The Rise of Family Yoga: Creating Deep Bonding Beyond Screens
Hey everyone! Get a cup of tea, get a comfortable seat, and we will talk a bit.
Having been yoga teachers for more than 10 years, we have witnessed how the power of practice transforms people. Flexibility, stress relief, and an hour of peace without their emails are what come to mind when people come to the mat. However, recently we have been witnessing the most beautiful thing occur to the world of wellness, which has made us feel warmer than a proper downward dog ever would.
We are referring to the emergence of family yoga.
Let’s be real for a second. Modern family life is busy. With school buses, work schedules, sports, and the never-ending mountain of laundry, it might seem like a task for Hercules to actually spend some real quality time together. Then there is the elephant in the living room: screens.
We are all guilty of it. The worn-out-at-the-end-of-the-day drowsiness to leave the kids on tablets and scroll through our phones simply to unwind. No judgment here—we get it. And we also are aware that excessive screen time tends to leave us feeling out of place in our own homes, present but miles away.
Here the miracle of family yoga comes in. It is turning into an enormous trend in family wellness not because it is another trendy activity, but because it is a mindless, entertaining way to counter the heightened pace and the digitalization of our lives. It is concerned with laying down the gadgets and picking up one another.
At Maa Shakti Yog Bali, we see family yoga not as a trend, but as a gentle rebellion against constant digital distraction. It’s our way of helping families slow down and actually be together.
In need of activities that are screen-free and actually effective? Then read on. We shall discuss the reasons why implementing a few mats may be the most appropriate thing you do to improve your family relationship.
What is “family yoga,” anyway? (Spoiler: It’s Not Quiet!)
Do not run away before you think before your eyes, “My children can never sit still five minutes, not to mention meditating!
There is a massive myth that yoga must be serious, quiet, and perfectly in line. When children and parents are concerned with yoga, we need to throw that rulebook out the window.
Family yoga is messy. It is loud. It consists of giggling when a person falls down, acting like a downward-facing dog, and hissing like a snake when in the cobra position. It is not about whether one attains the perfect posture but is about connection, playfulness, and experience.
Imagine it is not a “class,” but an interactive game in which motion is the primary activity. It is a chance to meet your children in their natural state, in their natural energy and imagination, and to move their bodies in healthy ways.
The “Why”: Beyond the Bend Benefits.
Also Read: Yoga: A Journey Across Continents and Centuries
Sure, yoga makes you flexible. Yet, as families practice, the benefits of the practice itself, even physiologically, are only the tip of the iceberg. The true magic is the emotional and relationship changes that occur on the mat. These are only some of the deeper advantages of family yoga:
1. Reconnecting: By Touching and Eyes.
We lose the sense of non-functional touch in the digital world that is not pursuant to wearing a car seat belt or wiping the face. In most of the family yoga practices, there is partner yoga between kids and parents.
You are reestablishing physical trust when you put hands together in a double tree pose to balance or when you have a child putting weight on your back to have a supported stretch. You do not make eye contact with a screen, and you are smiling at each other. This physical closeness liberates the hormone oxytocin, the hormone of love, making the bond between the parent and the child very primal and quite powerful.
2. Leveling the Playing Field
You are the power figure, the teacher, and the rule-maker in most things in life. On the yoga mat, all are equal.
Actually, your children are likely to do even most of the poses even better than you can (their hamstrings have not yet gained the benefit of years of sitting in an office). This is so reversed in health. It enables your children to observe you trying something new, failing, falling, and laughing at yourself. It makes them think it is fine to be imperfect and allows them to occasionally be the leader in the course of the practice.
3. Mindful Parenting in Action
Mindfulness is a buzzword, and we hear it all around, although we are unsure of what it means to a busy family. Being mindful of kids (and tired parents) does not imply blanking your mind. It is a process of simply being aware of what is going on at this moment.
Family yoga is a mindfulness crash course. You have to be there when you are attempting to balance on a single leg whilst carrying your wobbling six-year-old. You cannot be thinking of your grocery. It makes you be with your child. In the long run, these little acts of presence in the mat will be translated into increased patience and awareness out of the mat when tantrums or stresses of real life occur.
Introduction: How to Start Working: It is not as simple as you think.
In case you get the urge to attempt this, then do not make it so complicated. You do not require the matching yoga clothes, which are costly, or a yoga studio in your home. The following is my friendly recommendation for starting bonding activities among families using yoga:
- Short and Sweet: Attention span is extremely different depending on age. Five to ten minutes is a big victory for the toddlers. Twenty minutes perhaps, in the case of older kids. Terminate the session when they are not bored and cranky, and they will recollect it as a good experience that they desire to revisit.
- Make it a Game: Play Yogi Says, rather than Simon Says. Choose poses using animal cards. Allow them to create their own poses and to name them after their favorite superheroes or dinosaurs. The aim is engagement and not anatomical accuracy.
- Releasing Expectations: The family yoga will sometimes resemble a beautiful flowing practice. On other days it shall appear as a wrestling match and as a dogpile. Both are perfect. You will be disappointed if you go into it and expect a serene and Instagrammable moment. Get into the mess—there the memories are created.
Yoga with a Family: 3 Basic Poses to Practice.
You do not actually need a full 60-minute sequence. And the next time you are fifteen minutes before dinner, just have a go at these three easy ways.
1. The DoubleTree (Building Trust and Balance).
Sit hip to hip beside your child. You are both putting your weight on your inner leg (the touching legs). Bend the outer knees and put the sole of your foot on your inner calf or ankle (do not touch the joint of your knee). When you are stable, then hug your inner arms around the waist of one another. Try to balance together. You wobble, wobble, wobble!
2. The Down Dog Tunnel (Pure Fun)
Also Read: The Science of Auras and How Yoga Affects Your Energetic Field
Mom or Dad, find yourself in a strong Downward-Facing Dog (with feet and hands on the floor and hips raised high in an upside-down V). You can ask your smaller children to go under you like a tunnel. With larger children, they can do Down Dog beside you, and you may switch crawling under each other. This always ends in giggles.
3. Calming Connection Back-to-Back Breathing.
This is very beautiful to do at the very end to relax. Sit on the floor back-to-back, sitting cross-legged. Close your eyes. For them, just make them feel your back. You breathe in slowly, and you can feel your back swelling against theirs. And as they breathe, they will stretch their back against yours. Attempt to breathe in the same time as ten breaths. It is such a relaxing, centering form of not talking to each other.
The Final Stretch
Also Read: Sattvic Foods for Mental Clarity: A Practical Guide
The emergence of family yoga does not involve making your children mini-gurus. It is just a nice addition to your parenting tool kit to fight the digital noise and make some space to have real interaction.
In the world that is always competing to capture our interest, it is a radical thing of love to spend twenty minutes on the floor, be dumb, breathe, and move with people that we love the most.
Then bring out a mat (or even push the coffee table aside) and ask the havoc to come in, and watch what happens. It may turn out that you two make the best Wi-Fi connection.
Have you practiced yoga with your children? What was your worst experience or the most amusing experience? Use the comments section below; we would love to hear your stories!
