Yoga is a fun and effective way to help kids develop flexibility, strength, and mindfulness. By incorporating simple poses into their daily routine, children can enhance their physical and mental well-being while enjoying the process. Here are five easy yoga poses for kids, along with step-by-step instructions and the benefits each pose offers.

Tree Pose (Vrikshasana)

Steps:

Start by standing tall with feet together and arms at your sides.

Shift your weight onto your left foot and lift your right foot off the ground.

Place the sole of your right foot on your left inner thigh (or calf if balancing is difficult). Avoid placing it on the knee.

Bring your hands together in a prayer position at your chest.

Focus on a point in front of you to help with balance.

Hold the pose for 5-10 breaths, then switch to the other side.

Benefits:

Tree Pose helps kids improve their balance and concentration. It also strengthens the legs, core, and spine while promoting a sense of calm and focus. It’s a great way to build confidence as children master the art of standing tall and steady.

Cat-Cow Pose (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana)

Steps:

Start on your hands and knees with your wrists under your shoulders and knees under your hips.

Inhale and drop your belly towards the floor while lifting your head and tailbone up (this is Cow Pose).

Exhale and round your back, tucking your chin into your chest and drawing your belly button in towards your spine (this is Cat Pose).

Continue moving between Cat and Cow Pose with each breath for 5-10 rounds.

Benefits:

This combination of poses helps to improve flexibility in the spine while strengthening the back and neck muscles. It’s a gentle way to warm up the body, relieve tension, and promote body awareness in children.

Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)

Steps:

Lie flat on your stomach with your legs extended and hands placed under your shoulders.

Press into your hands and slowly lift your chest off the ground while keeping your elbows bent.

Keep your lower body relaxed and focus on opening your chest.

Hold the pose for 5-10 breaths, then slowly lower yourself back down.

Benefits:

Cobra Pose strengthens the back muscles, improves posture, and opens up the chest and shoulders. It’s a great pose for kids to develop upper body strength while also stretching the front of the body.

Child’s Pose (Balasana)

Steps:

Start on your hands and knees.

Sit your hips back onto your heels, stretching your arms forward or alongside your body.

Let your forehead rest on the mat and take deep breaths.

Stay in the pose for 5-10 breaths, feeling the stretch in your back and hips.

Benefits:

Child’s Pose is a calming and restorative pose that helps children relax and find stillness. It gently stretches the back, hips, and thighs while promoting deep breathing and a sense of security. It’s perfect for winding down after more active poses.

Butterfly Pose (Baddha Konasana)

Steps:

Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you.

Bring the soles of your feet together and let your knees drop to the sides.

Hold onto your feet with your hands and sit up tall, keeping your back straight.

Gently flap your knees up and down like butterfly wings.

Hold the pose for 5-10 breaths.

Benefits:

Butterfly Pose is excellent for opening the hips and stretching the inner thighs. It also encourages better posture by strengthening the back muscles. This pose helps kids improve flexibility while engaging their imagination with the butterfly wing movement.

Yoga is one of the best ways to ensure your body’s well-being. Whether you are trying to build muscle, increase your flexibility or relieve pain, yoga helps. The stretches and poses in yoga can help you work all your muscles as well as joints. One of the most popular ones are back exercises.

There are many reasons why your back may be hurting. With people spending more hours sitting on desks, whether it is for their jobs, studying etc. When you exercise your back, not only will you strengthen your back muscles, but you will also strengthen your core. Weak core muscles can also contribute to back pain during everyday activities. Medical experts agree that any exercise that strengthens the core is beneficial for lower back pain. While studies suggest yoga isn't significantly superior to other forms of exercise and stretching, it may offer long-lasting pain relief.

Downward-Facing Dog

This classic pose stretches and strengthens almost all muscles, relieving pressure on the spine and easing back tension. Start on hands and knees, lift knees off the floor, and raise your tailbone towards the ceiling, pressing into your hands. For a deeper lower back stretch, bend your knees and lengthen your tailbone upwards.

Child's Pose

Despite appearing restful, Child's Pose effectively stretches the back and hip muscles. It's also a great way to de-stress, especially before bed. Begin on hands and knees, bring big toes together, widen knees, and press hips back towards heels. Walk arms forward, resting forehead on a block, folded arms, or the mat, allowing shoulders to soften.

Reclined Half Pigeon

This variation of Pigeon Pose stretches the hip rotators and flexors. Tight hips can contribute to lower back pain, making this stretch beneficial. Lie on your back with bent knees, cross your left ankle over your right thigh, and thread your left arm through the leg triangle. Hold your right shin or hamstring with both hands, flex both feet, and hug legs towards your body, breathing into hips and lower back.

Triangle Pose

Triangle Pose effectively stretches both the hips and the spine. Facing the long edge of your mat, extend arms to a T and step feet wide. Turn your right toes to the top of the mat and angle your left foot slightly inward. Engage your core as you reach your right arm and torso forward, placing your right hand on the ground or a block outside your right ankle. Extend your left arm straight up, gazing towards your left thumb or straight ahead.

Cat-Cow Pose

Moving between Cat and Cow stretches the back muscles, lengthening and increasing the spine's flexibility. Start on hands and knees, aligning hands under shoulders and knees under hips. Tuck toes for stability and engage your lower abdomen. Inhale, relax your belly down, draw shoulder blades together to open your chest, and lift your gaze into Cow Pose. Exhale, arch your back into Cat Pose, pressing the ground away and tucking your chin to your chest.

