Find out my top 4 disadvantages and advantages to teaching kids yoga
I’m going to share with you the 4 top benefits I gained from my 15 years of teaching kids yoga. However I’d first like to share with you my 4 top disadvantages! Keep reading below or you can watch my short YouTube video instead:
4 Disadvantages to Teaching Kids Yoga
1. Discipline: Adults will come to the studio, calmly get on their mat, and do exactly what you say. Children however do not! Never expect a kids yoga class to be calm and go exactly as you planned. Kids are naturally spontaneous and their emotions and energy levels can change from one minute to the next, so expect classes to be hectic and unruly!
2. Tiring: Teaching kids yoga is exhausting!! I found that I could teach 5 yoga classes to adults a day and would still have more energy in the evening, compared to a day in which I’d taught 2 kids yoga classes. The younger the children the more energy you need, so bare this in mind when scheduling your classes. Start off with less classes and less children until you understand your own capacity and stamina!
3. Emotions: Children find it hard to regulate their emotions and put them into perspective. The slightest thing can cause a major drama in a kids yoga class, compared to teaching adults. Whether it’s because one child didn’t sit next to another at lunchtime, or one can touch their toes and another can’t; anger, frustration, jealousy etc can be amplified in children, and as the teacher you have to calm and counter negative emotions.
4. Props: Teaching kids yoga classes require A LOT of props and that takes time to plan and can be heavy to carry around. It’s not enough to have yoga mats and maybe some blankets or blocks for kids classes. Yoga classes for children, need to be visual and interactive, so you not only need to have a lot of diverse props, but know how to use them in age appropriate ways, and how to make the most out of a few props for 1 class, so that you don’t need to take a lot of them to one class.
4 Advantages to Teaching Kids Yoga
1. Joy: As their yoga teacher, you can make a huge positive difference in children’s lives. Unlike a parent or school teacher, you become their friend, and a source of positivity, comfort, fun, and most of all non-judgement. You get to watch them develop and absorb all the beneficial skills you’re bringing them through yoga, pranayama and meditation, and you can see the positive impact you’re having on them. Kids will open up to you, and as you become a source of joy in their lives, they quickly become a source of joy in yours.
2. Non-competitive: Unlike their classes in schools or extra-curricular activities (ballet, martial arts, horse-riding, acting, musical instruments etc), yoga is non-competitive. Kids are constantly having tests, exams, being graded, compared, and assessed in whatever they’re doing. As a yoga teacher you’re providing them with an opportunity to move, act, and think in a non-competitive environment.
3. Lifetime tools: The positive impact you can have on children can last them a lifetime. When I started yoga classes about 27 years ago, the most impactful things I learnt was how to breathe correctly, and how to listen to, and connect with, my body. These are tools I never forgot and enhancing them over the years helped my mental and physical health.
The most wonderful thing is that nowadays I still get emails and messages on social media from past students, who 10 or 15 years later tell me that they’re still using the techniques of yoga, pranayama or meditation that I taught them in classes. Some of these (kids) are now at university or have careers all around the world, and the skills they learnt in my yoga classes are still helping them to this day. That is truly the most amazing feeling there is.
4. Spontaneity: Yoga classes for adults are very structured, whereas kids yoga classes give you the opportunity to be spontaneous, have fun, and be a kid again, while maintaining your role as teacher of course! A class can take on so many forms depending on the day, objectives, and moods, and weave games, stories, activities, energy and calm, all in one session! You’ll mix between structured time and spontaneous time, movement and stillness, and you never quite know what’s going to happen next!
There are many more advantages of teaching kids yoga classes for you to discover! If you think you can handle the disadvantages, and are interested in experiencing the amazing benefits, then consider certifying as a kids yoga teacher on our Yoga Alliance RCYT Kids Yoga Teacher Training Course. The Yoga Alliance courses are renowned worldwide for having the highest standards, and their RCYT certificate is being increasingly requested to work in schools and other child related organizations. There are many other shorter courses available, but none are as comprehensive or sought after as the Yoga Alliance RCYT course. So expand your skills, your client base and earning potential with a qualification in teaching kids yoga and I can promise you that you won’t regret it!
You may also be interested in reading Meditation And Yoga For Kids With Anxiety.
