Thursday, March 1, 2012

Kids--De-stress With Yoga!

At our school one of the units the physical education teachers provide for us is yoga! I notice that during our yoga unit, the kids are calmer and more relaxed. You don’t have to limit your yoga practice to school—you can even do yoga at home! Click here (with your parental figure’s permission, of course) for a great link to a yoga site with videos that you can watch and follow along!

I love to do yoga! Rocky (my cat) and Benny (my dog) like to do yoga with me. Sometimes they get in my way like when Rocky walks under me and tickles my nose with his tail. Or when I’m in Shavasana (that’s corpse pose when you lay flat on your back and really relax) and Benny wants to lie on top of me.

Try yoga—I’ll bet you’ll feel calmer, more relaxed, and you might even get along with your brothers or sisters better.

Have you ever tried yoga? Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you!

What is Your Child Trying to Tell You?

Is your child crabby? Is she having trouble in school? Does she get sick frequently? There could be many reasons for this.

An important question to ask yourself: “Is she getting enough sleep?” I’ve blogged about that before. Kids need a lot of sleep.

Another aspect to investigate is her nutritional intake. If you’re not sure, ask your doctor for a referral to a nutritionist. You might be surprised at how easy it is to tweak your family’s diet to get more value from your grocery budget—not just in your wallet but also in terms of health and wellness.

What about her schedule? Does she have any “down time” to just relax and daydream? Does she have daily afterschool activities? Consider letting her choose a favorite and eliminate the others.

Is she organized? Sometimes children get overwhelmed if they have not yet developed organizational skills. Check her agenda book. (I’ve blogged about that before, too.) Is she writing down her assignments? Keeping on top of due dates helps alleviate a lot of stress for everyone—parents and students alike.

Sometimes our children can’t vocalize what they are feeling. Sometimes it manifests in negative behaviors or even illness. If your child seems unhappy, listless, or isn’t doing well in school, a little detective work goes a long way.