Standing Forward Bend

This pose stretches the hamstrings and back muscles. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and knees loose. Exhale as you hinge at your waist and bend forward, reaching towards the floor. Bending your knees helps lengthen the lower back and deepen the stretch in the legs. Hold for 10 to 20 breaths and repeat as needed.

Low Cobra

Low Cobra helps strengthen the back muscles, promoting healthy lower back alignment and body awareness. Lie on your stomach with forehead on the mat, slide palms back to align thumbs with lowest ribs, and press down through the tops of your feet. Inhale, engage your back body, and curl your chest up, pressing palms into the mat and drawing shoulder blades down and in. Hold for one to five breaths and repeat two to three times.

Unlike what many people believe, yoga can be easily added into your daily routine and activities. Yoga asanas can be done throughout the day, without making it too overwhelming. For example, doing the mountain pose along with some stretches after you wake up to doing the child pose, followed by cobra pose before bed. Another such yoga pose is Vajrasana, or the thunder or the diamond pose. This is a sitting pose which is not only vital for our posture, but also for digestion.

Doing this yoga pose, after eating for about 10-15 minutes, improves digestion and is a great aid to relieve constipation. This pose is often recommended as a meditational pose or a breathing pose, as it brings about calmness and focus on our body. There are many benefits of Vajrasana.

Benefits of Vajrasana

• Improve concentration
• Reduce feelings of anxiety
• Increase body flexibility
• Lower blood pressure and heart rate
• Help manage symptoms of type 2 diabetes

It's important to remember that yoga should not replace any existing medical treatments, such as medication, unless you have discussed this with a healthcare professional.

How to Perform the Vajrasana Pose

Here is a step by step guide on how to do the Vajrasana pose:

Step 1

Begin by kneeling on the floor. Using a yoga mat can make this more comfortable.

Step 2

Bring your knees and ankles close together, pointing your feet straight back in line with your legs. The soles of your feet should face upward, with your big toes touching.

Step 3

As you exhale, slowly sit back onto your legs. Your buttocks will rest on your heels, and your thighs will rest on your calves.

Step 4

Place your hands on your thighs and gently adjust your pelvis slightly forward or backward until you find a comfortable position.

Step 5

Breathe slowly in and out as you straighten your spine to sit up tall. Imagine the top of your head pulling you upward and gently press your tailbone down towards the floor.

Step 6

Keep your head straight, looking forward with your chin parallel to the floor. Rest your hands on your thighs with your palms facing down and your arms relaxed.

Tips To Make Vajrasana More Comfortable

To make Vajrasana more comfortable or less challenging, several adjustments can be helpful. For those who experience ankle pain, placing a folded blanket or even another cushion under the shin, allowing the toes to extend off the back, can provide relief. If knee pain is an issue, try positioning a rolled or folded blanket or towel across the calves and tucking it behind the knees for added support. Finally, for general sitting discomfort, placing a yoga block horizontally between the feet can help support some of your weight and reduce pressure on both the ankles and knees.

When Should You Avoid Doing Vajrasana?

It's a good idea to talk to your doctor before starting any new yoga program. They can advise you on how yoga might affect your current health and suggest ways to avoid potential problems. It is often recommended that you should not perform Vajrasana if you have knee problems or have recently had surgery or a spinal cord condition, especially involving the lower part of your spine. Another reason why you should avoid this is if you have intestinal ulcers, a hernia, or other intestinal issues.

With summers around the corner, the heat can drain our energy and making it impossible to even leave our comfortable cool homes, let alone making a point to go for a workout. You barely have any energy left by the end of the day and to be able to do the exercises and stay healthy is a common yet displeasing experience that most of us are set to go through in the coming days.

However, heat cannot be an excuse to skip workout in order to stay healthy. There are certain things you should take into consideration are what kind of exercises you should do in this heat and whether there are any you should avoid.

Summer Exercises To Try

Burpees

The burpee is a top-notch exercise for your summer fitness. It works nearly every muscle, building strength from head to toe. This dynamic move also significantly boosts your heart health with each repetition. Start standing, then crouch, jump your feet back to plank, jump them forward, and leap up with arms overhead. Aim for sets of 5–10 reps.

Stationary Cycling

Using a stationary bike at the gym is a great way to get your cardio in while you listen to podcasts or watch videos. Just set the bike to fit you well before you start your entertainment. Adjust the seat to your hip height and pick a resistance you like. Pedal for 10-20 minutes to begin, working up to 30 minutes as you get fitter.

Walking Lunges

Walking lunges are a super handy exercise because you can do them almost anywhere, making it easy to stick to your summer workout even at home. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Step forward with one leg, bending both knees to about 90 degrees. Push off your front foot to step forward with the other leg. Do sets of 10 lunges per leg.

Treadmill Intervals

Don't let the treadmill be boring! Make your workout interesting by changing the incline and speed. Try running for three minutes, then walking for three minutes, and repeat. This interval training keeps your heart rate up and makes the time go by faster. Adjust the speed and incline to challenge yourself and keep things exciting.

Swimming

Beat the summer heat with swimming, a great exercise that works your whole body without stressing your joints. It uses many muscles, improves your heart health, and helps manage your weight gently. Try swimming for 30-45 minutes several times a week, and switch up your strokes to work different muscles.

Kayaking or Paddleboarding

For a fun way to exercise on the water during summer, try kayaking or paddleboarding. These activities cool you down and give your core and upper body a great workout. Paddling uses your arms, shoulders, back, and core, making you stronger and more stable. Aim for sessions of at least 30 minutes, and always wear a life vest for safety on the water.