Kids Yoga Breath - The Expanding Balloon

Learn hatha yoga breath for kids: Kids yoga breath is the most important part of a kids yoga practice. It's as important as Saturday morning cartoons and chocolate fudge sundaes. It's as important as your first day of school. The simple act of breathing moves stagnant air out of your lungs and supplies your body with fresh oxygen. Once fresh oxygen enters your bloodstream, it nourishes all your internal organs and muscles, including your heart. Best of all, hatha yoga breath acts a bridge between the body and mind. When you learn how to synchronize your breath with movement, you help to circulate oxygen through out your entire body. Oh yeah, hatha yoga helps you become a super yogi kid. With five gold stars. Kids yoga breath: Did you know that you average 20,000 breaths per day? And that your brain needs 20% of the oxygen from your breath in order to function?! When we exhale, we lose 12% of all that vital oxygen from our breath. Yawning and giggling are signs that your body is oxygen deficient and need some super yogi breaths. Luckily, yogi kids know that long, deep inhales, not only relax the body and mind, but take in up to eight times the amount of oxygen then that of a shallow breath. Hatha yoga breath uses the diaphragm, the rib cage, and the chest in this sequence: * INHALE through your nose * Feel your belly expand like a balloon * Allow your rib cage to open like a gate * Feel your chest expand like the sun * EXHALE slowly through your nose * Feel your chest fall and your belly press back towards your spine. Yoga exercises for kids: Now try this kids yoga exercise to feel your breath in your body. First begin seated with crossed legs in easy sitting pose. Or you can sit with your heels tucked under your bum in hero pose. Notice your posture. Your spine should be straight, your chest lifted, and your shoulders dropped away from your ears. Place one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest. Feel your kids yoga breath rise and fall in your body like a water fall. Silently count to six on your inhale and to four on your exhale. For a variation, lie on your back and place both hands on your belly. Notice how your belly expands and deflates in your hands like a colourful balloon. Soon you'll be filled up with oxygen and just might float away! Breath work is the foundation of all yoga for kids. The next step is to synchronize your breath with your movement with hatha yoga sequences from kids yoga online. Namaste, super yogi