Warrior Kids Yoga Stories: Breathe & Play - Granuaile

EVER considered kids yoga for your family or perhaps adding it to the curriculum in school?

The popularity of yoga has grown exponentially in recent years and the scientific proof is now there to support the perceived benefits to mood, stress response, positive self-perception and the development of life management skills in kids.

Research in Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and the Global Brain Health Institute show positive links between breath and the stress response and breath and levels of attention which impacts memory.

This non-competitive and inclusive activity is suited to kids of all ages from playschool to adulthood. There is currently a mental health trial underway in 370 UK schools adding mindfulness to the curriculum until 2021. The combination of mindful movement, breathwork and relaxation techniques is a powerful defence against the challenges of daily life enabling children to develop focus, balance, strength coordination and the ability to self-soothe.

Not sure where to start? Introducing Warrior Kids Yoga Stories: Breathe & Play - Granuaile.

This is the first kids yoga book offered by Sligo yoga teacher Saoirse O’Donoghue. The vibrant and beautiful illustrations are completed by Zia McClean, also a yoga teacher and youth worker from Donegal.

In Granuaile, the reader takes a journey back in time with Morgan, the yoga-loving cat, travelling to the Irish landscape of long ago to embody the traditional Celtic story of a young girl’s struggle to follow her dreams through yoga. This is a lively and vibrant yoga practice for kids from three to 103!

Warrior Kids Yoga Stories engage and encourage learning through mindfulness, breath, playful movement and imaginative yoga fun. These adventures are easily adapted to suit either a class scenario or they are a fantastic opportunity to bond with your own children in a unique and joyful way.

The book is now available for purchase online at http://www.warrioryogasligo.com and in shops including McLoughlins Books and The Bookshop, Westport; Castle Books, Castlebar; Shells, Strandhill; Liber Books, O’Connell Street, Sligo; and The Four Masters Bookshop, Donegal Town.

In the meantime, try this simple calming breathing exercise for kids:

1. Sit comfortably and relax.

2. Inhale through your nose and very slowly exhale through your mouth as if you are breathing through a straw.

3. See how long you can exhale for and repeat three times.