Introducing yoga to children at an early age has many incredible benefits. This can include emotional regulation, management of anxiety, body awareness, increased self-confidence, developed strength, and enhanced concentration.
While yoga is an opportunity to practice breath work, mindful movement, and exercise, it is also a beautiful way to spark creativity. Just as with a paintbrush and blank canvas, the mat provides a safe space for kids to nourish the connection between mind and body. Children will start to develop their own creative flow as they explore various postures and transitions.
Yoga and art can work together as wonderful partners by equally engaging an artistic mindset. In the new Yoga + Art Flow Collaboration class at Small Hands Big Art (an innovative partnership between SHBA and All the Love Yoga, young creatives (age 4-10) start the class with a mindful activity on the mat space and are immediately led to a safe place to begin regulating breath, mind, and body. With a gentle transition to creative yoga flow and a fun story or game, children then end the class by creating their own expressive art project. The seamlessness between the activities encourages the use of creativity on and off the yoga mat while also enhancing the practice of process-based art.
By adding elements of imagination to traditional yoga poses, children of all ages and levels can easily follow along with the creative sequencing. For example, in a Winter themed class, children would start the class learning Snowflake breathing. This grounding activity incorporates body, mind, and breath while also visually connecting children to the theme of the class. From there children would move through various postures including Running deer (Warrior 1), Leaping deer (Warrior 11), Pine tree (Tree), Snowflake (Star), Sledding (Staff) etc. Teaching in this structure allows the poses to truly come to life on the mat! Related books, stories and games that promote hand/eye coordination are other fun additions to add to creative moment.
Yoga + Art Flow is currently offered on Tuesday afternoons from 1:30-3:00 for students ages 4-10 at the Small Hands Big Art Waverly location, nestled in the heart of Waverly Shopping Center. Families can enroll their student for a full 6-week session of classes, or pre-register for just the dates that work for their schedule.
For more information or to register, click HERE.
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Small Hands Big Art is a children's art studio with locations in Kingsley Center (Fort Mill, SC) and Waverly (Charlotte, NC). Small Hands Big Art studios are big, bright, safe, and inviting spaces where kids from toddlers to teens (and adults too!) make brave creative choices, big messes & beautiful masterpieces! Their unique curriculum provides kids with a much-needed stress-free creative experience, and the results are nothing short of eye candy! Weekly classes keep kids sane & centered during the school year, while their Schools Out Camps and festive Holiday programs dazzle & delight when a special one-off creative experience is needed! They host some pretty epic Birthday Parties too!
