Children With Arthritis Can Greatly Benefit From Practicing Yoga

Did you know that nearly three hundred thousand children in the United States alone have been diagnosed with some form of arthritis? That is large number of kids and it continues to grow each day leaving parents baffled for treatment options. One method of therapy that has yet to be given the amount of credit it deserves is encouraging children to engage in practicing yoga disciplines.

A child that has arthritis is limited to what activities they can perform without feeling any pain. Most of these children cannot participate in team sports and they often times become lazy from their lack of movement. When these kids begin to practice yoga exercises it is not enough of a cardio activity to harm them, but it is enough of proper set of exercises to help their condition greatly. Yoga primarily focuses on the core section of the body. It works the abdominal muscles and the back as well to make them stronger without the need to lift any weights, perform any resistance training or utilize any machines. You simply move around in the set poses and hold them there for around a minute each pose and while you are in those poses you practice breathing techniques as well. The breathing techniques are what relaxes the yoga student and helps them hold the poses for longer periods of time.

Almost any child with or without arthritis can easily sit with their legs folded in an Indian style position, they can also generally bend forward and attempt to touch their toes. These are basic steps in practicing yoga. As the child progresses, they will increase the number of yoga poses they are able to participate in and begin to strengthen those core muscles and greatly improve their posture as well. Having poor posture is one of the leading reasons for chronic back pain. While a child sits and plays a video game or while they are sitting at their desk in school they have a tendency to not sit up straight and slouch their bodies forward. This causes pain in the back, neck and shoulders that can result in a permanent condition. By instilling yoga exercises in the children their posture automatically begins to increase and they will start to sit up right with a flat back after just a few weeks of yoga. The increased flexibility that yoga brings is another benefit for young children suffering from arthritis also. When you move your body into the poses a few days per week, it begins to become much easier to touch your toes and to stretch your frame in positions you could not even attempt before. The children will start to feel relief of their pains and they may even not need their medications anymore. This is the goal for any parent with a child that suffers from arthritis as you do not want to give your child any medication that their bodies do not need. Older children such as teenagers may enjoy taking a yoga class with a friend and for the younger students getting them involved in yoga exercises can be simple if you pick a fun yoga video just for kids.

Jesus is a yoga instructor. He has been working on a yoga program for kids with arthritis. He writes about his program on his website. He also covers other topics such as ebasketballdrills.com/basketballdefensedrills Basketball Defense Drills and ebasketballdrills.com/basketballdribblingdrills Basketball Dribbling Drills.