January 14th, 2023

Yoga in the Library for Kids 

Photo by Vishal Bhutani from Unsplash

​Kids have a lot of stressors in their daily lives. Juggling school work, friends, family, and extracurricular activities can easily become overwhelming. Thanks to the current pandemic, these stressors have been amplified. So how can we, as parents, teachers, and children’s librarians, help kids learn how to manage their stress in a healthy way? By introducing them to yoga.

Yoga in the library, or school, or a studio, or at home isn’t something new, but it’s more important now than ever, especially for kids. Yoga can help with emotional regulation, balance, focus and concentration, and enhance self-esteem. It’s a great and healthy way for kids to learn to manage their anxieties, and by doing it in the library, we can also incorporate literacy benefits in the form of a yoga storytime, or by putting out a display of yoga themed books during the class. 

I’ve been practicing yoga myself for years now, and have seen the benefits firsthand on my mental and physical health. I always wish, though, that I’d been introduced to yoga at a younger age. Growing up, I was a highly anxious kid, worrying over all sorts of things such as homework and friendship troubles. If I’d known back then about deep breathing, and some of these yoga poses, I believe it would have been a valuable tool to help manage my anxiety. Luckily, I did eventually come to discover yoga, and I happily practice it to this day. 

In my past job, before I became a Youth Services Librarian, I worked as a children’s library assistant. In this role, I had the opportunity to run a yoga class for kids in the library. I’d begin the class with the kids in a circle, on their mats. We’d take some deep belly breaths before moving into our yoga poses. I would then let the kids each choose a pose for the class to do. It could be one we already did or one they knew of or even created themselves. Then we’d end with 5-10 minutes of savasana. I’d turn out the lights and put on some relaxing music. This was the part I initially worried the kids would have trouble with. However, they surprised me, and told me this was their favorite part of the class. Allowing the kids a moment of stillness seemed to be exactly what they wanted. Savasana gives you the chance to just be. It’s a rare moment of peace that many of us crave, including kids. 
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I hope to introduce a yoga program for kids, in the future, at my current library. The benefits of yoga to kids are so great, and the library can provide a wonderful, safe space for kids of all abilities to practice it.