The Benefits of Yoga and Art
Written by Suzanne Seligson, MPS, ATR-BC
As we enter the new school year, many kids can benefit from having tools and techniques to help them to focus their minds and ease their anxieties.
What kinds of things do you do at home to help your kids through this transition?
One approach that I find effective is to offer your kids a healthy balance of creativity and expression. That way, they can ventilate whatever it is that may be occupying their minds or bothering them emotionally, and learn to calm themselves in times of heightened stress or anxiety.
Here is an example of what I do in our Kids Yoga and Art classes to help a child feel less stressed, overwhelmed, or upset:
Meditation Jar
In a glass jar (recycled pasta sauce or baby food jar), mix about 1 tablespoon of glitter glue (found in any art store) with 1 cup of warm water. If desired, add food coloring for some vibrant color.
Have your child imagine the glitter as their thoughts. Have them shake the jar and imagine their head full of whirling thoughts. Then have them set the jar down, and continue to watch the thoughts slowly settle as they, themselves, begin to calm.
For our Girls Yoga and Art group we take it a step further, and imagine that these jars are filled with magical fairy dust. This then leads us into an exercise in which we become our own fairies on an adventure that we create together, forming our bodies into different yoga poses that coincide with the things we find on our journey.
Yoga and art are an ideal combination for fostering a happy and healthy self. Naturally, our bodies develop both abilities throughout the earliest stages of life. Our major physical developmental milestones are all reflected in yoga poses, from crawling (table pose) to standing (mountain pose). In much the same way, our artistic milestones mirror our developmental progress, as we learn to develop the ability to scribble, then draw lines and circles, and eventually a whole person. By combining these elements, we allow our children to reach their full, true potential for the full expressions of their minds and bodies.
And, put simply, kids love to use their imaginations and have fun. So when you can encapsulate calming and expressive activities in things that they actually enjoy, you keep them involved for much longer. It’s like sneaking healthy vegetables into fun snacks…healthy enough for a parent to appreciate, fun enough for a kid to approve.
Written by Suzanne Seligson, MPS, ATR-BC
As we enter the new school year, many kids can benefit from having tools and techniques to help them to focus their minds and ease their anxieties.
What kinds of things do you do at home to help your kids through this transition?
One approach that I find effective is to offer your kids a healthy balance of creativity and expression. That way, they can ventilate whatever it is that may be occupying their minds or bothering them emotionally, and learn to calm themselves in times of heightened stress or anxiety.
Here is an example of what I do in our Kids Yoga and Art classes to help a child feel less stressed, overwhelmed, or upset:
Meditation Jar
In a glass jar (recycled pasta sauce or baby food jar), mix about 1 tablespoon of glitter glue (found in any art store) with 1 cup of warm water. If desired, add food coloring for some vibrant color.
Have your child imagine the glitter as their thoughts. Have them shake the jar and imagine their head full of whirling thoughts. Then have them set the jar down, and continue to watch the thoughts slowly settle as they, themselves, begin to calm.
For our Girls Yoga and Art group we take it a step further, and imagine that these jars are filled with magical fairy dust. This then leads us into an exercise in which we become our own fairies on an adventure that we create together, forming our bodies into different yoga poses that coincide with the things we find on our journey.
Yoga and art are an ideal combination for fostering a happy and healthy self. Naturally, our bodies develop both abilities throughout the earliest stages of life. Our major physical developmental milestones are all reflected in yoga poses, from crawling (table pose) to standing (mountain pose). In much the same way, our artistic milestones mirror our developmental progress, as we learn to develop the ability to scribble, then draw lines and circles, and eventually a whole person. By combining these elements, we allow our children to reach their full, true potential for the full expressions of their minds and bodies.
And, put simply, kids love to use their imaginations and have fun. So when you can encapsulate calming and expressive activities in things that they actually enjoy, you keep them involved for much longer. It’s like sneaking healthy vegetables into fun snacks…healthy enough for a parent to appreciate, fun enough for a kid to approve.
