Yoga For Children

                          Yoga can be done by children of any age, the only limitations and restrictions are caused by the children's inability to be attentive for a long time. Typically yoga classes designed for children incorporate interactive poses and games intended to hold the children's attention. Such practices as meditation are mostly suitable for adolescents 12 years of age or older. The main goal of yoga for kids is stimulation of the physical, mental and emotional abilities of a child. Yoga is also successfully used as a form of therapy for kids with different physical and mental ailments. he prime reason for teaching yoga at a young age is to introduce a child to a healthier lifestyle. Teaching can begin as early as at the age of 2–3 weeks and be a part of either mother's yoga routine, baby massage to help the digestion or more traditional exercises. At this age mother actively assists her baby in doing all the moves.

                        As the children grow older, they can gradually be taught to do the asanas themselves. However, with older kids, yoga instructors or parents need to use different tricks to hold the children’s attention and motivate them to do the exercises.

                       Yoga classes for children are usually more focused on the introduction of yoga basics, rather than memorizing and perfecting asanas and routines. While such activities as meditation are almost impossible to practice with children, they can still learn the basic techniques for relaxation and self-control. Proper breathing techniques can also be taught at a very young age. Most of the Yoga Workshop keep a separate session for children in the evening.

An Insight Into Seva Yoga

                    Yoga is a commonly known generic term for physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines which originated in ancient India. Hindu monks, beginning with Swami Vivekananda, brought yoga to the West in the late 19th century. In the 1980s, yoga became popular as a physical system of health exercises across the Western world. Many studies have tried to determine the effectiveness of yoga as a complementary intervention for cancer, schizophrenia, asthma and heart patients. There are very many compound words containing yog in Sanskrit. Yoga can take on meanings such as "connection", "contact", "method", "application", "addition" and "performance". For example, guṇa-yoga means "contact with a cord"; chakra-yoga has a medical sense of "applying a splint or similar instrument by means of pulleys (in case of dislocation of the thigh)"; Chandra-yoga has the astronomical sense of "conjunction of the moon with a constellation", bhakti-yoga means "devoted attachment", etc. Generally put, yoga is a disciplined method utilized for attaining a goal. The ultimate goal of Yoga is moksha though the exact definition of what form this takes depends on the philosophical or theological system with which it is conjugated.
                      Seva Yoga refers to volunteer work or selfless service in the yogic tradition.  But I think the word is even bigger than that definition makes it sound. Seva, a Sanskrit word meaning “string,” symbolizes the interconnectedness between ourselves and others. As a practice, seva arises from two aspects of yoga: karma yoga (yoga of action) and bhakti yoga (yoga of worship inspired by divine love). By practicing yoga, we nurture ourselves physically and mentally so that we may be of service to others, invoking seva’s more common definition of offering service without the expectation of recognition or reward.