What Age is Too Young for Child Yoga?

Yoga can't be practiced the same way for people of all ages. The obvious divide is between children and adolescents, but there is also another important distinction to make: between younger children, older children, and adolescents.

Children aged 8 years and above are usually strong enough to do a sufficient range of yoga asanas. Children younger than 8 but older than 5 can join yoga as well, but at a more basic and informal level since they are fragile and lack muscular strength. For younger children, the duration of a session should last no more than 10 minutes to keep their attention. Additionally, the session should be structured in a way that allows them to play and run around a bit, as static poses go against their personality. For young children, yoga shouldn't be considered a "routine" or compulsory activity: it should be another way to play around and try out new movements to expend their energy. Check out my other post on possible games to integrate in when doing yoga with children.

For adolescents, sessions can go up to 30 minutes. However, it is important to keep the session fast-paced and dynamic. This could be achieved by stringing together similar asanas (ex. standing poses, forward bending poses, inverted poses...) or opposing asanas (ex. standing and sitting, forward and backward bends) and repeating them in a cycle. Yoga is optimal for adolescents because it helps maintain the balance of endocrine functions, regulates blood supply, and lessens lethargy.