Kids who do yoga with their parents tend to have better relationships

Leer en Español: Yoga: beneficios para niños

Yoga is a popular activity in many Latin-American countries. On average, women practice it due to its health benefits. Interesting enough, kids are becoming involved in not only engaging in the activity but also in doing so with their parents.

According to Jacky Villamizar, owner of Princess Party in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, kids who practice yoga experience many life changing understandings. This is “because of the different postures, they stimulate their intestines, so it’s good for their digestive system. They also stimulate their blood circulation. They also have an improvement in their self-esteem; they start losing their fears of communication. Also, hyperactive children start to control their actions due to breathing”, assured Villamizar.

Princess Party also works group classes with mothers and daughters. Villamizar explains that this kind of classes also present more benefits than just the physical aspect of it. The expert assures that when mother and daughter engage in activities together, they start bonding and bettering their relationships.

The owner of Princess Party said that “at the beginning, we [mothers] are their heroes. However, sometimes the older they get, they start seeing us as their worst enemy”. These types of activities prevent these situations. She assures that “when you start working in your mother- daughter relationship at a young age, it will remain sturdy during their adolescence. It can also prevent emotional diseases like anorexia and bulimia because the communication in the affiliation is strong enough”.

Yoga is also a perfect activity for this type of approach, because women and girls are able to do the same activity at the same time, unlike other sports where age can take a toll and end up hindering the activity.

Maria del Mar Diaz, Jacky’s daughter, who also participates in her mom’s classes, said “when I do yoga with my mom, I relax. When I take her hand, I can feel my best friend and that makes me happy”.

Yoga it’s considered a discipline focused on cultivating physical and emotional wellness of a person. Years back, it was associated with Hinduism, but since then it has become a lifestyle without ties to any a specific religion.

Latin American Post | Santiago Gómez Hernández 

Copy edited by Susana Cicchetto