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| c/o Bend + Bloom Yoga |
Long days
grow even longer for kids when schoolwork piles up. With curriculum to keep up
with and cramming for tests, the workload never seems to end.
Yoga can help
children to pace their study efforts and reduce mental and physical burnout,
says Amy Quinn Suplina, owner of Bend + Bloom Yoga of Brooklyn, New York (bendandbloom.com).
“From a mental health perspective, getting the
blood flowing and the energy back up, improves kids’ ability to focus and
regroup,” says Suplina. “Movement breaks help them to return to work in a more
effective manner.”
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| c/o Bend + Bloom Yoga |
“Kids’ heads and shoulders are hunched over
their computers and electronic devices all day, which has long term
implications for spinal health. Yoga can help to counter the effect of that
forward flexion and return healthy curves to the spine,” says Suplina.
When there
are hours of homework to tackle, Suplina recommends that kids take a yoga
time-out.
“Doing so can
make them more alert,” she says. “Instead of turning to social media or
television, practicing can enhance focus, clarity, and make them more present
in their work and thinking. With a renewed ability to focus on what’s in front
of them, they’ll be more efficient about their work.”
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| c/o Bend + Bloom Yoga |
Try this
10-Minute Seated Yoga Homework Break Sequence!
Lateral Neck
Stretch
While seated
in your desk chair, take your right hand to the left side of your skull and
encourage your right ear toward your right shoulder. Hold on to your chair for
extra leverage. Practice on both sides.
Eagle
Wrapping one
arm under the other, lift your elbows to shoulder height. Imagine your elbows
are the tips of a paint brush and you are painting a horizontal line back and
forth across your computer screen. This opens up the space between the scapula
and the musculature of your upper back. Practice on both sides.
Seated Cat
and Cow
With your
hands in your lap, inhale as you slide your hands back to your hip creases,
point your elbow tips back and broaden your collar bone. Gaze up as your chest
rises. Exhale and slide your hands down the thighs to cup your knee caps as
your belly draws back to round you in. Practice three to five rounds.
Simple
Lateral Side Bend Using Chair
Hold your
left hand under your chair and breathe in to raise your right arm up. As you
breathe out, bend toward the left using the chair as leverage to lengthen your
right side body to open the musculature between your side ribs. Repeat on the
other side.
Seated Spinal
Twists
As you
inhale, sit tall feeling a sense of spaciousness in your spine. Exhaling, twist
to your right, taking hold of the back of your chair with your two hands, hold
for a few cycles of breath. Repeat on the left side.
Seated Figure
Four
Come to the
edge of your chair in Ankle to Knee shape, taking your right ankle above your
left knee. Fold forward from the creases of your hips, lengthen your chest past
your chin bone, elongating the front of the spine. This shape can ease low back
pain that results from hours of sitting at your desk. Try on both sides.
If you need
to revive yourself…
Breath of
Fire
Sit
comfortably and close your eyes. Draw sharp, short inhales and exhales through
the nose of even length, pumping the navel in and out for about one minute.
This rhythmic breath ignites your energy. If you need to focus your attention…
Villoma
Breath
This is an
interrupted breathing technique where you take pauses on the inhale and enjoy a
nice smooth exhale. Draw in a third of a breath on a count of two
seconds, pause for two seconds, draw in the next third, pause, then completely
fill the lungs and pause. Slowly exhale all the breath out to a slow
count of 6. Villoma means "against the natural flow" and will
release anxiety and enhance mental clarity.
