We are constantly teaching children how to behave in socially appropriate ways, yet sometimes we don’t follow our own advice. Just because children may take a long time to convert a thought into words, they have special needs, or they’re just particularly testing our patience at the moment – adults can tend to brush off what children are saying. Sometimes we think we know everything and we make all kinds of choices for kids, when in actuality, they are capable of so much more.
In our yoga practice, we have a unique opportunity to partner with children and create a healthy back-and-forth. During YEAS yoga classes, we love being able to switch up the student/teacher role as much as possible. Once the children have learned some basic yoga poses, we will often ask them to teach others. This shows our students that we trust them to take the stage, we trust them to sensibly teach other people, we trust them as competent, capable people. Many of our students have disabilities and differences that cause them to be overlooked by the general public – but not in yoga class.
As parents, we are entrusted to make an endless flood of choices for our children. By figuring out which choices are ours to make, we can delegate the rest to the child. Allow your child to grow up a little more every day, showing them that you support the person they are becoming. Your child might not choose exactly how you’d like them to – but as long as it’s safe – does it really matter? Validating and encouraging your emerging child – that matters.
Take time to listen to your kids today. They may have some really great ideas.
