Today, Thursday the 1st of June, is International Children’s Day. The day is all about increasing awareness around the general well-being of children all over the world. YogaBugs would like to discuss some issues that children can face throughout their childhood and possible ways that they can be solved or minimised, as all children deserve to have the best well-being possible as they grow up.
Each year it seems children are facing more and more issues that they may struggle to deal with without the correct support and chances to discuss these problems. Childhood obesity has been a serious problem for a number of years now and figures only appear to be getting worse, but children cannot be fully to blame for this. Parents and schools have a greater responsibility to make sure that children not only eat healthily, but also have the opportunity and are positively encouraged to participate in physical activity.
YogaBugs work with children from ages 3-11 to provide them with positive experiences of exercise through combining yoga inspired movements with story and theme based adventures. This allows them to have participate in a fun physical activity, which develops their coordination and balance, as well as basic motor skills which can improve their performance in physical activities. Through giving children a positive experience of sport and physical activity at an early age, it makes them far more likely to continue to be physically active and exercise, minimising the risk of becoming obese.
Recently, there has also been an increased call for more to be done about children who face the risk of developing mental health issues. With growing pressure and stress related to school work, most notably SATs exams, along with social media pressures from peers and children feeling the need to ‘fit in’, more and more children are becoming at risk of developing mental health illnesses. To suffer with mental health problems as a child is an issue in itself, but the lack of support and guidance being offered to children is another problem.
YogaBugs sessions are all-inclusive and non-competitive, meaning children can progress at their own pace and not feel pressured to be successful, increasing their self-esteem levels and this has been proven to improve their overall confidence in other aspects of life. YogaBugs also bring in mindfulness practices, including breathing and relaxation techniques that can help children deal with anxiety or stressful situations. These practices can help develop mental resilience and help children to focus on the now, not situations that have happened in the past or are yet to happen, reducing their anxiety. The techniques taught are also able to be used throughout their life, meaning it is important the young children are given the accessibility to learn them.
YogaBugs work within Schools and Nurseries and also run local community classes. For more information please visit our website or call 0121 777 7792.
