
Applying the Eightfold Path to Kids’ Yoga
The paths, or limbs, are often intertwined and are interrelated to each other. The limbs overlap each other, resulting in a holistic approach to wellness. When you teach kids’ yoga classes, you will have to explore the children’s figurative limbs to better understand themselves, their relationships with others, and their surroundings.
Focusing the eightfold path allows the young ones to apply yoga’s beautiful tenets to their everyday lives:
The yamas encourage connection between the children. Upon establishing such a connection, kids then allow themselves to engage in fair play, making sure that everyone is enjoying equally. When disagreements do arise, they use a non-violent and truthful approach.
The niyamas encourage children to be responsible in different areas of their lives. They also encourage personal care and self-discipline.
The asanas are good for play and exercise. Young ones can benefit from physical movement - and exercise their imagination in pretending to be lions, warriors, trees and more.
Pranayama can help children learn how to manage their emotions, especially when they are either excited or upset.
Pratyahara encourages children to reflect on themselves, which is important in helping them understand the effects of their actions, whether they're good or bad.
Dharana helps improve the children's concentration. This is beneficial especially when they are studying, doing their homework, completing house chores, and more.
Dhyana helps young ones learn how to focus and stay calm - whatever their surroundings may be.
Samadhi can encourage all-around wellness - ensuring kids' holistic wellbeing and development.
Interested in training to become a Certified Kids Yoga Teacher? Our Yoga Alliance-approved course is online this August 2024! Please check out all the information HERE.
Why Kids’ Yoga is Beneficial for Their Health and Happiness
Literally meaning “union”, yoga allows the body and the mind to be connected. With a 5000+ year lineage, yoga was introduced first to the West in 1893. Since then, it has expanded and evolved drastically.
Most people tend to associate yoga with adults. But there’s actually also yoga for children. In this blog, we’ll discuss how kids’ yoga is different from the traditional yoga that adults do and how beneficial it is for young ones.
How Does Kids’ Yoga Differ from Adults’ Yoga?
Any certified kids’ yoga teacher should know and understand the differences between yoga for children and adults. In the former’s case, the classes are typically more exploratory and focus more on play. They also tend to be integrated with more experiential elements, but this will depend on a number of factors.
Teaching kids’ yoga lessons means looking at the entirety of the child and identifying how to meet their needs best. It also offers a number of benefits in the physical, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive areas.
Let’s discuss these benefits below:
Physical Benefits
First up, yoga offers physical benefits. It helps the body to open up, thereby allowing the child to increase the connection between their mind and their body. It also helps activate the autonomic nervous system. Yoga also improves the child’s respiration since breath is the portal to the nervous system. Most importantly, yoga helps lower stress levels, allowing the body to get back into balance.
Emotional Benefits
Yoga is also emotionally beneficial for children. It helps them to be more self-confident. It also helps them feel safer and stronger. It also helps them become more resilient and empowers both the kids’ yoga instructor and the child. Through breathwork and movement, yoga can also help minimize the symptoms caused by depression and anxiety.
Behavioral Benefits
Through yoga, the young ones are able to develop a level of trust in other people. As a result, it can help them create meaningful connections with others. Most importantly, yoga allows them to repair any disruptions that might exist between their relationships with others. These are only some of the behavioral benefits such classes can offer the children.
Cognitive Benefits
The cognitive benefits of yoga in children cannot be underestimated. Through breathwork, they can focus and concentrate better. It also helps them become more imaginative. Through mindful movements, the young ones can increase the connection between their mind and body as well as think better since their prefrontal cortex becomes thicker.
Conclusion
Yoga offers comprehensive benefits not only for adults but also for children. With the help of a certified children’s yoga instructor, the young ones will be able to take advantage of these benefits and improve their wellness.
Interested in training to become a Certified Kids Yoga Teacher? Our Yoga Alliance-approved course is online this August 2024! Please check out all the information HERE.
Exploring the Koshas: How Yoga Therapy Promotes Holistic Wellness
The Pancha Maya Kosha system is the primary model used in the holistic assessment and application of yoga therapy. In this blog, we’ll discuss the Kosha system, explore the Koshas, and why it’s considered a holistic health model.
What is the Kosha System?
When talking about origins, the Kosha systems comes from the Taittiriya Upanishad, which translates as the following:
Pancha means five.
Maya means illusion, or that which has a relative reality.
Kosa means sheath, cell, envelope, container, treasure or a bud of a flower (that can reveal itself).
Since the Kosas or sheaths are interrelated, they affect each other. Any professional who has undergone yoga therapist certification understands that you must work holistically. Yoga means union - and therefore you address the body and the mind. You should be able to think holistically and proceed mindfully aware of the person you’re helping.
The Five Koshas
There are five sheaths in the Pancha Maya Kosha system. To understand how this system promotes holistic wellness, let’s thoroughly discuss each of the five koshas.
https://www.himalayanyogaashram.com/blog/2019/05/11/the-five-koshas/
Annamaya Kosha - Food Body
This kosha is our perception of our physical body. This comprises what we eat, which is why it’s known as the food sheath.
In most cases, this is also where a student notices an imbalance first. For instance, if the student pulls a muscle in a sport, it doesn’t only affect the body but it also affects the other mental koshas.
Licensed yoga practitioners typically regulate the annamaya kosha first through Classical Hatha, Iyengar yoga, and Ayurvedic practices first before tackling the mental sheaths.
Pranamaya Kosha - Breath Body
The next kosha is our energetic body as well as our breath. It’s the bridge between the body and the mind. As such, it’s also a useful link between physiological and psychological processes, aside from being an entry point for examination or assessment.
The chakras, nadis, and vayus are maps that explore pranamaya.
Manomaya Kosha - Mind Body
This kosha is fed by our senses. It’s also cognitive in nature. Manomaya encompasses our thoughts, beliefs, emotions, as well as our sense of individuality (Sullivan & Hyland Robertson, pg. 90).
At this level, it’s important to modify our mental habits, or at times even intercept them, before tuning into our higher self. For instance, when a person keeps poor company, they are preventing themselves from nurturing good friendships.
Appropriate practices such as chanting and Yoga Nidra can help address manomaya kosha.
Vijnanamaya Kosha - Wisdom Body
This kosha, as per Sullivan & Hyland Robertson, is composed of faith, righteousness, meditation, truth, and detachment. The wisdom body also is capable of motivating us from either our conscious or subconscious level of knowledge.
Some practices to address this kosha are meditation and discernment.
Anandamaya Kosha - Bliss Body
This kosha is a person’s ability to access their inherent positive qualities and integrate such qualities into daily living. It’s also sometimes said to contain a person’s karma, so it’s also referred to as the causal body. According to Kamini Desai, Ph.D., the bliss body is the final veil to ultimate reality or self. This kosha allows the melding of the “I” into the whole.
Are you a yoga teacher looking to advance your therapeutic knowledge and practice? Check out our Yoga Alliance 300, Continuing Education Courses, and IAYT-Certified Yoga Therapy Certification Program at PYI.